“At least this is under much better circumstances than the first time we met.” I joked.
“Which circumstances were those?” she asked. “When you came onto me with one of the worst pickup lines in history or when you helped me in the garden?”
“I was referring to the garden but, wait, the worst pickup line in history? Do you really think it’s that bad?”
“You can tell me what you’d like for breakfast? Really?”
“Okay, so maybe you didn’t like it but I always go for what works.”
“That really works? Women really fall for that?”
“Well, you didn’t so I guess the smart ones must not go for it but yeah, it definitely works.”
Sarabelle rolled her eyes and went back to looking at the items in the display case.
“So, was your sister right? Are you really good when it comes to picking out Christmas gifts for people?” I asked her.
“That depends. I’ve always been able to pick out fantastic presents for my friends and loved ones. Of course, I know them all very well. I don’t know a thing about your mother or sisters so the results may not be as good. Why don’t you tell me about what they like so I can help you narrow things down a bit.”
“That’s a good question. I’m not really sure what they need or what they would want. I want to get them something that they’ll actually use on a daily basis rather than something that’s going to get shoved into a closet or put on a shelf never to be seen again. I love my mother and sisters to death and really want to be able to give them something thoughtful and useful this year.”
“Hmmm, that doesn’t really make things easier. Can you tell me about what types of things they like to do? Is there anything they do on a daily basis?”
“Let me think. Oh, I can tell you that my sisters love going into the city. They don’t go every day but they go as often as they can. They hate driving through the city so they take the bus or subway. That keeps them outside quite a bit during these freezing winter months. They are always buying beautiful coats so they don’t need anything like that.”
“What about a nice pair of gloves and a scarf? Are those some things they might need?”
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them wearing gloves or a scarf.”
Sarabelle nodded and led me away from the jewelry counter and over to the area that held the winter clothing. Never in my life would I have thought about buying them gloves or scarves but they made sense. They would be practical gifts that would get plenty of use. It would also show that I had been paying attention to them all these years. Sarabelle pulled out a few different pairs of gloves but none of them really fit my sisters styles. I thought she would become frustrated but she was very patient and kept looking. She must have gone through thirty pairs before coming across a pair of black Diane von Furstenberg gloves that were perfect for my oldest sister. After a little more searching, she also found a purple pair of the same style for my youngest. I realized that she and Sarabelle were about the same size.
“Would you mind trying on the purple glove so I can get an idea of what it might look like on my sister?”
“Sure,” she replied as she took one of the gloves and slid it onto her hand before doing the same with the other glove. I have to admit, the gloves were stylish and looked like something that both of my sisters would wear. I’d still have to find something for my mother but this was an excellent start. “So what do you think?” she asked.
“I think my sister will love them,” I said as I took her hand, still inside the glove, and brought it up to my mouth, kissing it lightly. Sarabelle blushed and looked away from me in embarrassment. “I want you to know that I appreciate your help today. I’d love to thank you by taking you out to dinner tonight. What do you say?”
CHAPTER 7
Sarabelle
Talk about putting me on the spot. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. He seemed like he was being sincere. Maybe he really did want to take me to dinner for no other reason than to thank me for helping him out. My heart wanted to believe that but my brain was telling me to get real. This was the same man who had tried using his sleazy tricks to get me into his bed just a few weeks ago. He is notorious for being a player and saying whatever he has to say to get what he wants. I know that I shouldn’t fall for the tricks of a playboy but I couldn’t help it. Looking into his eyes, I could see no hint of deception whatsoever.
“Fine, you can take me to dinner tonight. Just don’t go throwing any of those cheesy pickup lines around this evening, okay?”
“You have my word,” he promised.
We continued looking around the store, picking out a few more items for his sisters before looking at some jewelry pieces for his mother. I loved the way he spoke about his family. He didn’t have a bad word to say about any of them. I could tell that he loved them very much and they were very close and tight-knit. It was exactly the way my family used to be. I longed to be a part of that type of dynamic again. One day, it would happen, I just didn’t know when.
My sister had to have been watching our every move because she managed to stay away until the very last moments of our shopping, only popping up as Christian was about to check out the items he was purchasing.
“Oh, there you two lovebirds are. Looks like the shopping went well then?” she asked sarcastically.
“It was fine,” Christian responded. “Your sister has a knack for knowing what other people will like, even if she doesn’t know them personally. She could probably make some kind of business out of that type of skill.”
“I told you she knew what she was doing. My sister might not be good at much but she can shop for other people like it’s nobody’s business.”
“I agree but I have to get going now. I’ll see you tonight, Sarabelle. Will 7:00 be good for you?”
“7:00 will be fine,” I replied as my sister turned to me, her eyes full of questions. “I’ll explain later,” I whispered into her ear to prevent her from asking any more questions.
