Page 11 of Simply Irresistible
“Exactly! It felt so familiar, like we already knew each other.” A thought occurred to me and I deflated. “You don’t think we’ve friend-zoned each other, do you?”
Meredith looked at me quickly, then back at the road. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know…maybe we’retoocomfortable with each other. Shouldn’t there be jitters or something?”
“You two aren’t getting married; you’re just dating. You were probably a little nervous before your date, right?” I nodded; I had been nervous. “Well, there are your jitters. You can’t expect them to last throughout the entire date. It’s great that you two were comfortable with each other. That’s a good sign.”
“I guess so.”
“When are you seeing him again?”
“Wednesday, he invited me over. He’s going to cook.”
Meredith wriggled her eyebrows. “Sounds nice.”
I blushed. “It’s not what you’re thinking. We’re notthereyet.”
“Uh huh.”
We arrived at the bridal shop, and I was glad to not be the center of attention anymore. The bridal consultants fawned all over Meredith, and she ate it up. They sat us on a sofa with champagne flutes while they scurried around the store grabbing a variety of white princess gowns. Meredith yayed and nayed the designs and eventually disappeared into a dressing room with one of the consultants. While I waited, I pulled my sketch pad out of my bag and started playing around. I’d never tried designing a wedding dress before, but I was inspired by all the tulle I’d seen in the last half hour. I paused in my sketching to critique each dress Meredith tried on. None of them were doing the trick, and she finally left the dressing room back in her own clothes, disappointed at not finding exactly what she wanted.
“I’m ready for some lunch. Whatcha got there?” she asked, looking at the sketch pad. Meredith was one of the only people I ever let see my designs, so I handed the pad over. “Oh my God, Mel. This is amazing.”
I shrugged. “It’s just a little something I was playing with.”
“Just a little something? Mel. This is everything I want in a dress.”
“Well, yeah. I paid attention to what you liked and didn’t like when they were showing you the gowns.” Meredith just stared at me, open-mouthed.
“Miss Lane,” the consultant called from the front counter, getting Meredith’s attention. Meredith walked over to the consultant, and I packed up my things.
“I want you to make my dress,” Meredith said once we were seated in her car.
“What? No.” One bad day of dress shopping and she had completely lost her mind.
“Yes. Melanie. You are making my dress. That,” she said, gesturing to my bag and the sketchpad she knew was inside, “was my dress.”
“I can’t make your wedding dress, Mer.”
“Why not?”
I puffed out a breath.Why not?Icouldmake Meredith’s dress. I had the skills. I went to school for it. I just needed to get the right fabric, the measurements…I was going to make Meredith’s wedding dress.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“You will?” I nodded, and Meredithwhooped.“Thank you so much!” She hugged me, and we laughed. “I just know whatever you come up with is going to be perfect.”
No pressure.
7
Tyler
“I like your tiny apartment,” Melanie said. The twinkling lights on the rooftop patio of my building made her eyes sparkle.
“Thanks,” I said, not sure if she was being serious or not. It was incredibly small. Like four hundred square feet.
“It’s bigger than mine,” she added, and I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “By like half.” She took another sip from her bottle. I’d bought wine just in case, but she opted for an ice-cold beer instead.
