Page 18 of Do It With Me

“Yeah?”

“Exactly. If you’re having dinner with a guy like that, you’re not showing up looking like you just crawled out of a donation bin.”

I chuckled and gave in, motioning her to my bedroom. I sat down obediently while she plugged in a curling iron. Somehow, this fake date was suddenly starting to feel a lot more real than it should. Bree seemed as excited as Mercedes had been. Me? I was just getting nervous.

“Okay, let’s see what we’re working with,” she said, gently tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “While we’re doing that, you can tell me exactly what it’s like when things are complicated with your professor. How on earth did you wind up having a date with him?”

I gave her a look in the mirror. “It’s not a date date. It’s strictly business.”

She grinned. “Uh-huh. And I strictly eat salads for dinner. With a hamburger on the side.”

I laughed despite myself. “I’m serious. He’s just paying me to be his plus-one to a wedding. That’s all.”

She started curling sections of my hair. “Well, whatever is or isn’t going on with you and your teacher, it’s nice getting to do this again. I have two little sisters who used to let me practice on them. Makeup. Hair. The works. They’d sit on the bathroom counter and let me turn them into beauty queens.”

“It looks like they trained you well,” I said, watching as she held my hair in a gentle grip. “I’ve never been great at fixing myself up.”

“I’m rusty, but it feels good to fuss over someone again in a non-work context,” she admitted. “I haven’t had time for much fun lately. Between school and work, my idea of excitement is getting a full night’s sleep for a change.”

“Well, then tonight, you get to live vicariously through me. I’ll tell you everything that happens tonight.”

Bree grinned. “That sounds like a plan. Now stop fidgeting. You’re about to become the fantasy girlfriend of a billionaire. I can’t have you blinking mascara everywhere.”

“For the last time, I’m not becoming his girlfriend. It’s not romantic at all. Why does everyone keep thinking that’s what it is?”

Bree arched her eyebrow and flicked a hand toward the garment bag. “With dresses like those, honey, he’s going to fall in love with you before the appetizers even arrive. Trust me.”