As we drove home, Lexi would not shut up about the fact that Christian Wilde said he would see me at 7:00 and kept asking what that meant exactly.
“Lexi, it’s really nothing,” I protested. “I helped him find some presents for his mom and sisters and he’s grateful for it. He wants to take me to dinner as his way of thanking me for my help.”
“Yeah right! Guys like Christian don’t just take you to dinner to thank you for your help. Guys like him take you to dinner as the appetizer before taking you back to his place to use you as the main course.”
“I assure you that’s not the case here. He knows that nothing is going to happen. I made that perfectly clear inside the store. This is a dinner and nothing more. I’d appreciate it if you’d stop trying to make something out of nothing.”
“Fine, I’ll shut up. I still say you’re wrong but whatever.”
Back at home, I paced in my room debating what I was going to wear. I didn’t think the evening would count as a date so I didn’t want to get too dressed up. At the same time, I couldn’t imagine him taking any girl someplace that wasn’t entirely upscale, which would require me to dress as nice as possible. I didn’t want to but I yelled for Lexi to come in and help me.
“I have no idea what to wear. I don’t want to give him the wrong idea, you know?”
“Well, where is he taking you Sarabelle?”
“I have no idea. He just said dinner. I know he’s going to try to impress me by taking me somewhere super nice. I don’t know what to do.”
“Let me ask you a question Sarabelle. What would be so bad about giving him the wrong idea?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what if this guy actually likes you? What would be so bad about him being the one you finally decide to give yourself to? You know you can’t play the sweet, innocent girl forever.”
“But I am innocent. There’s a reason I’ve never had sex. I’ve always said I wanted to wait for someone s
pecial to come along and I’m not going to just spread my legs for the first guy that tries to charm them open.”
“I get that, but I could think of a lot of guys who would be a worst choice for your first time that Christian.”
“Maybe so but it wouldn’t be special. I want it to mean something. If I had sex with him, what would I be? I’d just be another number in his list of conquests. I’d be nothing more than another notch to add to his bedpost. That sounds really sweet and romantic, doesn’t it?”
“Sounds like a pretty good time to me.”
I rolled my eyes and kept looking through my closet for something to wear.
“It’s pretty obvious that he just wants to sleep with different girls every night. I want my first time to be with someone I marry and can start a family with. It wouldn’t work.”
“That’s fair. I don’t want to pressure you into having any kind of fun or anything. Even if you aren’t going to sleep with the man, wouldn’t it at least be fun to drive him a little crazy?”
“What do you mean? How am I supposed to drive him crazy?”
“Let’s be honest. You don’t have anything in this closet that you’re going to be able to wear in any restaurant that he is going to take you to. Why don’t we go into my room and find something for you to put on.”
“Um, no offense, but I’ve seen your clothes. I don’t want to advertise that I’m open for business, especially when I’m not.”
“Are you trying to say my clothes would make you look like a slut?”
“A little bit, yeah.”
“Okay, I was just making sure. Anyway, what’s the problem with flashing a little skin at the man? You don’t have to do anything with him. It’s like having an appetizer before dinner because you’re so hungry but by the time all is said and done, you’re much too full when the dessert tray comes around.”
“You literally have an analogy for everything, don’t you?”
“It’s one of my quirks. Come on, let’s find you something to wear.”
In Lexi’s room, I sat down in a chair in the corner of her room while she walked into her closet and started throwing dresses onto the bed. As I watched what she was picking out, I couldn’t help but think she wanted me to dress like I was about to walk the streets looking for a sugar daddy. Each dress that flew out showed more skin than the last. At one point, the amount of fabric on the clothes was becoming so little that I feared she might decide to wrap a ribbon around my breasts and send me on my way.
“Lexi, I don’t think I can wear any of these dresses you’re throwing out here. They aren’t really my style.”
“Don’t be stupid Sarabelle,” she yelled at me from the closet. “Obviously, none of those dresses are going to work with your prude ass. I’m getting them all out of my way so I can find that little red dress I bought last year.”
I knew the red dress she was talking about and realized she knew me a little better than I thought she did. Yes, the red dress is not something that I would have ever bought to wear myself, but out of all the clothes she had in her closet, it was the one that most matched my style. When she finally found it, she pulled it out, brought it over and held it up against me.
The dress was much shorter than any dress I ever wore. I didn’t like to show my legs off even though everyone always tell me that they are one of my best features. It was also very low cut, showing off a lot of cleavage, which I wasn’t particularly comfortable with.
“This is going to look damn good on you,” Lexi boasted. “Christian is going to have a hell of a time trying to keep his hands off of you in this thing.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. What if he spends most of his night wanting to find out what it looks like crumpled up on his bedroom floor?”
