Page 46 of Money Shot

“I’d uhhm. Thank you. Yes, I think I’d love to. Do we get dressed up or anything?” I asked.

“Well, funny you asked. My mother’s kind of old fashioned, and she would skin me alive if I dressed like this for Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. It’s just been in the last few years that she’s come to terms with me having tattoos. So, if you could wear a dress, that’d sure be nice,” he said.

Squeeeeee!

I tried my very best to hide my excitement. “Sure, I’ll dig around in my closet and find something nice.”

Sienna’s going shopping…Sienna’s going shopping…

“She cooks a huge meal, and she’ll expect us to eat damned near everything,” he said.

“Sounds great,” I said. “I love Thanksgiving. Can I help? I mean can I cook anything?”

It was becoming more difficult to contain myself. The thought of it all was almost too much. My father had been gone almost five years, and to think I was going to share a holiday with Vince was almost too much to comprehend.

“We’ll go see her maybe Sunday or something, how’s that?” he asked as he reached for his coffee.

I leaned on the edge of the table and batted my eyelashes. “Uhhm, Sunday’s tomorrow.”

“Okay, we’ll go see her tomorrow. If you don’t like her, it’ll give you time to bow out of the Thanksgiving deal, how’s that?” he said with a laugh.

“Sounds perfect,” I said.

Before I met his mother, I needed desperately to get my nails done, go get makeup, buy a new dress, spend a few minutes in a tanning booth, and make a few adjustments to my ratty hair.

“What time?” I asked as I reached for my coffee.

“I don’t know, noon?” he asked.

“How about a little later? I have a few things I need to get done first.” I said.

He relaxed in his chair, sipped his coffee as he studied me for a moment, eventually placing his cup on the table and pushing it to the side. As he rested his massive forearms on the edge of the table and leaned forward, he grinned.

“What? Get your nails done, go fake bake, and hit the mall?” he asked.

Vince Ames may have been a biker, a criminal of sorts, and a debt collector for drug dealers, but to me, he was perfect.

And I deserved his perfection.