“Do you need anything, Ms. Jenkins?”
“No, thank you. I think I’m okay.”
“We’re almost there but please help yourself to anything at the bar. Mr. Moore made sure we stocked it with all your favorite snacks.”
“Thanks.” He nods then rolls the window up. I dash to the bar to search through the cabinets for my snacks. I finally find a small box full of trail mix and some weird granola bars that I’ve never heard of. I’m a little disappointed that these are supposed to be my favorite snacks when the only thing in here that I like is the trail mix. I set the box back on the shelf and close the door when I notice another box behind the flowers with my name on it. I rummage through it and find fruit snacks, fig newtons and spicy jerky. This is my box. Logan knows me too well. It’s too bad I’m getting ready to eat dinner, or I would eat a little of everything. I glance at my phone, it’s only three forty. Dinner’s at five, I can handle some fruit snacks. I grab a package and set the box back on the shelf when the car comes to a stop. I quickly rip the pack open and shovel two or three in my mouth before the next part of this journey.
I gather my things and am about to open the door when it’s opened. The driver stands to the side of the car door, waiting for me to exit. Stepping out of the car, my eyes widen when I realize I have nothing for a tip.
“I’m sorry,” I say, a little embarrassed. “I wasn’t prepared for this trip. I don’t have cash for a tip.”
“No worries, ma’am. Mr. Moore has taken care of everything.”
“So it seems he has,” I reply. He smiles, closing the door behind me and leading me inside the dress shop. “Oh, we forgot my bag,” I say, turning back to the car.
“No need, Ms. Jenkins. I’ll be waiting for you to finish and then taking you to the restaurant. If it’s okay with you, you can leave your bag in the trunk so you don’t have to carry it around.”
“Oh,” I say, not sure what to do with all this extraordinary treatment. “Yeah, sounds good. Thank you again…I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Heath.”
“Thanks, Heath.”
“My pleasure.” He nods and I walk in the dress shop.
Chapter 4
“Welcome, Ms. Jenkins.” A tall brunette greets as soon as my feet are in the door. “I’m Maggie and I’ll be helping you for the next hour.” She clasps her hands in front of her, waiting for me to come out of the shock that I’m currently feeling. This is too much. Over the top. Too much fuss for someone as simple as me, Emily Jenkins, someone who doesn’t even wear make up on a regular basis. Why he thought I needed all this, I have no idea.
“Thank you,” I finally manage. “I would be lying if I said I knew the plan. I was blindsided with all this, so please excuse my lack of knowledge.”
“You are absolutely fine, my dear. That’s why I’m here, to walk you through this. I would first like to suggest that you breathe. Then we can get started. Can you do that for me?” My lids drop and I take in a long breath.
“Yeah,” I reply and exhale the stress of the day.
“Good! Are you ready to get started?” she asks, pointing to a small room off to the back of the store.
“Absolutely,” I say, and we make our way through aisle after aisle of silk and chiffon gowns, more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen. I wipe away a stray tear. The day has finally caught up to me. He has put so much thought and love into this, I can’t be upset or irritated with him anymore.
“Is this your first time here?”
“I believe so, yes, but I must say, you have beautiful gowns.”
“Thanks. We have an in-house design team. So, these gowns are mostly unique to us.”
“Oh, that’s amazing.” We enter a small room which has the pedestal and the three-way mirror ready for me. A rack sits off to the side with three garment bags hanging from it. The one thing Logan didn’t think of is having someone here with me. I need Shay, or my mom, or one of my sisters. I’m not a fancy-dress kind of girl and I won’t know how to choose one, especially since I don’t know what to expect from the rest of the evening.
“You have a good one, you know?”
“I’m sorry?” I ask, not sure what she’s referring to.
“Logan Moore. He’s a keeper.”
“Oh, yes he is. I just wish he would have let me in on the secret so I could be prepared.”
