Page 61 of How to Prevent a Fumble

When Tony and I were married, we’d go to galas and expensive, nice dinners all the time. I’d frequently dress up, and I had a beautiful closet full of thousand dollar dresses. I was never a huge fan of those events, much preferring to stay in with Elara, make pizza, and watch a movie curled up on the couch.

But Tony was a social butterfly, and wanted to go out, meet people, and drink.

Drink a lot.

And so he did, which is also how it was so easy for him to be unfaithful and hide it from me.

I still can’t smell berry perfume without thinking of the pain of realization.

Tugging up the sleeves of the first dress, I eye myself in the mirror. I look frumpy, my hair a little more frizzy despite my best efforts, my hips looking a little too round.

“Can I see?” Leo calls from the other side of the curtain.

I shake my head, and when I quickly realize he can’t see me, I call, “No, I don’t like this one.”

“Come on, let me see, Sunny,” he chuckles.

Seeing red and momentarily forgetting what I just said, I whip the curtain aside, stepping out. “I told you to stop calling me that,” I hiss, heat rising up my neck.

But Leo doesn’t say anything. Instead, he’s watching me intensely, his eyes raking up my body. Suddenly hyper-aware of the situation I put myself in, I cross my arms over my torso before turning, attempting to retreat.

“Briar?” he asks quietly. I stop, not turning around. When I don’t say anything, he continues. “You look beautiful in that.”

I shake my head. “Leo, if this situation is going to work, we can’t lie to each other.”

Tucking his bottom lip under his teeth, Leo cocks his head, his eyes focused on mine with an intensity I’ve never felt from him before. “I’m not lying.”

Shivers erupt down my back, and I quickly retreat into the dressing room, flinging the dress off.

I’m not sure what that was, but I wasn’t a fan…

Is what I tell myself.

I tried on what felt like a million outfits all within the span of an hour, and there were only a couple that I actually felt great in. None of the dresses, but that’s okay. I’ll have to come back and get some more for future events.

When I stepped out of the changing room in a black skirt that reaches mid-thigh, with a green bodysuit underneath, I rendered Leo speechless. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, considering some of the dresses I had tried on were truly gorgeous. Was he just looking at my body? Was there something wrong with me? What kind of speechless was this? The good kind? The you-look-embarrassing kind?

But my worries were quickly proven null when a large smile spread over his handsome face. “That’s the one!” he says, clapping his hands. “You look so happy in that.”

And I did. I do. Something breathable and more me than anything else I had on. Sure, dresses are gorgeous and I’m looking forward to dressing up on occasion in the future. But I wasn’t sure how I felt about them for a simple dinner.

After we had that situated, the sales associate helped me choose a pair of thigh-high boots to go with it and some jewelry.

While I would normally be concerned about the price, adding up every dollar in my brain to make sure that I didn’t go over what I had budgeted for this, I didn’t really care this time. Leo was taking care of it.

This was all for Leo.

A business expense.

But when they read out the total and he handed over his card, I couldn’t pretend like I didn’t feel at least a little bit bad. “I can contribute some,” I tell him as we leave the store.

“That won’t be happening Briar, and it’s best not to test me on that.”

I stop in my place.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means what you think it means. I won’t be tested on that. I paid for it. You don’t have to worry. Come on, let’s go.”

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