it didn’t kill Mr. Lassiter, and it’s just too amazing to be tossed into the dark abyss that is your closet.”
“Thank you.”
“And for another thing, trust me when I say that when Sage gets a look at you in this dress—” Jenna took a step back, swept her gaze up and down Colleen and whistled “—it won’t be funerals that’ll spring to mind.”
A tiny thrill dazzled Colleen before she remembered that Jenna was her friend. Of course she was going to compliment her. But, she told herself firmly, let’s be realistic. Sage Lassiter was not interested in her. Going to dinner with him meant absolutely nothing.
“This is crazy,” she said aloud. “I’m acting like this is a date and it’s not.” Colleen wrung her hands together until she realized what she was doing, then she stopped that pitiful action. “Honestly. Slacks and a sweater. That’s what I should wear.”
“If you change one more time, I’m going to tie you to a chair,” Jenna warned. “You look great, you’ve got a date—”
“Not a date—”
“—you’re going to dinner with the most gorgeous man in Wyoming, possibly the United States—”
“I wonder what Tom would say if he heard that.”
Jenna grinned. “He’s not worried. My Tom’s not gorgeous, but he has other...compensations.”
“You’re impossible.” Colleen could admit silently that she felt more than a little envy of her friend’s relationship with her very cute husband.
“Tom thinks so...” She grinned again and wiggled her eyebrows for emphasis.
If Colleen had half the confidence that Jenna had, she wouldn’t be the slightest bit nervous about her nondate. As it was though...the bats in her stomach—too big for butterflies—were flying in tighter and tighter circles. It was as if they were winding an invisible spring inside her and Colleen was terrified that it was going to snap at just the wrong moment.
Maybe the red dress would help. It was beautiful and wearing it, she couldn’t help but feel more confident. Besides, she told herself, Sage might not even remember that she was wearing this dress at the rehearsal dinner.
“Have some wine.” Jenna offered her own glass and Colleen snatched at it, taking a big gulp, hoping to drown the bats. Apparently though, they knew how to swim.
“This is a mistake,” she muttered and handed the glass back to her friend.
“No, it’s not. You’re a terrific person, Colleen. It’s about time you let some man figure that out for himself.”
“It’s not a—”
“Yes, yes.” Jenna walked back to the love seat, dropped onto the slipcovered cushions and stared up at her. “Now, tell me how my best friend becomes a millionaire and gets a date with the Sage Lassiter.”
“Weren’t you listening? It’s not a date.”
“Whatever.” She patted the cushion beside her. “So how’re you doing, really, with this crazy, world-shifting, life-altering day?”
Good question. “Actually, I think I’m feeling better about the money.”
“Yay!”
Smiling, Colleen thought about sitting down, but she didn’t want to wrinkle her dress. How did the beautiful people do this all the time? “Really, I’ve had all day to think about it, and you know, Sage was right. Even if I give up the money to charity, people will still talk. I’ll just be poor while they’re talking about me.”
“He’s obviously brilliant as well as gorgeous. I like him already.”
Colleen did, too. Which was worrying on a whole different level. Still, first things first. Now that she’d decided to accept J.D.’s amazing gift, her life was going to change. Big-time. Laughing to herself, she said, “You know this means I can quit my job.”
Jenna lifted her glass. “Excellent. Soon-to-be nurse practitioner Colleen Falkner.”
Colleen put one hand to her abdomen to ease those bats that were still flying in formation in the pit of her stomach. But it was a futile gesture. Her body had been through so many ups and downs today, there was no calming it. Oddly enough, it wasn’t even the money or the knowledge that she could make her dreams come true that was really affecting her. Nope, that was all Sage Lassiter. His eyes. His mouth. The deep rumble of his voice, the impossibly broad shoulders.
Oh, God.
She shouldn’t be going to dinner with him. Colleen turned and glanced into the mirror again and what she saw didn’t make her feel any better. Her eyes were too wide, her boobs were too big, her hair was a mass of waves on her shoulders because no matter what she’d tried, she hadn’t been able to clip it up and keep it from looking like a rat’s nest.
Why was she putting herself through this? What if she couldn’t talk? What if staring at him across a table turned her into a mute? Or worse, her mind taunted, what if she babbled incoherently?
“Stop.”
“What?” Colleen came up out of her nerve-racking thoughts like a drowning woman breaching the surface of a lake. She was practically gasping for air.
Shaking her head, Jenna said, “You’re making yourself nuts. It’s just dinner, Colleen. You eat dinner every day. You can do this.”
Could she? She didn’t think so. Heck, her last date had been...oh, God, she couldn’t even remember when she’d dated last. All she could recall was that the guy in question had bored her to tears and then tried to grope her on her front porch. Good times. “I’m being crazy, aren’t I?”
“Just a little.”
“Right.” Sage certainly wouldn’t be boring, she told herself. And if he tried to grope her, she might just let him. Oh, boy. Get a grip, she told herself silently. She was making too much of this. Sage wanted to talk about his late father. All she had to do was keep remembering that and she’d be fine. By talking to him, spending time with him, she could help him get the closure he no doubt needed.
This wasn’t about her and her fantasies. This was about a man, who in spite of his wealth and remarkable good looks, had lost a link to his past. With that thought firmly in mind, she let her sympathy for his loss rise up to drown her silly hormonal meltdown.
“You’re right,” she said, and reached out to take another sip of Jenna’s wine. Colleen hadn’t poured herself any because she hadn’t wanted to risk alcohol on a nearly empty stomach. But the crisp, sharp taste of the Sauvignon Blanc felt like bliss sliding down her too-tight throat. Then the cold, wheat-colored liquid hit her stomach and immediately soothed those pesky bats.
She took a breath, handed the glass back and checked her reflection one last time. “It’s just a meal with a grieving man.”
“Yep. Just dinner with the gorgeous, incredibly sexy, unattainable black sheep billionaire,” Jenna said with a grin. “No pressure.”
Oh, God.
