Page 23 of Seduction Under the Southern Stars
The two of us shower, then parade around in our undies while we swap outfits and discuss what to wear and how to do our hair.
“I’ve never known you to take so much time over your appearance,” she comments as we stand next to each other in the bathroom to do our makeup.
“I want to look nice.” I run my fingers through my hair. I’ve washed and dried it, and now it hangs like a sheet of beaten gold, without a single wave. I’ve never needed a straightener.
I twist it into a chignon, but Zoe comes over, tugs it out of my hand, and spreads it across my shoulders.
“Down,” she says. “Definitely. His tongue will be unrolling like a carpet.”
“I don’t know… I’m not trying to send his bells ringing or anything.”
“Why not?”
“Zoe! I don’t want to give him the wrong idea.”
“And I say again… why not?”
“Because he’s only in New Zealand for a few days, and whatever he says, I think he’s a bit of a scoundrel, and I have to be careful because he could easily break my heart again. I just want him to see that I’ve grown up, you know?”
“In that case, I hope you’re wearing something that shows off that magnificent cleavage of yours.”
“I was going to wear a roll-neck sweater.”
She meets my eyes in the mirror, and we both laugh. “You are not,” she scolds. “You should wear your blue dress.”
“It’s too smart for a casual event like this.”
“It’s a dinner party, isn’t it? The boys will wear shirts, I expect. Fraser will, anyway. The Scruffpot will probably roll out of bed in a creased tee with stubble and his hair on end as usual.” She always teases Joel for his scruffy appearance.
“Fraser will probably turn up in a morning coat and top hat.”
She giggles as she applies black eyeliner, sweeping it out in Cleopatra-style wings. “He doesn’t care what people think of him, does he?”
“No man I know does. I envy them for that. I can’t imagine having the number of tattoos that Linc does and not worry what people think.”
“He has tattoos?”
“Oh God, I forgot to tell you. He has loads of them.” I proceed to tell her about them while she puts on gold eyeshadow to complete her Cleopatra look.
“How do you know about them in so much detail?” she asks, amused.
“He… uh… got changed and came to show me before he put his tee on.”
“Seriously?”
“We were like siblings, Zo. It wasn’t romantic.”
She slicks on some lipstick, presses her lips together, then meets my gaze in the mirror. “I saw the way he stared at you when he walked in. That wasn’t filial affection he was feeling.”
I put my makeup back in my bag and stare at my reflection. Her words make me nervous. I want him to think I look nice, and to prove that I’ve grown up and I’m not the little girl he knew back then, but equally I can’t help but think that this was all a big mistake. I don’t dress to attract men, and I don’t like it when they do show me attention.
“Hey.” She sidles up to me and puts her arm around my shoulders. “I shouldn’t tease. It’s just dinner, okay? We’ll all be there, and he’s an old friend, catching up. That’s all. You did a really nice thing inviting him here tonight, and I’m sure he’s looking forward to seeing Fraser and Joel.”
I nod. “They spent a lot of time together as kids.”
“It’s going to be fun. Come on, get into your dress and then we’ll make sure everything’s right in the kitchen.”
We’ve just started putting the tortilla chips into the dishes when there’s a knock at the door. It’s only 6:45, and my two brothers are never early. Smoothing my dress with my hands, I go over and look through the peephole. “Oh, it’s Hallie. And she’s alone.” I undo the chain and open it, and I can immediately see there’s something wrong. “Hallie?”
