The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero: The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero. Abby Gaines
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go reading too much into anything,” he said. “It’s just one date.”
“What are your plans for this date?”
“We’re going to a party,” he admitted.
“A party?”
He gave in, because he knew she wouldn’t give up and he simply couldn’t lie to her. “It’s Megan’s sister’s engagement party.”
“Oh. Well.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “That’s quite a first date.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” she asked innocently.
“Read anything into it.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, though the amusement in her tone belied the words. “But I should let you go. I wouldn’t want you to be late for your engagement party.”
“It’s not my engagement party.”
“I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
Gage wondered if her words were a promise or a threat.
More, he wondered why he’d told her as much as he had.
Had he wanted her to know about his date with Megan, so that she could pass on the information to his father, further promoting the idea that he was in a relationship with this woman? Or because he was actually interested in Megan and suspected that his mother would be meeting her sometime soon?
Because he didn’t know the answers to these questions, he pushed them aside to get ready for his date.
As the minutes ticked closer and closer to seven o’clock, Megan grew more and more certain that the night was going to be a disaster.
“Relax. It’s not going to be a disaster,” Paige said.
Megan frowned. “Did I say that out loud?”
Her cousin laughed. “No, but I know the way your mind works—and despite the exquisite job Gia did with your makeup, your face is pale and you’re clenching your jaw.”
“What if he doesn’t show up?”
“He’ll be here.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he’s not Darrin.”
“Thanks for that reminder,” she muttered sarcastically.
“As if your mind wasn’t already spinning in that direction.”
Megan refused to acknowledge that fact, because doing so would be to admit that she’d never fully gotten over the humiliation of being invited to the prom by a guy who never showed up.
“Gage will be here,” Paige said again. “Which means that we need to get you into your dress.”
“That’s why you’re really here, isn’t it? Because Ashley’s afraid that I might duck and run.”
“Your sister knows you would never let her down,” her cousin said, the pointed tone bringing a guilty flush to Megan’s cheeks. “And I know that everyone gets a little nervous before a first date sometimes.”
“Speaking of dates.” Megan opened the closet to reach for her dress. “Is Josh picking you up here?”
Paige shook her head. “No, Ben is meeting me at the party.”
“What happened to Josh?”
“Nothing happened to him. We still go out occasionally, but we’ve never had an exclusive arrangement.” She dangled a pink bag in front of her cousin’s nose. “These go on before the dress.”
She snatched the bag with a sigh. “I don’t know why you and Ashley worried about finding the right bra for my dress. It’s not like anyone would notice even if I wasn’t wearing one.”
“True. But it’s not a bra, it’s a bustier, and believe me, it will make everyone take notice,” Paige promised.
Megan had never liked being the focus of attention and her cousin’s response only made her more wary, but she shrugged out of her robe and, with Paige’s assistance, into the black satin-and-lace undergarments her sister had carefully picked out for her.
“Now the dress,” Paige said.
Megan wriggled into it.
“And the shoes.”
She dutifully shoved her feet into the skyscraper-high heels—
“Jewelry.”
—and added the chunky, silver earrings and necklace that Ann-Marie had picked out for her. The long chain meant that the teardrop-shaped pendant nestled in the hollow between her breasts, and when Megan glanced down at it, she was stunned.
“I have cleavage.”
“Not much,” Paige teased, “but some.”
Megan turned to face the floor-length mirror that she rarely bothered to glance into and stared at her reflection. If not for the shell-shocked expression on the professionally made-up face that so perfectly depicted her feelings, she might have believed she was looking at a stranger.
The deep square neckline that had looked so simple and unassuming when she’d tried it on in the store now highlighted the swell of breasts she hadn’t even realized she had. And the A-line, knee-length skirt showed off a lot of leg that, with the help of the three-inch heels, somehow looked more shapely than skinny.
Megan’s hand went instinctively to the low neckline of the dress. “I can’t go out in public looking like this.”
Paige lifted a brow. “Like a beautiful, desirable woman?”
It wasn’t such a stretch, Megan realized now, for someone to make that assumption. But she knew the truth, and the escalating panic inside of her confirmed it. “I can’t,” she said again. “It’s not me.”
“It is you,” her cousin insisted. “Only dressed up a little on the outside.”
Dressed up beyond recognition was more like it, but before she could say anything else, the doorbell chimed.
“That will be Gage,” Paige guessed.
“Can you get it?” Megan pleaded with her. “I think I’m going to throw up.”
Paige caught her arm as she turned toward the bathroom. “You’re not going to throw up,” she said firmly. “Now take a deep breath and go meet your date.”
Megan went to the door, grumbling the whole way, and while her stomach was still in knots, the sound of the doorbell had caused them to loosen somewhat. No matter what other surprises or disasters the night might hold, at least he had shown up.
She took a deep breath and pulled open the door.
Gage was reaching forward to jab the button again when the door swung open. His lips started to curve in an automatic smile, then froze at the sight that greeted his eyes.
Megan?
The violet eyes confirmed her identity, even though they weren’t hidden behind thick-framed glasses any- more. That was the most immediately obvious change, but not the only one. Her hair was different, too. Instead of being confined in the usual braid or ponytail, her long tresses had been fashioned into some kind of fancy twist, with a few strands left loose and curled to frame her face.
And how had he never noticed that she had such stunning features? Not just those fabulous eyes, but cheekbones that any cover model would die for and lips that made a man think of long, slow, deep kisses.
Then his gaze dipped lower, and his jaw nearly dropped when he realized that the dress she wore showcased curves that she’d kept well hidden beneath the boxy lab coats she wore at work. And the sexy heels made her mile-long legs