Part 12 (1/2)
”You're right. You have nice deep-set dimples when you smile, too.”
My body felt flush from the compliment that had come out of the blue. I didn't know how to respond, so I simply said, ”Shut up.”
”Just be careful,” he said seriously, reaching into his back pocket. ”Speaking of which...take this with you.” It was his old red Swiss Army knife from when we were younger.
”You still have this?”
”I'll never stop needing this.”
”You really want me to take this with me?”
”Yes.”
Taking it from him, I said, ”Okay.”
”Are we done here?”
”We still haven't picked out what I'm wearing.”
Justin walked over to my closet and ran his hand slowly along the lineup of outfits, eventually stopping at a simple black sleeveless dress that was far from revealing. It looked more like something you could wear to a funeral. Actually, it was the dress I had bought to wear to Nana's funeral before I realized she had explicitly written that she didn't want one. She wanted to just be cremated with her ashes thrown in the ocean without any fanfare.
”This one? Really?”
He held the dress in his hand. ”Don't ask for my help if you're not gonna listen.”
”Okay. This one it is.” I took it from him and watched as he made his way out the door. My eyes focused on the rectangular tattoo on his back. Even though I always thought it was s.e.xy as h.e.l.l, I was never able to get a good enough look at it for some reason until now.
”Justin.”
He turned around. ”Yeah.”
”What is that tattoo on your back?”
His body stiffened. ”It's a bar code.”
”That's what I thought. I always wondered. Does it mean anything?”
Refusing to answer my question, he simply said, ”Get dressed. You don't want to be late for Dr. d.i.c.k.”
Will was supposed to be picking me up in about twenty minutes. I sat on the kitchen counter sipping a gla.s.s of white wine to relax. The black dress that Justin had chosen actually looked pretty nice. There was no unnecessary skin showing, and that was probably the way it should have been. I ended up putting my long, dark brown hair up into a twist.
A waft of his cologne prompted me to look to the side. My heart clenched at the sight of Justin standing in the entryway. I hadn't noticed him until I smelled him. He seemed to be observing me without my knowing.
He'd just showered after his workout and looked so incredibly hot in a simple black s.h.i.+rt that hugged his muscles. The jeans he was wearing were the ones that always displayed his a.s.s in the best way. Even though I had the night off, Justin was supposed to be playing at Sandy's. The women were going to go apes.h.i.+t over him tonight.
He walked over and pulled up a stool next to me. My nipples perked up at the closeness of his body.
He examined my face and said, ”You don't look too excited.”
”I'm not sure how I feel, to be honest.”
”You're not nervous about going out with that jacka.s.s, are you?”
”A little.”
”Why? He's not worth your nerves.”
”It's the first date I've been on since Adam.”
He sucked in his jaw almost angrily. ”That's the guy that cheated on you...”
”Yeah. How did you know?”
”Jade told me.”
It surprised me that they'd been talking about me. I wasn't sure how I felt about Justin knowing about Adam.
”Oh.”
”Don't let what happened with that a.s.shole make you think you should settle for the first Tom, d.i.c.k or Harry that comes along.”
”Have you ever cheated on anyone?”
He hesitated before he answered, ”Yes. I'm not proud of it. I was younger then, though. It's not something I would ever do today. The way I see it, if you want to cheat on someone, you should just break up with them. Cheating is for cowards.”
”I agree. I wish that Adam had just broken up with me.”
”I'm glad you're not with him anymore.”
”Me, too.”
”He was trying to have the best of both worlds. He'll end up doing it to the other girl, too. Watch.”
”Jade is lucky to have you, to be with someone who is loyal.”
His expression darkened before he said, ”Temptation is natural. That doesn't mean you should act on it.” He seemed to be pondering his own words in an attempt to convince himself of that very fact.
”Right. Of course.”
Justin swiftly changed the subject. ”You got your pocket knife?”
”Yes. I'm not going to need it, but it's in my purse.”
”Good. You have my cell phone number?”
”Yes.”
”You should be taking your own car.”