“Yeah, true, he looked hot in his military uniform, though his face was partially hidden.” I didn’t acknowledge her dig at my ex, Shane. She was right, in that he wasn’t worth thinking about. Not anymore.
“He serves our country, Eliza, he deserves a date with you.”
“I guess.” I laughed. “Anything to thank him for his service.”
“See, if you have a hot soldier boyfriend, you’re not going to care about some guy you’re fake-working for.”
“I don’t think Mike is going to become my boyfriend in less than a week,” I said with a sigh, but I was smiling as I drove back home. “You’re a goof.”
“You won’t be saying that if he asks you to marry him this weekend.”
“Lacey, give me a fat chance, I haven’t even met him yet.”
“Meet him this weekend—that way when you start your job on Monday, you’ll have someone to daydream and think about and won’t get caught up in your fake boss.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” I nodded. “Okay, I’ll message him back tonight and see if he wants to meet up Friday night or something.”
“Good idea and before you know it, you’ll have a proper acting job and can tell Bob and his sleazy ways to kiss off.”
“I can’t wait for that day,” I said wistfully as I thought about the job I’d just accepted. I knew it wasn’t exactly a night-worker job, but I still didn’t feel very good about the fact that I’d taken a job where I knew I had to give the guy a lap dance. I didn’t even care that he looked like he was going to be hot. Well, not completely.
Chap
ter Two
“Wear the lace panties and don’t forget to shave.” Lacey giggled into the phone.
“Lace panties?” I said. “Don’t you mean a silk thong?” I questioned her and then spoke again before she could answer. “And just in case you got the wrong impression, I’m not wearing a silk thong, either. They are so uncomfortable and I don’t even know this guy, Lacey. This is our first date. He’s not even going to have the opportunity to see my panties, silk or otherwise.”
“Stop being a grandma.” Lacey didn’t sound impressed. “You need to get laid. It’s been way too long for you.”
“Not by some guy I’ve never met before. He could be a serial killer or a rapist. Online dating isn’t so safe anymore, Lacey.”
“Was it ever safe, Eliza?” Lacey questioned me and I ignored her.
“And I’m not shaving, either,” I said indignantly, though technically that was a lie because I’d already shaved.
“Well, make sure you get a wax, at least,” Lacey said. “And go full-Brazilian, please, no landing strip—you’re not in the jungle and you don’t want a hippie.”
“You’re talking about my vagina?” My jaw dropped. “I thought you were talking about my legs. Are you out of your bloody mind, Lacey? I’m not shaving off all my pubes for some guy off OkCupid that may or may not look like his profile.”
“Okay, Tarzan’s wife, let him explore in the jungle and get lost. Maybe his snake will find your lost gorilla?”
“You’re disgusting, Lacey.” I laughed. “Mike is not getting into my pants.”
“Be prepared for every possibility, Eliza, you know what your mom always says.”
“I am a lady,” I said indignantly, in a cockney English accent, trying very much to sound like my idol, Audrey Hepburn, in My Fair Lady.
“I know, I know, you’re a good girl.” Lacey laughed. “You’re not a freak like me.”
“A freak?” I groaned and giggled at the same time. “Have you been listening to Ludacris?”
“Don’t try to change the subject, Elizabeth. You need to just let loose and have some fun.”
“I will when you come and visit or, better yet, when you move here.”
“You just want me to go crazy so you can go crazy, too.”
“Well, it’s always easier with a wing woman.”
“I know,” Lacey said and she paused. “I do want to move closer—you know that, right?” She sighed. “I just don’t want to come until I can carry my own weight and pay my own bills. I don’t want you to think that I’m taking advantage of you.”
“I know,” I said softly and sat down on my couch as I spoke into the phone. “You know that I don’t have much so you wouldn’t be taking advantage. I just want you here. It’s hard not having my best friend here to tell me when I’m being an idiot, and helping me choose what outfits to wear on my nonexistent dates.”
“You have a date tonight, so not nonexistent,” Lacey said, her voice wistful. “Unlike me, I never have a date.”
“Well, come here and we can go on dates together. We can even go speed dating.”
“Speed dating?” Lacey said and I could almost picture the surprised look on her face. “You would go speed dating with me?”
“Yeah, if you moved here.”
“I’m going to hold you to that, even if everything goes well with Mike.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” I sighed as I pulled out my makeup bag. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen with Mike. I just have a feeling that something is a little off.”
“Don’t be a pessimist,” Lacey said, her voice bossy. “You’re going to have fun tonight. You’re going to have the time of your life on a hot date and you’re going to have all the guys wishing they were Mike.”