Page 32 of Unravel You

“Do you paint?”

“I dabble.” She shrugged. “I’m a Jane of all trades, master of none. Um, Derek told me you work at his company. That must be exciting. Big, fancy job. You get to wear cool clothes.” She pointed at my dress, which thankfully had a print that concealed mud stains.

“It’s great. It’s my dream job. And I get to bring the boss home. So.” I smiled at Derek, and he returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his chest to my back.

“How about we go meet Zack?” He wrapped his arm around my waist.

“Do you mind if I wash up first? Maybe Ana can help?”

“I can do that.” She smiled and some of the red on her cheeks faded.

“Are you sure? I can wait.” He furrowed his brows, thoroughly confused with my change of tune.

Ana glanced at me with pleading eyes. I gripped Derek’s arm and walked him toward the door. “I’m sure. I’ll be down in ten minutes.”

“You can’t escape me forever.” He winked and kissed my temple.

“God, I hope so.” I beamed at him.

“You two are so cute together.” Ana turned to me the minute the door shut behind Derek. “His ex-wife scared the shit out of me.”

I raised both eyebrows at her.

“Oh, I mean, can I help you with anything?”

“Sure. What should I wear?”

“You’re asking me? Okay.” She went to the walk-in closet, where all our clothes had already been unpacked.

Her eyes sparkled with tears when she pulled a silky dress I’d brought in case Derek and I went on a date. That was back in Arizona when I thought we’d be able to spend quality time together. I cocked my head, eyeing the huge empty bed.

“These are beautiful. How do you know what goes with what?” She pressed the dress to her chest and did a twirl.

“I don’t really.” I laughed. “My best friend runs a fashion blog. She’s the one who knows.”

“I love this one.”

It was a simple pink dress with tiny white flowers around the sleeves. It was very girly, but my friend said it made my boobs look good. So I brought it. Again, date night.

“So tell me about Zack.”

“Zack’s a doctor. He’s the best.” She bit her lip, eyeing the pink dress. “He’s Wesley’s twin. Flew in from South Africa.” Her eyes went big when she said that last bit. “He’s amazing. You’re going to love him.”

Why did I feel so much older than Ana if we were just a few years apart? I guessed when everyone around her called her Sweet Ana, she had no choice but to be just that.

“Let’s go meet him.” She stood and offered me her hand.

“I need to change first.”

“Why? You look beautiful in that.” She eyed me up and down.

“It’ll just take a minute.” I grabbed the peony-pink dress she’d chosen for me and dashed into the bathroom.

I checked my face in the mirror. I had a bump, but my hair covered it well. This humidity made it impossible to have straight tresses, so I decided not to mess with it. I applied concealer to my eyes to make them less puffy and let out a breath. I could only fix myself so much. This would have to do.

I walked out to find Ana waiting for me by the door. “Thank you, by the way.” She said as soon as she saw me.” I really didn’t know you two were in here. I freaked out when Wesley showed up. I don’t want to see him. We had a big fight the other night.”

“I could tell you were flustered. Are you going to be okay?”

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