Page 21 of Imperfect Player

“I told you. Outfits. From a photo shoot at work?”

“Again, I don’t think all this trouble is necessary.”

Still, the clothes are designer and gorgeous, so my hand immediately grabs a piece. A simple black jumpsuit with rhinestone spaghetti straps. It’s beautiful. Elegant. Simple.

Chelle immediately yanks it from my hand and discards it.

“Hey,” I scold her.

“Way too hard to get off.”

“I’m not going to be taking anything off.”

Chelle rolls her eyes.

“Just in case,” she says as she hands me a green dress.

It’s casual. Nothing too fancy. Not too short, but still well above my knee to show off my legs.

I hold it up to me as I look in the mirror.

“Are you sure it doesn’t say I’m trying?”

Chelle throws her arms in the air. “I’m still trying to figure out why you’re not trying.”

Stripping off my shorts and tank, I pull the dress over my head.

Cute. Fun. Flirty. Not overtly sexy in any way.

“I like it,” I tell her.

“Perfect,” she says, clapping her hands together. “And it can easily be lifted for easy access. Just. In. Case.”

We match some jewelry and touch up my hair until I’m a perfect ensemble.

Glimpsing the clock on my nightstand, I curse.

“Shit, I have to go or I’m going to be late.”

Chelle swats my ass. “Go get him.”

Chapter 6

Everly

Even though I know this isn’t a date, I can’t help but feel slightly on edge. It’s the closest I’ve come to one since Kai ended things with me a few months ago. It was abrupt, out of the blue, but not completely unexpected.

Kai’s soccer career had taken off and begun taking him all over the world. Proud as I was of him, that sudden fame left me in the dust. We were on different paths. We grew apart. It was no one’s fault.

It wasn’t until we broke up that I realized just how bad we were together, how unhappy I had been. Meeting Ethan only solidified it more.

Spending time with Ethan felt right. Good. Yes, it was only one night, but in that one night with Ethan things were easier, more comfortable, more enjoyable than they ever had been with Kai. I couldn’t help but wonder that if that goodness and happiness was possible with a man I barely knew, then maybe it was possible to find that with someone else. That maybe Kai and I were never a really good fit after all.

I deserve a man who compliments me, not controls me. I deserve someone to find happiness with, not to try to make happy.

When I walk into Rigor’s, the upscale steakhouse Ethan suggested, all thoughts of Kai leave my mind because there sitting in the middle of the restaurant is Ethan.

He’s decked out in a gray polo that hugs tightly to the muscles in his arms and clings just right to the ones on his torso.

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