Over the Hills and Far Away (NOLA's Own #1) (62 page)

“Then, I think we should head to the mall and get you some decent duds. We’ll get you some basics today, and then I’ll get Lili to take you shopping soon. She’s a fucking fashionista. She’ll help you figure out what your personal style is.”

“Lili scares me,” she whispered.

“No worries,” I told her cheerfully. “She scares everyone.”

We parked Gretchen in the garage of an upscale mall. Sheri said money was no object, so we might as well get her some nice expensive clothes to make her feel…well, nice and expensive. I could also find a hot outfit for tonight here without trying too hard.

I wasn’t bothered by the fact that the people who shopped here were more on the wealthy end of the economic scale. I could afford to do a
little
spending here. But Sheri needed to amp up her wardrobe. From what I’d gathered, she was pretty fucking loaded. It was strange that she had all this money, yet she dressed so…cheap.

Does she really make that much money as a road manager? Huh…

“Where do you want to start?” I asked her as we walked through the entrance, the icy AC blasting us.

“Um…well, I guess I should look for some jeans. I don’t own any.”

So fucking bizarre. How can someone
not
own jeans?

“All right. Follow me.”

We headed for the shop where I’d bought my boot-cuts that I’d worn to the last NOLA’s Junk concert. I was thinking I could use one or two more pairs anyway. I also spotted some really cute halter tops.

“Those are adorable,” Sheri said from behind me, lurking. “You should try them on.”

“I think I will. I don’t have any, and they’d go great with some tight jeans.”

Sheri’s arms were loaded with several pairs of jeans, and she followed me back to the changing rooms.

“I do all the clothes shopping for the guys, but I’ve never really stopped to buy anything for myself.” Her voice floated over from the next room.

“Seriously? They don’t get their own clothes?”

“Nope. It’s in my job description. When they need new clothes, I get sent out.”

“So, all the shit Phil wears—”

“Yeah, I picked it out. I know all their sizes, better than I know my own. Like Phil, besides being
huge
, he refuses to wear any pants that hug his crotch. The baggier, the better. It’s a shame because a pair of dark boot-cut jeans would just be amazing on his ass.”

In my own room, I blinked in surprise, picturing him in jeans.

“Damn,” I grunted. “They sure as shit would.”

“Flipper is the opposite. He likes his skinny jeans, preferably black or dark denim. He likes wearing all black all the time. He’s probably the easiest to shop for. Jason is classic jeans, T-shirts. X is pretty similar to Jason with a bit of a surfer-dude style. He likes baggy pants, too, but he won’t turn up his nose to jeans.”

I checked out my reflection in the ass-huggers and halter top I had on. I was definitely getting the shirts.

“Will you take a look and tell me what you think about the jeans?” she called out.

“Of course.”

Stepping out just as she did, my jaw dropped
.

Hot damn!

She looked fucking amazing. She was still too skinny, but she looked great in her dark skinny jeans.

“Wow, Sheri! Those look fantastic!”

She beamed, “I like them. And you look great in that, too.”

After trying on five more pairs—from skinny to wide-legged, which had also looked fabulous on her—she ended up buying all of them along with a few of the halter tops as well.

She was on a roll, and I went along for the ride. Normally, I’d be praying for it to just be over, but she was having such a wonderful time that I couldn’t help but be infected with her enthusiasm.

She also found some classy, sophisticated clothes—from a pair of swishy, silky navy shorts that went to her knees to an assortment of plain T-shirts in every color of the rainbow. She was also buying shoes, purses, and accessories. I was staggered by the amount of money she was spending.

We ended up having to take a couple of trips back to the car to drop stuff off before heading on to more stores.

“Okay, I’m not sure I can take much more,” I told her after the last drop-off. “There’s one store where I think I can find something, and then I want to get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds good,” she replied, bursting with happiness. “I can’t wait to wear all my new stuff!”

The department store we went into carried high-end retail, and it was stupid expensive.

“Oh, you are going to bring him to his knees!” crowed Sheri, who was sitting and waiting for me outside my changing room door to take a look at the outfit I had picked.

