by Claire Adams
Gag me.
That left me with three dresses. Two were black, and the last one was a cap-sleeve dress that had a tight, navy blue bodice with a flowy skirt. It was a good mix of my casual style but fancy enough for whichever restaurant Parker had chosen.
I slipped it on and was surprised to know it still fit. With the number of bacon cheeseburgers I consumed on a weekly basis, I almost thought I’d have to go with the stretchier black ones. It even completely covered the tattoo that stretched from my left hip down my thigh.
I grabbed a pair of black heels and slipped them on. While they did wonders for accentuating the lean muscles in my legs, I knew my feet would be killing me by the time I got to the restaurant. I kicked them off and tossed them onto the bed. I’d put them on at the last possible second. I hoped the table had a long tablecloth because those puppies would be coming off the second I sat down.
I threw on a layer of concealer and foundation before applying some mascara and lip gloss. Looking in the mirror, I scowled. I looked like the type of girls that Parker took out all the time. I wished he would have opted to take me to a bar, but I supposed he needed to spend his money somehow.
I brushed my hair until it went from a tangled rat’s nest to glossy waves that cascaded over my shoulders.
I’d just put down the brush when my doorbell rang.
I scooped up the heels from my bed and headed for the door.
When I opened the front door, Parker was standing there in a black shirt and black suit pants. His dirty-blond hair was slicked back tonight instead of styled like he normally wore it. I wondered if I should have picked a different dress.
Parker leaned forward and looked into the space. “Is Sienna here? About yea tall. And normally dresses like a truck driver.”
I punched him in the arm. “Let’s go, loser.”
He laughed as I passed him. He closed the door behind me and we headed out to his car.
“Did you forget your shoes?” he asked.
I held them up by their straps; my bare feet smacked over the driveway. “I have them right here.”
“Shouldn’t they be on your feet?” He held the door open for me and I got into his Porsche.
It was my favorite of his cars because it drove the fastest. And Parker knew I liked to go fast.
When he got in the car, I answered him. “It’s enough that you got me into a dress. The heels go on when we get there.”
He smirked. “Whatever you say.”
“If you had to wear these stilts all the time, you’d be complaining, too.”
“Remember, I did try on my mom’s heels during that scavenger hunt junior year.”
“Ohhh!” I said pointing at him. “I totally forgot about that.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “They weren’t that bad.”’
I laughed. “You had to wear them for like, a minute. Don’t try and pretend you have enough experience to argue with me.”
“Argue with you?” he said in mock surprise. “Never.”
“So, where are you taking me?” I asked.
“Valencia’s,” he said.
As a restaurant owner, I made a point to know the up-and-coming places nearby. I didn’t have a lot of competition in the diner business, but Valencia’s was completely out of Sunny Daes’ orbit.
“Valencia’s?” I said, stunned.
“Yup.”
“You mean the Italian joint that books reservations a year in advance?”
“That’s the place.”
I turned in my seat to face him. “Did you have a reservation for a year?” Had he intended to take Rachel there and she backed out? I couldn’t imagine that she would pass up a chance to go to Valencia’s, but I also didn’t pretend to know what was going on in her gold-digger head.
“No way, I got them yesterday.”
It wasn’t the first time Parker used his money to his advantage. And in this case, it was to our advantage. I was obsessed with that place and had always wanted to go. I didn’t remember ever mentioning that to Parker before. Had I?
“Must be nice,” I said.
“It is nice.” He squeezed my hand. “I have the opportunity to take my best friend out for a fancy dinner. I’ll call that a win.”
I smiled and settled back into my seat, slowly extracting my hand from his. I flexed it in my lap and tried to shove down the resulting fluttering in my stomach.
When we arrived at the restaurant, Parker pulled into the valet line and got out. I scrambled to strap on the heels before the valet opened my door.
The young valet reached his hand out to help me, but Parker was already there, politely offering himself to help me. The valet stepped aside and Parker gave him the keys to the car.
I took Parker’s outstretched hand and stood on wobbly legs. It took me a second to get used to my extra five inches of height. Parker tucked my arm under his, serving as a solid being for me to rest my weight on until I could walk normally.
I looked up at the otherwise normal, seemingly innocuous brick building that housed the best Italian cuisine for miles. People flocked to Valencia’s all year round. And now I was going to get the opportunity to experience it, too.
Inside, Parker led me to the hostess station. The woman at the desk balked when she saw him.
I rolled my eyes. It was the signature reaction of any female when they saw Parker for the first time. He had great genetics. Too bad none of them knew him when he was a gangly, pimple-faced teenager. I didn’t hold that against him, at least not all the time. I did, however, keep a particularly embarrassing photo stored on my phone that I liked to show him whenever I felt his ego needed to be checked.
She picked up two menus. “Follow me, Mr. Liston.”
She hadn’t bothered to glance at me once. I wondered if Rachel would have gotten the same response. Had I worn the wrong outfit?