“That would have taken all the exhilaration out of it, wouldn’t it? I wish I had someone who would plan such an elaborate evening for me, taking care of everything so I would feel like a princess.”
“I guess you’re right. It just feels like a little too much. We’re very simple people and as beautiful as everything is in here, I just feel a little out of place.”
“You’re beautiful, you fit right in and I’m betting he feels the same. I say take advantage, you never know when or if this will happen again.”
“Yes, that’s very true. So can you fill me in on what’s next.” She smiles wide, excitement radiating from her.
“Mr. Moore chose three gowns he thought you’d love and we’re going to try them on and you’re going to choose the one you want.” My mouth falls to the ground.
“Logan chose them? By himself?”
“Yes and I must say, he has great taste.”
“Do I get to keep the dress?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she replies, smiling wide again, her eyes gleaming.
“Okay, then. Let’s do this.” She nods and grabs the first dress, unzipping the garment bag, handing me the gown.
“I’ll be right outside the door, if you need me just let me know.” I nod nervously, not sure if I can do this on my own.
She steps out, closing the door behind her and I’m here, by myself in the middle of a dress shop, with beautiful gowns to try on and suddenly I can’t breathe. I hang the gown back on the rack and sit right in the middle of the floor, trying to ease my pounding heart, taking deep breaths as the implications of what the evening may bring becomes more and more evident. I search for my purse and call Shay. Straight to voicemail again.
“What the hell! Where is she when I need her.”
“Doing okay in there?” Maggie asks after knocking on the door.
“Y-yes, just a moment.” I take one last deep breath and strip out of my current dress and the awful heels Shay has me in and in that moment, I realize I’m so thankful that I had her do my hair and makeup this morning. No way would I want to wear a gown this beautiful without going all out and I couldn’t have done this myself.
I grab the hanger and hold the dress out to enjoy its beauty. It’s short and lacy and me…if I wore dresses. I step into it and pull the zipper up the side. It fits perfectly, curving with my curves, hugging my body closely. I step up on the pedestal and check myself in the mirror before Maggie comes back in. I love it and can’t imagine anything more beautiful than this.
“I’m ready, Maggie,” I shout just loud enough for her to hear.
“Great!” she says while walking in. “Oh my goodness, Emily, you are gorgeous!”
“It’s the dress.”
“The dress is absolutely gorgeous but you make it a hundred times better,” she says and my smile grows.
“Thank you. Can you tell me about this dress?”
“It’s a scoop neck cocktail dress and I’ll be honest I’ve never really been a big fan of the champagne color but you pull it off effortlessly. Spin around and check yourself out in it.”
I do as instructed and fall in love with the dress. I don’t even want to try anything else on.
“I love it! I don’t know that I need to try anything else on.” Maggie laughs and grabs another garment bag.
“So, funny story--Logan said you’d only want to try on one dress and be finished with it. He made me promise to make you try on all three before making a decision.”
“Of course he did,” I say, laughing to myself. I take one last look at myself and step down from the pedestal, readying myself for the next dr
ess. “Let’s have it,” I say, grabbing the garment bag from Maggie. She steps out of the room and I make quick work of the short cocktail dress then unzip the new bag. It’s long and much fuller than the first dress and I can already tell I won’t like this as much as the first. I slip into it and call for Maggie again. I step on the pedestal once more to examine the new gown and am not as drawn to it. It’s gorgeous, just not for me.
“Oh, this one is amazing on you, too. It’s more of an A-line, scoop neck made of chiffon and obviously floor length…so a little longer than the cocktail.”
“I don’t really care for my bare shoulders showing. Not that I’m a prude, I’m just not a fan of my shoulders. They’re too broad and do nothing for this dress. I still like the cocktail dress the best.”
