Page 13 of Moments in Ink
I looked like myself, if a little bit brighter. I grinned. I liked it. I hoped Zia did, too.
Hoping for the best, I put on my clothes and decided on a leather jacket instead of a vest so I didn’t cover up the intricate designs on the shirt, then slid on my high heels that made my ass look great, if I did say so myself. I added earrings, and a masculine watch as well as a glittery bracelet.
Sometimes, I knew I was a contradiction in what the norms might be. Still, I felt powerful when I picked out elements to put together to discover who I was.
I looked slightly different when I worked, and that was fine with me. I could put on whatever armor I needed to. Figuring out what lay beneath that was my goal, and I was working on it. But for now, I would simply enjoy myself.
I put my wallet and phone in a small bag, deciding that I didn’t want to mess up the lines of my suit by putting them in my pockets. Nine times out of ten, I ended up checking my coat if we went out dancing, so I didn’t want to put them in there, either.
I looked really fucking hot, at least I would until I rubbed my makeup off by accident or something, so I was calling it a win.
I was honestly nervous to see what Zia would wear tonight. Because she was sexy as hell, made my palms damp and everything inside me clench in the best ways possible.
I had no idea what I was doing when it came to her, but I was enjoying the chase and finding out.
“Let’s do this,” I whispered to myself. And then I made my way out my door and walked across our connecting paths to her house.
It was probably stupid going out on a date with my neighbor. When things inevitably got fucked up, I’d have to see her often. I was going to try and take a chance, though, even if that chance screwed with everything. So, here we were.
I knocked on her door, waited a beat, and sucked in a breath when she opened it.
“My God,” I said, surprising myself. She grinned, her light eyes bright and full of sin.
She wore a black dress that clung to her body, covered her shoulders, and went down low in the front, so low that I wasn’t even sure she could be wearing a bra. And that didn’t bother me in the least.
The fabric clung to her curves, all the way down past her butt to mid-thigh, with a slight slit up the side that showed even more delicious leg.
The dress was a smooth black with some lace cut-outs in strategic places. It wouldn’t look overly tempting to anyone but possibly me.
Other than the front part that showed off some lovely cleavage, the cut was quite conservative compared to some of the dresses that I knew we’d be seeing tonight at the club. Yet, with every movement she made, I could taste the seduction and promise in her wake, and I knew tonight would be interesting.
“Wow. I love your makeup. And your suit. Just the whole getup. You look fucking amazing.”
“I was just thinking the same about you.”
I smiled, a little self-consciously, and raised my hand to my face before stopping myself before I touched my makeup.
“I, uh, might have used your tutorial. I wasn’t going to tell you that, but here I am. I tried.”
Zia’s eyes widened, and I swore they went glassy for a minute as if she were about to cry. Then she smiled big, her bright red lips looking biteable. “That is amazing. If you’ll let me, I’d love to take photos for my website. That’s stupid, though, because that’s the job, and we’re on a date.”
I could feel my face warm. “I’m not hiding anything, not anymore. So, if you need to take a couple of photos throughout the night, go for it. Just don’t let me be drunk or stupid on social media because I don’t want to lose my job.”
Zia’s eyes widened. “I would never. I have to be watchful with the persona I put on social media, and I’m always cautious with my friends, too. Bristol has to be super vigilant with her job, considering the masses that follow her as it is with her career. Plus, her brother? The formal model-turned-bestselling-author? And Aaron? The famous artist? They’re all on my social media from time to time, and I’m very careful with them.”
“You’re going to have to tell me more about this family,” I said, leading her to my car. “They sound interesting.”
“You don’t even know the half of it. I mean, you know Aaron, but I figured you would know the others.”
I shook my head as I led her to the car, closed the door behind her, and ran around the front to slide into the driver’s seat. “I don’t, oddly enough. I dated Aaron, or whatever we did before my marriage, and then we sort of lost touch during it all.” I waved my hand at the questions on her face. “I don’t want to get into too much of that, if it’s okay.”
“I understand.”
And I figured she did, at least with what she had mentioned about her ex. So, I wouldn’t pry, and she wouldn’t either. And we would set the perfect boundaries that we needed.
“Anyway, Aaron told me a bit about his family, but we usually talk about work or books.”
“So, you read romance, too?” she asked.