We were seated in the back of the restaurant near a roaring fire. There was just enough of the heat to make me feel right at home when I settled into my seat.
“Your server will be around shortly to take your drink order and inform you of the specials,” the hostess said.
“Thank you,” Parker said.
The woman’s mouth spread into an overly wide grin. I stifled a laugh into my hand as she walked away.
Parker looked at me. “This place is nice, right?”
“I bet you take all the girls here,” I teased.
“I actually haven’t been here before,” he admitted.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
I couldn’t help feeling flattered that I was the only person he’d taken to Valencia’s. It made it a little more special.
Parker ordered a bottle of wine for the table and the server returned quickly.
I looked down at the table as the server poured me a glass.
We placed our order for an antipasto plate while we decided on dinner. I was going to take advantage of Parker’s unlimited funds for once; I had a feeling coming to Valencia’s wasn’t going to be a regular occurrence.
There were several utensils in front of me, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“What is it?” he asked.
“This is the first time I’ve been to a place that had more than one fork.”
“I believe that,” he said smirking.
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Har har. Seriously, though, as kids did you ever imagine going to a place like this? Our parents would have never come to such a fancy restaurant.”
“I always did,” he said.
“Really.”
He nodded. “I always wanted to. Remember that place downtown, Deluca’s?”
Deluca’s was like the Valencia’s of our neighborhood, but to kid’s eyes. It couldn’t have been this fancy.
“I used to walk by it after practice at school in the afternoons. I’d watched the servers cleaning wine glasses through the windows. For some reason drinking out of a wine glass was the epitome of higher living.” He smiled to him
self. “I knew someday I’d get out of there and make something of myself.”
“And you did.”
“Yes, I did,” he said.
“Times have changed,” I noted.
He raised his glass, and I took mine. “To old friends,” he toasted.
We clinked the crystal glasses and I took a sip of wine. The taste was full bodied with a hint of fruit. Sure beat the nine dollar bottle I bought myself on special occasions.
I placed my glass down on the table. “Just as long as those friends don’t change too much.”
“What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes money changes people.” It was hard for me to not think of Rachel. If Parker didn’t have his money, I doubted she would be interested in him at all.
“How have I changed?”
I laughed. “I’m not saying you did. I’m only here to keep your ego in check.”
He scoffed dramatically. “Well, you let me know if that happens and I’ll be sure to downgrade my Porsche to a Honda Accord.”
I pulled a face. “Well if you do decide to get rid of that car, I think I know a girl who would easily take it off your hands.”
The server returned with the antipasto plate. My mouth watered at the platter of food. I dug right in.
Even though we were stuffed from the appetizer, both Parker and I ordered pasta dishes. My simple shrimp scampi was to die for, and his cavatelli with sausage was equally delicious.
We’d ordered after-dinner drinks and a tiramisu before Parker dropped a bomb on me.
“So, the reason that I wanted to take you to dinner tonight,” he started.
My stomach flip-flopped. “You mean this wasn’t just a casual get together among friends?”
“Of course it was,” he said, “but I did have something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Please don’t let him say he is proposing to Rachel. Anything but that!
“Tomorrow, I want to propose to Rachel out on the pier.”
My mouth went dry and I took a breath, my mind whirling. All I could muster was, “Wow.”
Chapter Three
Parker
Even though Sienna and I polished off two bottles of wine the night before, I woke bright and early with a spring in my step. Today was the day I’d propose to Rachel. It was about time for us to go to the next level, and I was sure Rachel was as ready as I was. Yesterday was the first time I was happy when Rachel said she wanted to stay at her place for the night. If she’d stayed with me, I feared I wouldn’t have enough preparation for the proposal. Besides, I’d risk her finding out the surprise before I even got to say the words. And I wanted this to be perfect.
And I needed my best friend’s help.
I was almost six-thirty when I arrived at Sienna’s place. There was a chill in the air, but it was predicted to be a sunny and warm day. It was the perfect weather for a proposal. Rachel and I would have an early dinner, just like she preferred, and I’d propose before the sun went down on the pier. It would be picturesque and everything that Rachel deserved.
I couldn’t help smiling as I jogged up to Sienna’s door and rang the bell.
After a few seconds, I rang it again. I looked over my shoulder and saw her car tucked into the garage. I knew she was here.
My finger hovered over the doorbell, ready to press it once more, but the door swung open in front of me.
“What?” Sienna said with a scowl.
Her hair was a tangled mess on one side, and she wore a tight black tank top and black lace panties. The majority of her tattoo scaled down her thigh.
I cleared my throat and tried to keep my eyes above her neck.
“Good morning?”
She groaned and turned around, walking into the house. “You know today is my day off, right?”
“Yes, but I need help with prepping for the proposal. You said you’d help in any way you could.”
She sighed. “At a normal hour! I didn’t get to sleep until after midnight and my head is killing me.”
Apparently, the wine had hit her harder than it had done to me.
“Let me make you some breakfast—”
“Don’t you dare touch anything in my kitchen. I don’t need this place to go up in flames.”
