“My pleasure. Any friend of Ford’s, and all that.” Tony walked toward his car at the end of the drive.
“Where’s your car?” she asked Ford, who’d held back.
“I felt like a little exercise, so I walked over.”
“Thanks for whatever it was that you did to get him here so quickly.”
“You needed something really good, really fast. Tony’s the best, and I figured he’d do a favor if he could.”
“I appreciate it.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “We’re still on for tomorrow night, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“See you then …”
She watched him sprint to the end of the driveway and hop into the passenger side of Tony’s Jeep. Then, remembering there was one more thing she needed to do before she went home to work on the catalog, she got into her car and headed straight to Bling. There was a dress in the window just that morning that might be exactly what she was looking for.
Chapter 18 
THE dress in Bling’s window turned out to not work on Carly the way she’d hoped it would, but Vanessa had something else in mind.
“This one.” Vanessa brought a blue sheath with a squared neckline, front and back, into the dressing room and held it up in front of Carly. “The blue is almost the exact shade of your eyes and there’s just enough spandex in it to … well, you’ll see. You have to try it.”
Always happy to try on pretty things, Carly pulled the dress over her head, then smoothed it over her hips.
“There. What did I tell you?” Vanessa beamed. “It’s so close to perfection I can barely stand it.” She adjusted the neckline slightly. “Just tight enough, just short enough, and just low enough in front to give you a little cleavage without being, you know, slutty. I take it this is for something special?”
“I have a date for dinner tomorrow night.” Carly turned in the mirror to check the side view. Vanessa was dead-on about the fit.
“And you want to wow.” Vanessa nodded knowingly. “This is definitely the dress.” She slipped off the hair tie from Carly’s ponytail and pulled all of her hair to one side. “That’s the look you want. Sexy but ladylike. No man with a pulse could resist you.”
“Well then, I suppose I have no choice.” Carly grinned and Vanessa helped her out of the dress. “I’ll take it.”
Vanessa put the dress on a hanger and took it with her while Carly dressed in the clothes she’d worn into the shop. She was putting her hair back up as she walked out front.
“Do you need anything to go with the dress?” Vanessa asked as Carly approached the counter. “Earrings? Killer shoes? A bag?”
“Actually, I could probably use some of each. I didn’t expect to be going out, so I left all of my good clothes back home.”
Vanessa held up several pairs of earrings, and Carly reached for the dangly ones with the blue stones.
“I’d go with them, too.” Vanessa nodded and returned the other two pairs to the case. Her phone rang, but before she answered it, she told Carly, “Shoes are toward the back, and bags are on the right side of the shop. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
Carly went straight to the shoes, and gravitated toward the highest pair of heels in the shop.
“When I said ‘killer,’ those were the ones I had in mind.” Vanessa leaned against a display. “What size?”
“Seven, please.” Carly couldn’t wait to put them on her feet. Metallic leather sandals that fastened at the ankle on the thinnest straps imaginable, the shoes were, in fact, killers.
Vanessa found the right size and handed Carly the box and stood by while she sat on a nearby stool and tried them on.
“I love them.” Carly stood and walked a few steps to make sure she could, in fact, walk in them. “They’re gorgeous.”
“Here’s a bag that works with them.” Vanessa handed her a clutch of soft, silvery leather.
“I’ll take it.” Carly took off the shoes and returned them to their box. “And the shoes and the earrings and the dress.”
She smiled all the way to the cash register. “Vanessa, your shop is amazing. There are places in New York that don’t have what you have here.”
“Thank you. Just for that, I’m giving you ten percent off.” Vanessa laughed. “Another ten if you tell me who the lucky guy is. If, of course, that isn’t too personal a question.”
“For twenty percent … sure.” Carly leaned on the counter and watched Vanessa tally up the damage. “It’s Ford Sinclair.”
Vanessa’s hand stopped moving and she glanced up at Carly.
“Grace’s son? Tall, rugged-looking guy? Dark eyes?” she asked.
Carly nodded.
“I don’t blame you for going all out.” Vanessa grinned. “I was wondering how long it would be before someone snagged his attention. I’m attracted to men like that myself.” She hastened to add, “Not that I’m attracted to Ford, per se, but my husband, Grady, is cut from that cloth, too. Too rugged to be classically handsome, maybe, but irresistible. And hot.” She wrapped the earrings in tissue. “Pretty boys have never really done it for me.”
Carly thought back to her last boyfriend. Todd could be categorized as a pretty boy, she supposed, though she wasn’t sure if he was as pretty as he thought he was. Everything about Todd had seemed … precise. From head to toe, he had always been perfectly unwrinkled, perfectly coiffed, and very GQ. What, she asked herself now, had she seen in him?
“You’re going to kill him in this dress, you know,” Vanessa said as she swiped Carly’s credit card. “I wish I could be around to see it. I love it when a big guy crashes to his knees …”
“So I made reservations at Lola’s.” Ford stood in Carly’s foyer, his eyes on her face as if he was afraid to look past her chin.
“Oh, great. I’ve been wanting to try it. I’ve heard it’s wonderful.” Carly leaned across the dining room table, searching for her phone amid the piles of paper. She could feel Ford’s stare, and it was all she could do not to smile. Vanessa had been spot-on. The man had looked gobsmacked when she opened the front door.
“Here it is.” She held up her phone, then tucked it into her bag. “All ready?”
She took two steps toward the door, then stopped in midstride and snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot … just one second.”
She pivoted on her ridiculously high heels and headed to the kitchen to lock the back door.
“You look really beautiful,” he said when she returned to the foyer. “I like your dress.”
“Thanks. I got it at Bling yesterday when I realized I didn’t have any clothes with me that might be appropriate for dining out.” She laughed, then added, “Who am I kidding? I felt like shopping. It was my reward for working so hard all these weeks without taking a break.”
“Well, whatever inspired the purchase, I definitely approve.”
He held the door for her, and she heard his breath catch as she brushed past him. He closed the door behind them and waited while she locked it. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to link her arm through his as they walked to the car, to walk arm in arm with him on a beautiful summer Saturday night.
“So how was your lunch with Tony?” she asked.
“It was good. Great, actually. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other.”
“I gathered that from the conversation. Where do you know each other from?”
“Oh, we worked together, on and off.” He opened the car door for her and she slid into her seat.
By the time he’d gotten behind the wheel, she had her seat belt on. He fastened his as well and started the car.