Page 21 of The Proposal
My palm presses against my chest as if the motion will help expel the liquid from my lungs. I cough and sputter until all that’s left is the taste of soap.
“How’s this?” Ella does her best model walk across the travertine. “Black is slimming, and the lace peeking out at the tops of my boobs is super sexy, right?”
“You’re hot. Try the red, though, to be sure.”
She busies herself by swapping dresses.
My mind, however, floats to Renn.
“Remember something,” he says, eyes sparkling. “You said no.”
“No, I didn’t. We said no.”
He releases me slowly, smirking. “I didn’t say shit.”
Even if nothing can come of it, Renn’s attention is fun. It boosts my confidence. It makes me feel like Ella looks in the black dress—sexy.
I usually avoid being so outright playful with men, lest they get the wrong idea. There aren’t many men, maybe zero, that you can tease without them thinking you’ll sleep with them later. The line between flirting and fucking muddies too easily. But with Renn, too many reasons exist for us not to blur those lines, and we both know it.
I think.
“What’s that face about?” Ella asks, checking herself out in the mirror.
“Nothing. Just thinking.”
“About …”
“Why are you so nosy?” I laugh.
She whips around, hands on her hips. “Because I know the answer. I was just being polite and allowing you to bring him back up.”
My laughter fades.
“May I just make one quick point?” she asks.
“You’re going to anyway, so sure.”
“And you will never tell Brock I said this?”
I look at her warily.
“I’m taking that as a yes,” she says, perching on the stool again. “There’s a difference between flings, feelings, and forever.”
“Wow. Look at you getting deep.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m ignoring that.”
“Great.”
She doesn’t ignore it.
“Look, I haven’t seen you and Renn together in a while. But as soon as he walked toward us, it may as well have been the Fourth of July with the fireworks around the two of you.”
I force a swallow, wanting to squirm. But if I do, the water will splash, drawing attention to my discomfort with this conversation.That’s the last thing I need.
“I get why Brock doesn’t want you with him, and you know, he might be right,” she says.
“Oh,he’s right.”