I suppressed a laugh. She wasn’t in the laughing mood quite yet. She was a bear when anything but her alarm woke her.
“Give me a sec,” she said.
A few minutes later, she emerged from her bedroom dressed in jeans, flip flops, and had thrown a white shirt over her tank top. Her hair was tamed and pulled back.
“You’re taking me to breakfast,” she said and grabbed her purse from the table.
“Anything you want,” I said.
“Do you know a place with strong coffee?”
After breakfast, Sienna was her normal self again. And after three cups of coffee, she was wired to help me out. We stopped by a craft store and picked up strings of white lights to hang on the pier. I could have easily paid someone to do this for me—and they probably would do a better job—but I wanted this to be a special and personal moment for Rachel and me. Besides, I had a bigger job in mind for Sienna, and I wanted to make sure she’d be up to the task after Rachel said yes.
As the day wore on, I started to get a little nervous about the proposal. I didn’t want to admit that to Sienna; I had a feeling she thought I was rushing things. But like a good friend, she didn’t push her views on me—at least not all the time. We were almost thirty; I could make the decision on my own.
When we finished stringing the lights along the pier, I realized I only had two hours to finish and get ready. Sienna and I were drenched in sweat from the heat that day; it was warmer than normal for April, but the breeze across the water had kept us semi-cool. I had to shower and pick up Rachel in time for our dinner reservation. We were going to our favorite place overlooking the pier, and then I’d walk her down the pier and propose. I looked out over the water and it sparkled as if thousands of diamonds floated over the surface. I gently patted my pocket that held the diamond ring for Rachel. I’d bought it yesterday morning after breakfast at Sunny Daes. Once I saw it, I knew Rachel would love it. The way that everything was falling into place built up my confidence that this was the right thing to do.
“I think we’re good here,” I said and gathered the packing material from the lights. I’d have a hell of a time getting them back into the boxes after it was all said and done, but I’d worry about that another time.
“It looks great,” Sienna said, admiring our work. I’d noticed she hadn’t spoken much during the day while we hung the lights. I had a feeling she’d come down from her caffeine high, so I didn’t want to bother her by pushing her to talk.
I nodded. Even in the late afternoon sun, the pier now had a sense of romance to it. It was the perfect setting for the proposal.
Sienna helped me carry the boxes to my car and put them into the trunk.
I closed the trunk and snapped my fingers, remembering that I’d wanted to get Rachel a bouquet to put her in the bridal mood. “I need flowers.”
She pointed across the street at a flower stand. “How about there?”
I knew Rachel liked roses, at least she always said so when I sent them to her. But there was only one bouquet of red roses left, and they looked a little wilted. Next to them were bright white ones.
“What do you think of the white ones?” I asked.
“They seem fine to me.”
“Not red?”
“Red, white—it doesn’t matter. It’s the thought that counts.”
Giving Rachel wilted red roses wouldn’t impress her much, so I purchased the white ones. “All right, white roses it is.”
Sienna suggested we leave the roses with the maître d' at the restaurant so I could give them to Rachel before the proposal.
When I pulled into her driveway, Sienna practically jumped out of the car. I didn’t think she’d had that bad of a time, but maybe she wanted me to get
on my way so I wasn’t late.
I leaned out the open window. “Well, thanks again for helping. I needed a woman’s touch.”
“It’s not like I had much of a choice with you barging in on me.”
I smiled. “You had fun; admit it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Think what you want.” She started up the path to her house but turned around halfway there. “You sure you’re ready to be a fiancé?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“As long as you’re sure.”
“I am. I’ll call or text you later.”
She nodded and turned away. I could have sworn I heard her say, “Good luck,” but I wasn’t quite sure. I hoped she didn’t think she was losing me as a friend. Nothing could get in the way of our history, but I wasn’t going to press her about it. I’d just have to show her she’d never lose me.
When I got to Rachel’s, she made me wait outside for almost thirty minutes before she came out. And it was well worth the wait. She wore a sexy red dress with matching lipstick. Something primal stirred inside of me. Yes, this was definitely the right decision.
I went to kiss her on the lips, but she moved away from me. “I don’t want my lipstick to smudge. It’s still setting.”
I led her to the car and got a glimpse of her underwear beneath her dress.
I had to take a minute after closing the car door to collect myself. Maybe we could finally have sex after the proposal. I’d love to remove that dress from her body as soon as possible.
When we got to the restaurant, we were only seated on the balcony for a few minutes before Rachel wanted to go inside after claiming the wind was messing up her hair. I should have thought of that. After generously tipping the server and offering to pay for drinks for a couple that we relocated, we were able to get a spot overlooking the pier from the dining room. The staff quickly cleaned the table and reset it for us.
“You should have got this table to start,” she said, looking out over the pier. “It’s perfect in here, and I don’t have to ruin my three hundred dollar blowout.” I didn’t remind her that I’d been the one to pay for the blowout.
I took her hands in mine. “Anything for you.”