Page 2 of Stepping Into Tomorrow

“Do you think you’re ready for that?” Tessa asked, her voice soft and free of judgment. If anyone knew how to seize the day, it was Tessa.

Her reaction to the stranger at the bar was still thrumming through her veins. “I . . . do. For something fun—definitely not something serious. A one-night stand . . . well, that has potential.” Not that I’ve ever had one. But maybe the new Isabella could do it. The Isabella who was moving halfway across the country. She lifted her drink to her lips.

“A wedding is the perfect place to find that.” Tessa scanned the room. “Anyone caught your eye?”

Isabella pressed a cool hand to one of her flushed cheeks. “I did see a man by the bar when I went to the bathrooms. He was alone and . . . I don’t know, he looked . . . well, hotter than Hades, actually.” And just as mysterious too.

Tessa’s attention focused on the bar. “Him?”

Bella turned to look in the same direction, her attention catching on the isolated man in question. What made him so sullen at a wedding? “Yeah. There’s just something about him . . .” The people around him gave him a wide berth, as if afraid whatever weight he carried on those broad shoulders would rub off on them.

“Go for it,” Tessa said.

Isabella spun back to her, chewing on her bottom lip. “I don’t know. It’s been so long since I had to do something like this.”

“You don’t have to have sex with the guy if you don’t want. But you could try and talk to him. Ease yourself into it,” Tessa pushed.

Am I really ready for this? It’s just a conversation—just one small step into the new me. And the new Isabella is confident. Fake it ’til you make it, right? “If I do, will you finally ask Roy about doing that tattoo you’ve wanted?”

Panic flashed through her friend’s gaze before she turned her focus to the very man they were speaking of. He wasn’t hard to find, with his blue-tipped hair and several face piercings. He was down on one knee, speaking to Joshua, the bride’s son.

“I—”

“Come on. What are you so worried about?” Tessa and Roy had been dancing around each other for so long.

Tessa shrugged.

“You ask him for the tattoo and I’ll go talk to the man at the bar. Deal?” Isabella asked, holding out her pinky finger and trying to act like the idea didn’t terrify her.

“Deal.” Tessa hooked her pinky finger in Bella’s.

“What are you two troublemakers up to now?” Roy’s voice lilted with his Irish accent. Isabella smiled to herself as her best friend tried to make it seem like she wasn’t affected by the man, but her shiver gave her away.

“Cold?” he asked Tessa.

“A little.” She reached for her sweater, but he’d already picked it up off the chair and held it out for her arms, anticipating her needs.

Isabella wanted someone to do that for her. To have a man look at her like she was the sun and moon as Roy did to Tessa. She hadn’t found it with Robert, but maybe someday she would discover it with someone else.

Though Robert was a great man, and best friend, he had not been her person. The next time she agreed to marry, it would be because she’d found the kind of love that she’d only read about in books or witnessed in a few lucky friends. But she’d learned her lesson. Isabella would never settle for less again.

“Well, wish me luck.” Bella stood, smoothing her glittering gold dress over her plentiful curves. “I’m so nervous.”

“’Bout what?” Roy asked.

“Stepping into tomorrow.” Isabella took a deep breath. Using the phrase she and Robert had shared bolstered her confidence.

“Do I look okay?” Bella plucked the fabric from her belly and rolled her shoulders back.

“You look grand,” Roy assured her.

Bella smiled and turned to Tessa, nodding towards Roy. “Well?”

“Well, what?” Roy asked.

Isabella cut her friend a warning look. They’d made a deal, after all.

Tessa stood abruptly. “I wanted to know if you’d dance with me?”

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