Page 73 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
“Hi.”
A warm grin pulled at her mouth. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but do you have plans tonight?”
“Not unless you count taking a bath and watchingFriendsreruns.” I felt a little bit like a loser admitting mywildSaturday night plans to Mia. Like Charli, I was sure the woman standing in front of me never spent a weekend night alone with Netflix and vino.
She let out a relieved sigh. “I was supposed to accompany Alex to a charity event tonight, but I’m feeling under the weather. I hate to ask you, but would you possibly be able to go in my place?”
“Me?” I was sure that I must have misheard her.
Her friendly smile widened. “Yes, you.”
“Oh...um...I don’t...I’m not…I wouldn’t…” I knew that I wasn’t making any sense as panic rose in me. Most women my age probably had at least one LBD, little black dress, that they could pull out for special occasions, but I wasn’t one of those women. The only black dress I owned was one I’d got to wear at a funeral, and I didn’t think that was gala worthy. And it was also in a pile of ashes. I kept forgetting that everything I owned was gone. “I don’t have anything to wear.”
“I brought a few options, just in case.” Mia stepped to the side revealing a garment rack with at least ten dresses hanging on it. “I also have shoes and jewelry and glam waiting.”
“Glam?” I repeated.
“A hairdresser and makeup artist,” she explained.
“But...are you sure Alex wants me to go with him? I mean, isn’t he going because he’s the most eligible bachelor.”
I’d read about the event online. It seemed like showing up with a date would be a little… off brand.
“Yes.” Mia’s chin dipped in a sharp nod. “Which isexactlywhy he needs someone at his side as a buffer.”
“A buffer?”
“Sending him alone is like chumming the water in a sea of starving sharks. They’ll eat him alive.”
I blinked, unsure of what to say. Alex didn’t seem like the sort of guy that could be eaten alive by anything. He was Batman. But then I remembered how the women had circled him at Hannah’s birthday party the week before.
Whoa.That party was exactly seven days ago. It felt like a lifetime had passed not just a week. So much had happened, had changed, in just a few short days. I’d gone from a business owner, who rented the apartment above her shop, to a nanny who lived in a six thousand square foot penthouse.
It wasn’t just my vocation and living situation that had changed, though. For the first time in my life, I’d felt like I’d been in a real family. My childhood had been amazing, and I knew that my dad did the best he could, but it had always been just the two of us. And even though I’d never tell him this, I had always felt like something was missing.
But this past week, I’d found the thing that I’d always felt was missing. But it wasn’t real. It was temporary. I was not going to allow myself to build this situation up into something it wasn’t.
No more rose-colored glasses. Alex and Lexi didn’tneedme, at least not for anything other than temporary childcare. I didn’t belong here. This was not my family.
“Please,” Mia begged as she folded her hands together, snapping me out of my inner turmoil. “You’d be doing me a huge favor. I really don’t feel up to it.”
I wasn’t one to judge, and I had no reason not to take Mia at her word, but she looked perfectly healthy to me.
“Um…”
Say no!that’s what my inner voice was screaming. I needed to keep my distance from the man that was kryptonite to my sanity. Attending a black-tie event with him would only serve to blur the lines of this situation even further to my happily-ever-after tendencies.
But what if Mia really didn’t feel up to going to the gala? What if she really needed me to step in? Alex had done so much for me in my greatest time of need, the least I owed him was to step in as an understudy as his date tonight.
My head was nodding yes even as it swam with all the reasons this was a bad idea. “Okay,” I agreed against my better judgment.
“Great.” Mia’s chin dipped in a decisive nod and the next thing I knew there was a flurry of activity around me.
A man and woman entered my room, both wheeling black cases behind them and ushered me to the bathroom where they went to work.
“I’m Landon.” The man introduced himself as he unfolded a director’s chair and instructed me, “Just think of me as your fairy godmother, let’s get you ready for the ball, Cinderella. Sit!”
My butt barely hit the canvas seat as he plugged in a hair dryer, pulled a brush through my hair and twisted it up on the crown of my head, grabbed a clip that was attached to his long-sleeved shirt and secured the top section of my hair before beginning to blow out the lower half. The entire process took less than ten seconds.
