Page 50 of Beauty and the Nerd

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The moment she slid it on, she knew it was everything she’d wanted for the day.

She couldn’t stop the smile that appeared as she moved out from behind the screen set up for changing, moving over to the little platform next to the mirror to see it all.

“Oh, sweetheart, you look…it’s perfect,” her mom managed to get out around tears and Emma laughed giddily as Megan handed her a tissue.

“You nailed it, Lucy,” Emerson agreed. “I don’t think anything could possibly fit better, and I don’t mean the size.”

“With that back, you could wear your hair down or mostly down even and it wouldn’t hide it. You know Ben would love your hair being left long,” Megan told her, and she definitely had to agree with that. Even if he didn’t run his hands through it when she had it styled, he’d still let his fingers wrap around the bottom of the length while they were out and she loved it, that he wanted to be connected to her in even the tiniest way.

“It really is perfect,” she said, covering her stomach as it tumbled with butterflies, so anxious for September now.

“Are we saying this is it then? I can pull more if you need me to, no rush,” Lucy assured her, but she just shook her head no, unable to stop grinning.

“No, this is definitely it. It’s everything,” she replied, not about to argue the price for it because it was the absolute perfect dress for her. “We can get it in before September right?”

“Actually this is from a designer that does a limited quantity of each gown they design, so this is actually the last one of this design we have. If you want it, this will be your actual dress. There are seam allowances built in to allow the dress to go up a few sizes, and additional lace that came with it, but if anything we’ll need to take it in just a little on the sides. The extra lace could be added to a veil if you’d like to wear one for the ceremony,” Lucy explained, and her heart raced at the idea of taking this dream home with her today.

“I can keep it at the studio in my vault until the wedding if you don’t want to risk Ben seeing it,” Emerson offered as the realization that she didn’t have anywhere to store it rolledthrough her mind. “We can do any needed alterations there as well.”

“Really? That would be perfect,” Emma said at Emerson’s nod. “I can’t begin to imagine anything better than this one. It’s perfect.”

“And it’s stunning on you. Let me get everything for it and if you’d like to take it today, I can get a box or a non-see-through bag for you,” Lucy stated, and they agreed to all of it. Emerson and Megan snapped some photos of her in it before she changed back into her clothes, a huge smile on her lips as Alice came back to check on them.

“Lucy is getting the dress packed up, is there anything else I can help you with while we wait? Depending on if you’d like to wear a veil or something a bit more simplistic, we have a wide array of head pieces to choose from,” Alice suggested, and they moved over to the accessories area of the salon.

A stunning gold headband caught her attention, and she couldn’t help but smile when she saw the shapes holding the diamond looking stones were stars and crescent moons. It reminded her of the nights she and Ben spent up talking that summer as well as the night he made love to her under the stars in Hawaii, and she knew it would be perfect if she wore her hair down or even just partly down.

“What do you think?” Emma asked the others, showing it to them and the look in Megan’s eyes said she knew why she’d pick stars and moons, but her mom didn’t.

“Let’s see,” Megan stated, settling it onto her hair before sliding the clip holding the mass up out of the way off. She twisted the front strands back, and used the clip to hold them, before letting her see it entirely for herself.

“If you wanted to do a veil you still could. Just slip it in under here,” Emerson said showing her the idea of it as she slid the comb under where the clip was, “and then it would flowdown like this, or, if there’s enough lace to do an edged veil, you could pin it so that it rests up against the headband for the ceremony, drape it like this,” she added showing her the idea. “Then you could take it off for the reception and show off just the headband.”

“I like both so it’s up to you, honey,” her mom said, and Emma laughed having Alice add the headband onto the purchase and they could figure out a veil later.

Her mom wouldn’t let her pay for the dress no matter how much she argued, and they headed back to Emerson’s office, leaving her there with the dress before heading to the apartment to go over more plans. The door opened just before four and she grinned even brighter when Ben came in, his brow rising as he took in her expression.

“Good day I take it?” he asked, dropping a kiss onto her lips as he moved to put his bag up in their room.

“Rough start but it ended up being amazing,” she said, telling him about the first salon before letting him know that her dress was in hand—even if it was technically in Emerson’s hands rather than hers.

“Six more months, then I can call you all mine in every way,” he teased, giving her another kiss when they finished telling him about the rest of the plans they managed to knock out between the three of them. “Did you decide on how many people you want to invite? I know with it being after school starts not as many of others might be able to make it, but if you want to invite them to see if they can you should.”

“Honestly, the only ones that won’t be in the city who are still in school with be Adam and Daphne. I’m not inviting the girls from high school, most of them are still being absolute idiots online so I definitely don’t want them there. Other than family from out of town, most every one else is living here, or at least will be here with the semester started already,” she said, notabout to ask if he’d changed his mind on inviting his mother. The woman still was livid over their engagement, and she didn’t want that to ruin their day. His dad on the other hand was excited to come, as was Daphne, while Adam had been more interested in asking if any of the other models from Satin Touch would be there than on the date they’d chosen.

“We’ve already reserved a couple rooms for the entire week so I can come up early and help with any last minute details. With Emerson’s help, we got a great rate for a block of rooms, and since there’s only Emerson, Megan, and Ashley for the bridal party, they can easily fit in the suite and spend Friday night there if they want. We’ll keep a room available for you for when you can get up here,” her mom added to Megan and her friend gave her a grin before looking to Emma questioningly.

“I didn’t say a word to anyone yet,” Emma said.

“Didn’t say a word about what?” Ben asked his lips pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

“Well…I actually am transferring up here to NYU next semester for my last two years of school. I got a transfer scholarship, and the school has a branch of my sorority and I’m going to be moving in with a couple of them at the start of the summer. So, I’ll get to be close to my best friend and not be the third wheel for a few weeks this year,” Megan told them.

“And…” I prompt her.

“And Heath and I might be giving this thing between us an actual chance,” Megan added making her giggle at the surprise on Ben’s face at that news.

“Heath, like the Heath from school Heath?” Ben asked and she nodded.