Page 22 of Love Game

“Not a bad choice, Coach,” Julie said, wiggling the hanger so the skirt’s filmy overlay flounced.

Kate stiffened, momentarily discomfited, but quickly resigned herself to the recognition. She was a big fish in a tiny pond.

Julie flashed Millie a conspiratorial smile and dove deeper into the sea of racks. “Come with me. I know just what we need.”

“And we need a dress for the banquet tonight,” Millie decreed as she prodded Kate away from the cashier’s station.

“I have a dress for the banquet.”

Millie rolled her eyes. “You wear the same boring black dress every year. What do you say we try living life in color this year?”

An hour later, Kate adjusted the two carriers filled with purchases and planted her feet in a WNBA-worthy pick to catch the slippery dress bag sliding off her shoulder. “I need to put this stuff in the car, and then I need the wine you promised.”

Nodding, her friend motioned toward the exit closest to where they’d parked. “Fine, but after that, we shop for shoes.”

“And underwear,” Kate added in a hushed tone.

“Underwear!”

Millie’s voice carried over the music pulsing from the cosmetics counters and ripped right through the adjacent men’s sportswear department. More than a few heads turned.

“You do love a spectacle,” Kate muttered.

A harried-looking woman wearing a stretch bracelet loaded with keys jabbed a finger toward the far corner of the store. “Lingerie, floor two, southeast,” she said without breaking stride.

“Underwear,” Millie repeated, dropping it down a notch but infusing the word with more consideration than it warranted. “So you’re planning to sleep with Jim?”

Embarrassment set Kate’s ears on fire. Within a heartbeat, the heat of a blush consumed her. Jim wasn’t the first person she envisioned when she decided she needed something new from the lingerie department, but she’d quickly stuffed thoughts of Danny McMillan down deep. He wasn’t the man she needed to be thinking about when it came to sexy things.

“I was only planning to find a bra that doesn’t have a racerback.”

“Bullshit.” Abruptly, Millie started toward the door closest to where they’d parked.

It took Kate three seconds and two full strides to catch up to her friend. “Where are you going?”

“You said you wanted to drop your bags,” Millie reminded her.

The rigid set of her friend’s posture somehow filtered down to her voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just hungry.”

Kate wasn’t fooled by the explanation or put off by Millie’s dismissive wave. “I don’t get it. You’re the one who’s always getting on me about how my relationship with Jim has been at a standstill. We were just shopping for date clothes.” She stepped up the pace to get ahead of the tiny torpedo of a woman. “You’re the one who’s always after me to…”

She trailed off, smiling as she held open a door for a young mother pushing a double stroller. By the time she let it go, Millie was halfway to the car.

“Hey,” Kate called as she hustled after her friend. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Leaning back against the fender of Kate’s car, Millie glanced up at the sky as if she were reading the time by the alignment of the sun. “Hurry up. I need that wine.”

Kate dumped her purchases into the trunk and then slammed it with a little more force than necessary. When her friend jumped away from the car, Kate caught her arm. “Tell me.”

“It’s nothing,” Millie replied too quickly. Her mascaraed lashes fluttered, but she didn’t meet Kate’s eyes.

Kate stared at the thick fringe in wonder. “Do you have false eyelashes?”

Millie reared slightly, then looked up at last. “Extensions. You really should get some.”

“You put extensions on your eyelashes? Like hair extensions?”

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