Page 34 of Certified Heartthrob

Jada and I stopped by a string of boutiques downtown, but the moment I tried on the blue dress in the third store, I knew I had found what I was looking for.

“Wow,” Jada gasped, staring at my reflection in the fitting room mirror. “If that doesn’t hook him, I don’t know what will.”

It had a scoop neck and cinched waist that hugged my lean body well enough to form a perfect hourglass figure. The color made my hair and my eyes pop, and the subtle sparkling gems on the jewelry I got only complemented it more.

“I think he’s already hooked.” I smirked. “I just want to throw in a little bonus to sweeten the deal in case he starts getting cold feet about all of this. But...that’s doubtful. Joe said he deleted all of his dating profiles.”

“Well, if nothing else...you solved our troll problem.” She laughed. “Unless you break his heart, too, and he goes right back to it for revenge.”

I bought a shiny new pair of black stilettos and a matching handbag for good measure. I could see Jada eyeing the shopping bags in my hands as we walked out.

“Don’t you already have black pumps and a black bag at home?” she asked skeptically.

“I know, but I can’t explain it,” I replied. “I’m on too much of a high to go home and mess with all that now.”

I could feel her studying me out of the corner of her eye. I stopped on the street corner and faced her. “What is it? Are you with Joshua and Lucas on this? You think I’ve gone crazy.”

“Not crazy.” She shrugged. “But I’ve never seen you like this before.”

She was right. I was normally the cautious one. If our roles were reversed, I would have been lecturing her the same way my brothers were lecturing me. And I certainly wouldn’t have condoned a shopping spree, especially for things she already owned.

I was always the responsible one who kept both feet planted firmly on the ground—in reality. A reality that, before, would have told me I would regret blowing all that money in three weeks’ time after he broke my heart.

“Mark and I really aren’t so different,” I explained. “I think that’s what intrigued me about him in the first place. He was expressing a kind of cynicism that I secretly felt, too.”

“Or not so secretly,” she grumbled.

“We can change each other’s minds.” I sighed. “Or...maybe we already have. Anyway, you won’t be complaining when I pay for your new cut and color!”

She twirled a strand of her long, mousy brown locks around her finger. “What color? You know I don’t like to do anything crazy with my hair.”

“Just a few highlights or something,” I suggested. “We’ll let the stylists work their magic. Whatever they suggest.”

They chose a few caramel highlights for her and a few burgundy highlights for me. We sipped mimosas while we had our nails done, and then I even paid extra to have our makeup done as well. We walked out of the salon looking like a million bucks.

“Too bad I don’t have some lover to go rushing off to meet,” she said wistfully as we walked out.

“You have me to meet with. I suggest a round of cocktails before I set off to see him.” I glanced down at my watch. “He probably has volunteer gigs until later this afternoon, but I don’t want to text or call. I want to surprise him.”

Jada was happy to indulge me as we settled into a chic spot on the corner, sipping cosmopolitans on the patio. As we snacked on some appetizers, I noticed a table of people with cameras sitting nearby. Tabloid reporters from the looks of it. I spotted them before they saw me, but as soon as they did see me...all bets were off.

They weren’t rude enough to storm the table like I expected. But they did send one of their number over to approach me.

“Ms. Meadows,” the man said somewhat nervously. “Do you have any comment on the latest breaking story about your relationship with Mark Silver?”

“Sorry to disappoint.” I flashed a coy grin across the table at Jada. “No comment. Not yet, anyway.”

“Any idea what his comment would have been this afternoon?” he pressed.

“What do you mean? This afternoon?”

“He reached out to a number of us and asked us to meet him to hear his statement about an hour ago,” he explained. “But he never showed up. Cold feet, perhaps?”

I winced at the words. Cold feet were exactly what I was afraid of and why I was parading my credit card all around town to make myself look even more irresistible than usual.

“I had no knowledge of Mr. Silver’s plans to address the press today,” I told him.

He lifted his camera and snapped a picture without my permission. Ignoring my obviously displeased expression, he thanked me and scurried back to his table with the others.

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