“It’s gorgeous on you, but I do have to agree the shape of this one does change your look a bit. Not bad, just different.” She shrugs and hangs the next bag before stepping out. I move on to the next dress quickly, hoping this one either blows me away or is just as easy to dismiss as the last so I don’t have a difficult decision. I search for a clock and find that it’s already four thirty and who knows what else he has in store for me. I wave off the time, if Logan wanted me on time, he should have planned a little better.
I unzip the next dress and immediately love the deep emerald color. Unless the dress is just ridiculous, this one already wins. I love the champagne color but my favorite is green and any of its varieties. This one is also long but not as full. My heart picks up as this one is quickly becoming my favorite. I step into it and reach for the zipper but this one’s in the back, so I call for Maggie.
“I forgot this one zips in the back. My apologies, I should have warned you,” she says, walking in the room, checking her watch and stops dead in her tracks upon looking up at me in the dress. “Oh, Emily, that dress…” I smile at her, knowing this is the one before learning about it, or seeing myself in it. “This one is perfect. Absolutely perfect!” she exclaims, hurrying to zip the dress. She steps back once It’s zipped and watches as I step up on the pedestal. “This one is a Trumpet style, with a scoop neck.” She stops, allowing the beauty of the gown to sink in. “Oh, and look at this,” she says, just as excited as me. She disappears in the back room and comes back with a tall mirror, positioning it behind me. “You see the small, very elegant train?” Her smile shines and my eyes follow hers to the short train. I spin to enjoy the beauty of the dress. It hugs in all the right places, has cap shoulders and very elegant beading across the front and back.
“It’s perfect,” I say, matching her smile and excitement.
“Yay!” she says, leaning the mirror against the wall and clapping her hands in excitement. “I knew this would be the one. I hadn’t even met you and knew this dress was too gorgeous to pass up.” I nod as words elude me. I can’t wait to get to Logan and tell him how happy he’s made me today. How incredible happy. “May I take your photo?” I nod again and she runs out of the room and is back within seconds with a camera. She fiddles with the back of the dress a few seconds and I straighten out my hair, which at this point has lost most of its curl.
She takes a few photos and I’m left wondering if I’m wearing this out, if I take it with me. This is one of those moments where knowing the plan would be nice.
“So, I feel strange asking this question but did Logan leave any instructions for me?”
“He did and we’ll get to that in just a moment. We have to find you some shoes and a necklace.”
“Oh,” I say, checking the clock again—four-fifty.
“Don’t worry,” she says, following my eyes to the clock. “I already have in mind what will go perfectly with that dress. Shouldn’t be too much longer.” She helps me off the pedestal and we make our way to the shoes.
“I’m surprised he didn’t pick these out, too,” I say, only half joking.
“I asked if he had any ideas for them and he said he’d leave the shoes up to you.”
“Well, how nice of him,” I reply, dryly. Maggie chuckles and leads me to a bench to try on the shoes.
“Size?”
“Seven-and-a-half.” She nods and disappears behind a door, returning quickly with a shoe box. She hands me a pair of silver peep toe stilettos but I’m hesitant as the tall heels I’ve worn all day were ridiculous. “These are super cute, but I was thinking something a little shorter.”
“Oh, my apologies. You came in with tall shoes, I figured that was your preferred style.”
“My preferred style is sneakers.” I laugh. “This entire day is outside of the norm for me, and I just happen to be in a dress and tall heels to try to get back at Logan for torturing me for two weeks with this secret. As nice as it is to finally have his grand plan revealing itself, I’m very overwhelmed. I just don’t know if I can handle tall shoes any longer.” She smiles and takes the shoes back to the room and brings me a kitten heel strappy sandal that look the same as the last pair. I slip them on and my feet breathe a sigh of relief with their comfort and so do I knowing this is almost over. “These are perfect!”
“Great,” she replies, handing me a silver chunky necklace with a matching bangle. “Turn and I’ll latch your necklace.”
“So, I take it I’m wearing this dress out?”
