Love, Scars, & Shooting Stars

Chapter Twenty-Four

"I'm so jealous!" Becca moaned as she combed a hank of Julie's blondish mane with her fingers. "I can't even remember the last time Gary and I went on a date."

"You should ask him, then," Julie said, and then sighed in exasperation. "And how many times do I have to say it? It's not a date!"

"Oh, really?" Becca said, smoothing her flat iron down the length of her friend's tresses. "What is it then?"

"It's a... a favor, I guess," Julie shrugged. "Cameron's friend is getting married, his ex-wife is going to be there, and he doesn't want to go alone. So he asked me to go with him."

"To make her jealous."

"No!" Julie huffed. "For... I don't know! Moral support, I suppose."

"Then why the dress?" Becca challenged, tugging the spaghetti-thin strap of the dress she had loaned Julie from her own closet. "And the hair, and the makeup? If it's not a date, then why are you getting all gussied up?"

"Because you forced me to!" Julie reminded her, leaping from the chair and crossing to the full-length mirror on the other side of the room. "I really like you, Becca, but sometimes you are a royal pain in the a—"

Julie's words were swallowed up by her sharp intake of breath, and she stood gaping at her reflection in the mirror. Or what she thought was her reflection, at least.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that last part," Becca teased, cupping a hand to her ear as her image appeared behind Julie in the silver glass. "I'm a royal pain in the what?"

"I forget," Julie murmured, stunned.

The dress Becca had insisted on dressing her in was a perfect fit, flattering Julie's figure without being overly provocative. The soft coral shade of the fabric heightened the glow of Julie's minimalist summer tan, and the neckline dipped just low enough to reveal a modest amount of décolletage, which Becca had adorned with a single, multifaceted gemstone that dangled from a dainty gold chain. The back of the dress was tasteful, but still low enough to rule out the donning of a bra, which gave Julie reason to be thankful for her barely B-cup breasts. A narrow gold belt accentuated her slim waistline, from which the gossamer skirt flowed loosely down to a graceful hem that rested just two inches above her knees.

"Oh, Becca," Julie breathed, still gaping at herself in the mirror. "It's..."

"See? I told you—you are smokin' hot!"

Julie turned to face her friend.

"Is it too much, though?" she asked, suddenly concerned. "I mean, will he..."

"Sorry, but he's going to think you're gorgeous," Becca admitted. "But so will that ex-wife of his. And if this isn't a date, then that is the whole point of your going in the first place."

"It is?"

"Yes, one way or the other, it is," Becca informed her. "Either he wants to make her jealous so that she'll come back to him, or he wants to make her think that he's moved on to someone much, much better, and rub it in her face." She placed her hands on Julie's shoulders and turned her to face the mirror again. "Either way, mission accomplished."

Julie regarded her own reflection once again, still unable to believe that it was really her. Finally, she raised her eyes in the mirror to meet the gaze of her friend standing behind her.

"I love it, Becca," she grinned, tearing up just the tiniest bit. "Thank you."

"No thanks necessary," Becca waved her off, moving away from the mirror. "It's an even trade—you get my styling services, and I get to keep your kid for the night."

"Yeah, but you got the work end of this stick," Julie said, slipping her feet into the strappy sandals that Becca had talked her into buying the day before. "It'll be my turn when you and Gary go out on that date of yours, okay?"

"Who says it has to be with Gary?" Becca said slyly, and then rolled her eyes at Julie's horrified gasp. She shoved her own shimmery gold clutch purse into Julie's hands and guided her toward the door. "I'm kidding! Now go, before you make yourself late, and for God's sake, have some fun—one of us has to!"