Page 36 of Hidden Ascent

She’d stared at herself in the mirror for a solid ten minutes before getting used to her unusual outfit enough that she could venture downstairs.

“You look different,” Jay said, leaning on the door frame.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It was a compliment.” She saw his eyes slide down her body and back up.

“Oh. Well, you clean up pretty nice yourself.”

“Why are you so nervous? Is it the dress?”

She stopped and looked down at herself. “I never dress like this.”

“I can tell. But it suits you. Shows off your physique.”

“I’m not interested in showing anything off. You’re lucky you get to fully cover yourself.”

“I’d offer to swap, but I think that would attract too much attention.”

She smiled. He was being nice to her. Trying to cheer her up despite the way she’d treated him. “It’s not the dress that’s making me act this way.”

“Really? Is this how you behave before you go on an operation?”

“No.” She pressed a hand on her stomach. “If we were going to this party in SWAT gear with assault rifles, I’d be fine. Undercover is a completely different animal altogether.”

“You get stage fright?” He rubbed a hand over his mouth to hide his smirk, but she saw it.

“Undercover is not what I was trained to do.”

“It’s not that hard.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Why? Because I’m a criminal?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“There’s really not a lot to it. Just be yourself.”

“That is exactly my problem. Going to a fancy party in this ridiculous dress is not me.”

“That dress is not ridiculous.”

“It is on me.”

He scoffed in disbelief. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to hold my ground on this. You and that dress were made for each other.”

She tried several times to counter his opinion but couldn’t come up with anything suitable to say. “My point is, there’s nothing about what we’re doing that is remotely me.”

“You’ve never wanted to get dressed up and go to a nice dinner?”

“I’ve never had occasion to.”

“Okay, what about a date?”

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