Page 45 of Painted

“You’re going to be fine,” Rebecca reassured them, laughing as she did, her eyes shining with excitement. “I’m just so glad that you and Rhys are finally getting together after all this time.”

Early gave her a flat look, since they’d confided everything to Rebecca so far.Everything.

“Okay, getting togetheragain, for real,” Rebecca qualified. “I don’t think that first time counted.”

“It definitely counted,” Early said in a quiet voice, not looking at her. The one thing they hadn’t confessed to Rebecca was that that first time had beenthefirst time.

“What’s this about a date?” Blaine asked as he wandered into the office with a box of what looked like candleholders for centerpiece arrangements. “Has some lucky man, woman, person snatched up our Early before I could have a go?”

Early blushed and laughed at Blaine’s cheeky question. Of all the Hawthorne cousins, he might have been the biggest drama queen.

“You’re too late,” Rebecca told him, taking the box from him and setting it aside. “Rhys has already made a claim.”

“Ooh? Rhys? You go, girl!” Blaine gave Early a high five, then rushed immediately into, “So when are you going out? Do you know where he’s taking you? Do you know what you’re going to wear? What look or persona are you going for? Obviously, you’ve got the full range to choose from.” He swept his eyes over Early’s body like he liked what he saw. “I think you should go for bold and forward. Send the message that you’re ready for anything.” He wiggled his eyebrows. Then his expression turned alarmed. “That is, if that’s what you’re up for. Are you Ace? You’re not Ace, are you?”

“Blaine! For God’s sake,” Rebecca laughed. “Let Early breathe.”

“I…I don’t know what I’m going to wear,” Early said, seeds of panic starting to sprout in him. “I don’t know where we’re going. I don’t know what I want to happen that night. I don’t know anything at all anymore.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got your back,” Rebecca said. “And don’t listen to Blaine. His dating life is a train wreck, so he’s not exactly the best person to listen to for advice.”

“At this point, I’ll listen to anyone,” Early said.

They were lucky that a courier arrived before Blaine could say anything else that would send them into a panic and that they all had too much work to do to continue the conversation.

But by the time Friday rolled around and Early was faced with half a wardrobe of clothing spread over the bed in their borrowed flat, they wished they’d kept Blaine around to tell them what to wear.

It wasn’t just the date that had them uncertain about everything. The battle with their parents last weekend had taken a lot out of them. They’d gone back to wearing some of their old clothes during the week. Old, masculine clothes. They hadn’t felt right, so they’d slowly added different pieces that they’d taken from the clothes room to their look throughout the week. They’d worn the heels that they liked so much one day, then switched back to trainers the next, and then on to a sensible pair of flats that were surprisingly uncomfortable after that.

A knock on the door shook them out of their raging indecision and sent them fleeing the bedroom to answer it. They were incredibly relieved to find Rebecca standing on the other side of the door with a big wad of fabric behind her back.

“I have intelligence for you,” she said, eyes bright, walking into the flat.

“I could use all the intelligence I can get right now,” Early breathed out, following her across the main room and into the bedroom.

Rebecca stopped next to the bed full of clothes and turned to them. “I found out where Rhys is taking you tonight.”

“Oh? Where?”

Rebecca brought the ball of fabric out from behind her back and shook it open to reveal the sparkly gown they’d noticed their first time in the clothes room, the one that had belonged to Raina.

“He’s taking you to The Chameleon Club in London for one of their fancy dinner and dancing nights,” she said triumphantly.

Early gaped at the dress, then up at Rebecca. “You want me to go into London wearing a ballgown?”

“It’s not a ballgown,” Rebecca insisted, setting the dress aside, then hurrying Early through undressing so they could put the dress on. “It’s a cocktail dress.”

“It’s still a dress,” Early said, playing along and shrugging out of the robe they’d been wearing.

The two of them had a moment when Rebecca saw the black silk and lace panties they were wearing, but she kept her mouth shut about them. Her eyes said volumes, though. Early pretended there was nothing unusual about their choice of undergarments as they shimmied into the tight-fitting dress.

The dress fit perfectly. It had to be some sort of divine intervention. Rebecca zipped it up and the fabric melded around Early’s lithe body.

“I don’t know,” Early said breathlessly as they studied themself in the mirror, turning this way and that. “It’s a huge step. What if Rhys is embarrassed by me?”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Rebecca said. “My brother adores you for who you are. This,” she gestured to the dress, “is who you are.”

“This belonged to Raina, didn’t it?” Early asked. “He’ll shout at me for wearing her things again.”

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