“Indeed, you are. This is all yours, bought and paid for by Mr. Moore,” she says. “Spin so I make sure we’ve removed all the tags.” I do as I’m told and once I’ve made a full twirl, she hands me an envelope. “Read this in the limo but I want to tell you one more thing. I’ve been in this business for a long time. In fact, I’ve owned and operated this store for over thirty years and I’ve never seen someone so committed to making his girl so happy and feel so beautiful. You have a good one, girl. Don’t forget that. Now, get yourself to him and enjoy your evening.” She busies herself gathering the train and helping me to the car. We walk back to the limo and Heath hurries to open the door and I almost lose it. This is all so overwhelming. “You’re going to do great,” Maggie whispers next to me, sensing my anxiety. I nod and slide in the back of the car.
The car takes off and I check the time—five-after-five. Nothing like making an entrance. I throw the phone back in my purse and grab the envelope. I pull what looks to be an invitation out and read what’s typed in beautiful script font on a piece of ivory card stock.
Logan More would be honored if you joined him for an elegant dinner and drinks.
That smile returns and I just want to be with him. All this grandeur has been fun but I’m ready to share it with him and hope he’s just as elegantly dressed as me. Logan Moore in a tux is quite the sight. My stomach flips with anticipation and we can’t get to where we’re going fast enough.
I rest my head on the back of the seat, hoping we’re almost there. If the rest of the evening is as overwhelming as the last few hours, then I want to take the next few moments to calm my thoughts and relax my nerves. I take a few deep breaths when the car comes to a stop and the deep breathes meant to calm my nerves were for nil as my heart races again.
Chapter 5
I ready myself for what’s to come next but Heath opens the door, hyping my anxiety and my mind runs wild. I grab his arm and step out of the limo, up the small step to the long walk that leads to the restaurant. Strung lights dangle from the top of the awning, casting a small glow up against the beginning of the evening sunset.
“Thank you,” I say with a pounding heart. He nods and we begin the journey in the restaurant. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed that Logan didn’t greet us out here. “I really hope you’re taking me to Logan, because I would feel foolish if, say, you were leading me to some drug lord who plans to sell me to the highest bidder.” He fights his smile but it wins and I’m glad. He’s been Mr. Stuffy Pants the whole time.
“I can assure you, Ms. Jenkins, that isn’t the case. Unless, of course, Mr. Moore is a drug lord looking to sell you to the highest bidder,” he replies, peeking over at me with a cocked brow.
We laugh and some of the tension melts away. Heath opens the door and all the breath in my body leaves at the beauty of this place. Chandeliers hang low, just above each long table with beautifully upholstered plush chairs on each side. Very modern, very sleek silvers and deep reds and browns. My eyes move from one side of the room to the other, following the can lights above the mirror behind the bar the hugs the back well, to the hanging spot lights that are randomly placed along the ceiling. “This way,” Heath says, pulling me from all this splendor. We walk off to the left, away from all the magnificence of the first room. Disappointment sets in as I would have been happy to spend the rest of the evening in that beautiful room. We walk a long hallway and the irritation from earlier is beginning to set in again, with each passing moment that Logan isn’t out here.
“Heath, I don’t understand…” I say but the rest of the sentence is cut off by a door opening at the end of the hall. I almost pull Heath’s arm out of socket from stopping so suddenly, when Logan steps out. He closes the door behind him without looking our way and I hold my breath until he does, trying to keep myself hidden until he turns to us. He’s in a tux and I can’t wait to see all of him. His beautifully kind eyes, his strong hands taking mine, his sexy as sin smirk.
He finally turns and my eyes are immediately drawn to the large bouquet of lilies he’s carrying. He smirks when he notices us standing there and at the huge smile I must be wearing. He walks toward us and I fight the urge to run to him. This is his plan, he made this and I’m going to stand here waiting for him to walk the short distance to me. I’m going to wait for him to tell me what happens next. For the next few seconds his anticipation can build until he’s next to me.
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