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THE DAY AFTER MY DATE with Geoff, Kate and I met up at Milk & Bean. We stood in line chatting until we finally reached the front.
Sophie grinned at us. Her blonde hair was up in a high pony tail, and she was wearing a pair of black-framed glasses that made her look adorable. Today’s streak was candy apple red. “Hey, ladies. Your usual?”
“Yes, but make it a takeaway,” Kate said, pulling out a turquoise Kate Spade wallet.
Sophie looked surprised. “You’re not taking your usual table? Is this the apocalypse?”
We laughed. “Don’t worry,” I told her. “We’re not cheating on you or anything, but we have some shopping to do.”
“Adam’s away filming, and when he comes back, I want to surprise him,” Kate said with a sly look that fooled no one.
The light bulb went on. “Ah, got you.” Sophie giggled. “Got to keep the flames of passion alive, am I right?” Then she turned and shouted to the man standing at the espresso machine. “One white chocolate mocha and one caramel latte to go.”
He turned and shot her a wink. “You got it.”
“Who’s the eye candy?” I asked. He was crazy hot with a tumble of brown curls that kept falling over his insanely blue eyes. Muscles bulged beneath his snug black T-shirt. If they’d stuck him in a cravat, he’d have looked straight out of a Jane Austen novel.
“That reprobate? That’s my brother, Nik. He was bored, so I took pity on him and put him to work. Family. What are you going to do?” She grinned as she handed us our drinks in baby blue to-go cups.
We laughed as we forked over our money. That was so Sophie.
Our first stop was the department store, Debenhams, and Kate’s favorite bra and undies brand, Floozie. She could totally afford to shop at some crazy expensive boutique, but Kate wasn’t one to spend insane money on a pair of knickers when she could get ones she loved perfectly well for half the price. I eyed the racks of cute bras and panties. Nothing in my size, of course, but the cute vintage look was very much Kate’s style. I whipped out a pink and blue floral number.
“Floozie. Well, if the bra fits.” I waved it around.
Kate rolled her eyes. “Dope. And trust me, Adam has made the same reference on more than one occasion.”
“Ew, I do not need details of your sexy time with Adam.” She blushed wildly, and I couldn’t help myself. “No, wait. I want details. Length. Girth. Exact action sequence.”
Kate stuck her tongue out. “I am not sharing details of my husband’s... erm...”
“Member?”
She laughed so hard, she almost spilled her drink on the lingerie. “Exactly. With my luck you’d sell it to the tabloids.”
“Hey, I got bills like everyone else.”
We snickered. “Let’s just say I am extremely satisfied with the performance of Adam’s husbandly duties.”
I laughed so loud, an elderly woman with hearing aids and a raincoat covered in pigs gave me a baleful glare. I gave her a sickly sweet smile. “Well, that’s a relief. What about this one?” I pulled out a sassy red and black half-corset thingy. I hummed a few lines from “The Stripper.”
“No way. Stomach rolls galore. Clearly a man designed that thing because anyone bigger than a size two is going to look hideous in it. Ah, now this is perfect.” She pulled out a midnight blue and white, sheer babydoll with matching knickers. Sexy. Definitely flattering on her curvy form and pale skin. And I didn’t imagine it would stay on long.
“Perfect. My little sis has grown up.”
She snorted. “Now heels.”
“You never wear heels. They hurt your back.”
“Which is why I won’t be standing in them,” she said with a wink.
“Floozie by name, floozie by nature.” I followed her to the shoe department.
While she’d tried on half the heels in the place, she changed the subject. “Tell me about your date with... what was this one’s name?”
“You make it sound like I’ve had so many. This one was Geoff.”
“Geoff what?”
“Penridge.”
She made a face.
“What?”
“Geoff Penridge? Not exactly sexy.”
I shrugged. “Okay, so it’s not exactly in the Adam Wentworth sexy department, but he’s super hot. And not a slacker. What’s in a name anyway?”