“Maybe you should show him. If you decide not to, you can always tell him that the dress is mine.”
“Okay? Why would I want to do that?”
“Because I wouldn’t have any problem with him taking it off of me.”
“Lexi Williams! You stop it right now!”
“Oh, did I strike a nerve? I think you like this guy a little more than you’d like to admit. It’s okay, you know. It’s not that big a deal to give it up. You have been kind of uptight lately. Maybe it’s time for you to have a mind blowing orgasm and see what the fuss is all about. I hear that Christian knows what he’s doing in the bedroom.”
“If I ever decide to find out, it will be on my terms,” I said blushing, wondering if maybe my sister was right. I wasn’t a little girl anymore. Maybe it was dumb to be hanging onto the fantasy of the perfect man sweeping me off my feet.
I decided I had nothing to lose and was going to wear the dress. I grabbed it from my sister and went back to my room to start getting ready. I felt like I had an enormous ball in my stomach and thought I may actually get sick on a couple of occasions. My nerves were getting the best of me. I don’t even know what I was so afraid of. He was just a man taking me to dinner. It wasn’t like I was going out for a job interview or anything like that. I was being ridiculous and I knew it. There was a part of me that wouldn’t let the nerves go and that only served to make me even more anxious. It felt like something was happening and I didn’t have a clue as to what it is.
I looked at the clock and realized that I didn’t have a ton of time. I still had to shower and get dressed before doing my hair and makeup. I was going to have to hurry if I was going to be ready when he got there. Prioritizing my time, I took a quick shower and got dressed just as fast, leaving most of my time for my hair and face. I wasn’t even close to being done when I heard the doorbell ring. Looking at my watch, it was only 6:30. Was he really here so early?
“I’ll get it,” yelled Lexi as she started running down the stairs towards the foyer where the front door was. After a minute or so, she yelled up to me that Christian had arrived.
“I’m still getting ready. I’ll be right down,” I yelled, embarrassed that he was going to realize how much I went through to get ready for the evening. I wanted him to think that I was coming into the date casually. I wanted him to think that I didn’t care about being there one way or another. The fact that I had about a half-hour of getting ready to do was going to throw that facade straight out the window. I wondered if this was one of his ploys to see if he could get me to hurry up to appease him. I decided I was going to do the opposite. I was going to take my time and he was just going to have to wait.
Once I was completely ready, I looked at my watch again and it was approaching 7:15. I found it kind of funny that he had been downstairs waiting for me the entire time. I could almost guarantee that it took him out of his comfort zone as most women would probably never dream of making the great Christian Wilde wait for them. Hopefully, it would be a little bit of a wake-up call for him, making him realize I am not one of the typical girls that he usually goes out with.
After I was completely ready, I slipped on my shoes and looked at myself in the mirror. With so much leg exposed and my cleavage sticking out, I looked like an entirely different person. Much to my surprise, I didn’t hate it. I didn’t usually make an effort to try to make myself look sexy but apparently I was able to do quite a good job of it. I took a deep breath and decided I was ready. Walking slowly, I descended the steps looking absolutely stunning.
CHAPTER 8
Christian
As Sarabelle came walking down the stairs, I had a hard time believing that what I was seeing was real. Was this the same girl that I had saw for the first time at that silent auction? Was this the same sweet, innocent looking girl that I first spoke to the night of the gala? If her sister hadn't been standing next to me, I would have sworn that Sarabelle had decided to back out of the date and convinced Lexi to be a stand-in. I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was truly a sight to see. Never being able to pass on the opportunity to crack a joke, I opened my mouth against my better judgment.
“Wow Sarabelle, you look fabulous. As good as you look, I think I should have my
driver just take us back to my place. We can skip dinner and move straight on to dessert.”
Lexi started laughing instantly but it only took a few seconds of studying Sarabelle’s face to realize I shouldn’t have said anything. Regardless of the fact that I was just kidding, the smile she had been wearing on her face had suddenly turned into a scowl. The comment had apparently left her feeling uncomfortable.
“You know what, I’m not sure if I’m feeling up to this after all. Maybe going out with you tonight isn’t the best idea,” she said, desperately searching for a way out. I would have to think quick if I was going to be able to salvage the evening.
“Oh no, you’re not getting out of our date that easily. What if I promise to be good? Will you go out with me then? I promise I will be on my best behavior.”
Sarabelle looked down at the floor and started to giggle. When she looked back up at me, her face had turned a deep shade of crimson. I’m not sure what I said that was so funny to her but whatever it was had been enough to make her blush. I considered that a success, especially when she continued down the stairs and walked to my side.
Good Girls Do It Well (A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance) Page 5