Chapter Fifty
Oh, God, Genevieve thought as she shimmied the dress up over her hips. She took a deep breath and made the final pull so that the dress covered her breasts. She placed a palm against the mirror so she could catch her breath. She stood back and smoothed the dress over her body. She turned and lifted her hip as she examined the skin-tight emerald garment with a slit up to her waist and a bare back. She stifled a groan and stepped out of the dressing room.
Jada lounged on the same couch she’d taken up for the last two hours while she continually threw dresses into the room for Gen to try on. At her approach, Jada sat straight and downed her glass of champagne. Her smile widened and she clapped her hands in excitement.
“Don’t get excited,” Gen warned. “This dress is just too…”
“Hot!”
“Slutty,” Gen finished, to which Jada rolled her eyes.
Jada walked up to her and motioned with her finger for Gen to do a twirl.
“Girl, you look fine as hell, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jada said, propping her hands on her waist.
“Look at all this skin,” Gen exclaimed, sweeping her hands down her body for emphasis. “It’s just too much for a first date.”
Jada groaned. “Come on, you have to get him a little excited so at the end of the night when he settles for a kiss on the cheek he’ll be dreaming of you at home later on. Then,” Jada continued as if she were some dating guru. “You’ll be the first thing he thinks of when he wakes up. You’ll get a good morning text, guaranteed.”
“Hm,” Gen said, pursing her lips. She pulled out the tag and gulped at the thousand dollar price. “Eh, it’s too much,” Gen decided, heading back to the dressing room.
“Come on! I told you I’d treat you!”
“I just don’t feel right about that,” Gen argued.
“Oh, I know! I saw this gorgeous black number near the front. I’ll go and…”
“No!” Gen swiveled around and practically tackled Jada to the ground. “No more! I have one more to try on and we’re done. If I don’t like it, I’ll just go with the navy one.”
“But the navy one is so… conservative,” Jada whined.
Gen closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “The deal was I’d tell you about the guy when we were done, right? Don’t you want to hear about him?” Gen asked, hoping Jada would take the bait.
Jada’s eyes widened and she nodded as if she were a bobble head that had just been flicked. “Yes, yes, please!!”
“Okay then,” Gen said, turning back toward the dressing room. When she went to close the door, however, Jada was there, waiting expectantly. “Ugh, fine, come in.”
“Duh, that’s what I was doing. I’ve seen you naked before,” Jada scoffed.
After a few minutes in which both girls wrestled the dress off Gen’s reddening skin, Jada sat back on the bench and waited.
Gen laughed as she pulled the burgundy silk dress from its hanger. “Alright, what do you want to know?”
“Let’s see…” Jada said, touching her finger to her chin. She held out her hand and ticked off each request as she went. “Where’d you meet, what’s his name, what’s he do for a living, details on his looks, details on his…” She raised her eyebrows a few times. “And where’s he taking you?”
“Is that all?” Gen asked, stepping into the dress.
Jada looked up at the ceiling before she gave a decisive nod. “For now.”
“Alright,” Gen said, pulling this dress up her frame with ease. “Um, we met at a bar…”
“Another bar?” Jada asked, impressed.
“Yeah, and um, he works with money.”
“Like finance?”
Gen thought for a moment. She knew how her sister would react when she found out the guy was Matteo. She had to tread carefully. “Yeah, you could say that. His company was having troubles with a former accountant and he came to the firm for help with diagnosis and decided to hire us.”
“That’s great! Is this the company you had your big meeting with?”
“Yeah, that’s the one,” Gen said. Jada stood up to help with her zipper.
“What’s his name?” Jada asked.
“Matteo,” Gen answered without thinking.
“Matteo? Italian?” Jada asked.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Seems you’re developing a type, Gen,” Jada said with a chuckle. “And he’s taking you to…”
“Carmela’s.”
“Carmela’s? And he’s Italian?” Jada asked, shock apparent on her face.
“Mhmm.”
Both women fell silent as Gen turned to face the mirror. The silk burgundy dress fell just above her knees and featured a cowl-neck line, thin spaghetti straps and a slit that went half-way up her thigh. She smoothed her hands down the fabric, imagining Matteo’s rough knuckles making the same path. She shivered and prayed Jada didn’t notice.
“Damn, Girl. This is the one,” Jada said with raised eyebrows and a proud nod.
“Yeah,” Gen agreed. She pulled the price tag from under her armpit and sighed. “I can’t. It’s too much.”
Jada looked at the tag. “It’s only $2,200, Gen. I can definitely swing that.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s just one night. I’ll go with the navy one. It’s…” She looked back at the mirror and the dress she could easily envision Matteo’s gaze setting on fire. “The navy is fine.”
“Ugh, you’re being ridiculous!”
Genevieve ignored her sister’s griping as she walked to the register with the navy dress slung over her arm. She stepped up to the counter only for the navy dress to be yanked away.
“Hey!”
“She’ll take this one,” Jada announced to the flustered woman behind the counter while she gently set the burgundy dress down.
“No, she won’t,” Gen said. “It’s too much, I’ll…”
“It’s okay, the dress is already paid for,” the associate announced.
“What?” both Jada and Gen said at the same time.
The associate smiled and held a card up. “This was dropped off when you came in. It’s already been charged. Let me just wrap this up for you.”
Gen stared at the card the woman set down on the counter. He’d bought her a dress? A pleasurable heat crawled up her neck. No one had ever spoiled her like that. How did he even know she was going shopping? Did Leo tell him? Visions of what their date together might look like filtered through her mind. Him showing up with flowers. Kissing her hand as they watched each other from across the table. Him ordering her dessert even when she says she doesn’t need it. Kissing her goodnight…
“He bought you a dress for your first date? Who is this guy? Let me…” Before Gen could stop her, Jada jumped up onto the counter and snatched the card.
“Jada, stop!” Gen begged, trying and failing to grab the card back from her.
“What is your deal? It’s Jake Gyllenhaal, isn’t it? Why else would you lie to me? Let me just see who…” Jada finally managed to subdue her sister long enough to look at the name on the card. Her entire body froze. “M. C. Accardi.” Jada’s head whipped around to look at Gen.
“Jada, please, I was going to explain…”
“Accardi?”
“Jada…”
“You’re fucking Accardi?” Jada screeched.
All the women in the small shop looked toward the two women.
“It’s not like that,” Gen whispered.
“What’s it like then? Cause it looks like he’s treating you like you’re his whore after I asked you repeatedly to stay the fuck away from him!” Jada threw the card on the ground and stomped toward the exit.
Gen’s face was flaming as she retrieved the card. The associate behind the counter held a wrapped box out. They both looked at the door as it was slammed shut. The associate gave a wavering smile.
“It’s okay, I’ll have it dropped off at the address on the account,” she said, bobbing her head toward the door.
“Thanks,” Gen said, scrambling after her sister, not even thinking to give her the correct address.