“According to Shakespeare, not much,” she admitted. “But Shakespeare was a man, after all. He did not understand the importance of sexy names.”
I huffed. “You’ve been spending too much time with Adam.”
She giggled in that way that said she had indeed been spending way too much time with her husband. “So, this Geoff. He’s got a good job then?”
“Yeah. Investment banker.”
“Oh, that’s some dosh.”
“Well, he certainly didn’t stick me with the bill. And the place he took me to was seriously swanky.”
She mulled it over. “That’s good.”
“But?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged as she slid her feet into a strappy pair of red stilettos. “It sounds kind of boring.” She stood up and nearly fell on her backside. Would have, if I hadn’t caught her and shoved her back in the chair. “What do you think?”
“I think it doesn’t matter if it’s boring. Investment banking is a secure job.” Security earned a lot more points than fun in my book, at least when it came to occupation. I didn’t want to have to take care of someone, nor did I need someone taking care of me. I just wanted to be free to be me. To, have fun, go a little crazy and not have to worry the rent wouldn’t be paid if I wasn’t on top of things every darned minute.
She eyeballed me. “I meant about the shoes.”
“Oh.” I gazed down at them. “They’re sexy as heck, but shouldn’t you be able to stand in them more than ten seconds?”
“Good point.” She took them off and tossed them back in a box. This time she grabbed a pair of lime green ones. “What I’m saying is you’re such an artistic, colorful person. Are you sure an investment banker is a good match? Aren’t they usually kind of uptight?”
“Geoff seems okay. Besides, I need someone with security. Someone who is serious about who he is and what he does. Not some...fly-by-night.”
“Not a musician, you mean.”
I scowled, but she was too busy lacing up the lime green gladiator stilettos to notice. “Exactly.”
“Not all musicians are flakes, you know.” She managed to stand up without falling over. “How about these?”
I wrinkled my nose. Kate let out a deep sigh. “You’re right. Not a good color.” She sat down and started unwrapping them. “My point is you can find a guy who is fun and interesting and artistic and had still got his stuff together.”
“And I can also find a unicorn in Green Park.”
She laughed and tried on a pair of purple silk things. “Okay, okay, so they’re rare. But wouldn’t you rather be with the guy who was perfect for you instead of some boring guy who’s just secure?”
“Geoff isn’t boring, exactly.” Okay, so he didn’t make me see stars, but he wasn’t a yawn a minute either. “He’s nice. Besides, there aren’t that many Adam Wentworths in the world. In fact, I think you took the last one.” I smiled to show I wasn’t bitter or jealous. Okay, maybe a little jealous.
Kate looked dreamy. “I did luck out, didn’t I?”
“You sure did. Now how about those shoes?”
She got to her feet and managed to stay upright, even taking a couple of only marginally wobbly steps. “Oh, these are gorgeous. And perfect.” She squealed. “These are the ones!”
“You’re going to knock Adam’s socks off.”
“I’m hoping for a little more than that.” She waggled her eyebrows.
I snorted with laughter. “I think they’ll do the trick.”
“They better.” She leaned down and snapped a picture of her bare foot in the sexy heel. I could hear the swooping sound as she sent a text. Her phone chimed almost immediately. She smirked as she read the message. “Yep. That did it.”
I rolled my eyes. “You two and your sexting.”
“Oh, believe me, that wasn’t sexting.”
“Oh, dear heavens.”
She howled with laughter. This time she was the one getting stared at.
We were on our way out the door when I spotted it. The perfect little red dress. Kate caught me looking.
“Girlfriend, if you want to catch this Geoff guy, I suggest you snatch that up quick. No way in heck a man can resist you in that.”
“You think I should?” I quickly tallied up my bank account. I could just swing it if I was careful the rest of the month.
“Get it or I will. I think I could give Adam a double whammy.”
I snatched the dress and ran.