Page 79 of Book Club Confidential

The line at the valet grew, and the small space beneath the awning filled with guests hoping to somehow avoid the storm.

But that wasn’t possible, Tessa thought. Sometimes you had to give up fighting the storm and choose to dance in the rain.

Honking and light catcalling came from passing cars, causing Kate to laugh more loudly.

Hallie looked skyward, eyes closed and mouth open in pure enjoyment.

Slowly, shockingly, onlookers began to join them.

Together, they danced and hollered over the white noise of the storm. “To hell with it!”

Tessa rocked with laughter. Kate, known for her flawless high-class online persona, had started a movement. The freedom movement. The to hell with it movement.

And the moment was absolutely perfect.

Until a gust of icy wind snapped through the hollow between buildings, drawing sharp screams from everyone in its path.

Hats flew. Jackets whipped. Hallie clung to Tessa to stay upright.

And the beautiful, layered skirt of Kate’s designer gown flew straight up over her waist.

Chapter Twenty-One

Tessa woke the next morning to the aromas of brewing coffee and frying bacon. Her head felt like a coconut split with a hammer. The blackout curtains on her bedroom windows were still drawn, but the door to the hallway stood open, and light spilled inside.

Kate curled beside her in the fetal position.

“Kate?” Tessa whispered.

“Yeah.” She turned her face toward the ceiling, revealing one tearstained cheek in the dim light.

“You okay?” Tessa asked.

Kate shook her head and a small whimper escaped. “My bare ass is all over social media.”

The memory returned with a slap colder than the raging wind of the night before. “I’m sure it’s not—”

Kate’s phone appeared, screen lit. “Look.”

Tessa squinted against the brightness but complied. She rolled onto her back and examined the page Kate had been exploring. The entire feed seemed to be comprised of photos taken on the sidewalk in the storm. Every headline focused on the rain-soaked spectacle instead of the grand Influencers Ball on the rooftop.

Tessa supposed it made sense. The real story wasn’t about a bunch of highly influential people being fancy and trendsetting upstairs, but rather those same people being goofy, commonplace, and silly outside.

Dancing in the rain instead of at a coveted invitation-only event. Soaked to the bone while wearing couture, no less.

The unfortunate image featured beneath every headline seemed to be one featuring MC Kate’s exposed backside. Drenched, hair and makeup wrecked, all support for her voluptuous figure discarded. She was barely recognizable. She looked so different than her online image, she could probably simply deny the photo was of her. Tessa nearly said as much. Then she saw the highly enhanced, extremely cropped version of that photo, taken from not one angle, but two.

“You can see every dimple,” Kate said. “It’s humiliating. My grandmama is going to see everything I’ve got, and she doesn’t believe in Brazilian waxing. She’s going to ask me why I want to look like a little girl.”

A small snort puffed from Tessa’s nose. She hadn’t meant to laugh, but she’d met Kate’s grandma, and she was always concerned with something completely left of center. “Probably.”

Kate moved onto her side, facing Tessa. Her head rested on her hands, expression aghast. “You can’t laugh at this,” she said. “You would change your name and move to Thailand if your goose-pimpled goods were posted in high definition all over the internet.”

“First of all, we really need to stop talking about your—”

“Hot muffins!” Hallie called, appearing in the doorway with a tray.

Tessa choked on swallowed laughter, and Kate hit her in the face with a pillow.