“Excellent,” I replied, wanting to pat myself on the back for even finding this.

An actual date with Phil fucking Deveraux was totally worth spending four hundred dollars on a dark raspberry-colored wrap dress made of flowing sheer layers of silk. It clung in all the right places and swished prettily at the knee. I was also willing to spend two hundred dollars on some acid-green pumps and a matching handbag. It was completely worth it as it all complemented the dress so beautifully.

Sheri found a gorgeous lilac-colored silk dress that heightened the violet in her eyes. Sleeveless, its high neckline actually made her tits look even more attractive by covering them up. It cinched in at the waist with a sash belt and flowed down to her knees.

“Promise me you’ll make Jason take you on a date, so you can wear that,” I demanded of her as we headed for the register.

She turned a little pink. “I don’t know.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I don’t think he thinks of me like that.”

“You guys are more than whatever it is you think you are, Sheri. He doesn’t let the other guys sleep with you even though he lets you give them head—”

“That’s…that’s actually more for
me,
” she told me in a hushed tone. “I…I’ll tell you later, okay?”

“Sure, if that’s what you want. It’s really none of my business, Sheri. If you don’t want to tell me at all, that’s okay, too.”

She just looked at me for a few seconds. “I think it might be good to have someone I trust give me some honest feedback into my, uh…yeah.”

Giving her a shrewd look, I said, “You know I’m not
that
kind of doctor, right?”

She nodded her head. “Yeah, I know. But still.”

She trusts me. She
genuinely
trusts me.

That made me feel bad because, honestly, I
didn’t
trust her. It wasn’t in a bad way, but it was just the fact that I really didn’t know her very well, and she used to suck my boyfriend’s cock—a lot.

Paying a small fortune for our new dresses and shoes and purses, we headed back to the car for the last time and jumped in before getting the hell out of there.

Instead of going to Phil’s, we went back to my place.

“What time is your date?” Sheri asked.

I closed the door to my closet after hanging up the dress. “No idea. We might just be winging it.”

“Will you let me do your hair?” A hopeful ring sounded in her voice.

“I thought I’d wear it down. He likes it like that.”

“Oh, no, you have to wear it up, so all night, he’ll be dying to take it down himself.”

I laughed at that. “Yeah, all right.”

Sheri threw on a pair of wide-legged low-rise jeans, a bright yellow T-shirt, and brown leather flip-flops. Checking herself out in my full-length mirror, she beamed a megawatt smile that transformed her face completely. She really was quite beautiful.

“You look wonderful,” I told her.

Her eyes shimmered suddenly with unshed tears. “It feels wonderful—to see myself like this. You were right. I look better covered up,” she said. She picked up her micro shorts and barely there tank top off the floor. “I think we should burn these.”

That cracked me up.

She smiled. “I’m serious. I’m never dressing like that again.”

“If you feel comfortable like this, then you’re on the right path.”

We heard the front door open.

Alys’s voice called out, “Anyone home?”

“Up here!” I called back.

I heard her dump her bag and keys on the couch, and then her footsteps came up the stairs. Smiling from ear to ear, she came into the room, her face going from stupid happy to utter shock as she took in Sheri’s new look.

“Holy crap!” Alys squeaked, her jaw dropping.

Sheri smiled all over again. “What do you think?”

“You look gorgeous! You guys went shopping?”

Sheri nodded. “I bought a whole bunch of jeans. And Kenna bought a
dress
. Phil’s taking her out on a
date
tonight!”

“A
dress
? You bought a
dress
?”

Grinning, I replied, “I bought a
dress
.”

“And pumps!” squealed Sheri. “They’re so cool!”

“Show me!” demanded Alys.

“I will…once you tell me why you didn’t come home last night!”

Alys went pink. “That’s because I slept over with X.”

Sheri clapped her hands and bounced on the balls of her feet. “Yay!”

“We didn’t have sex! Just made out a little and…maybe some heavy petting. But I told him I wouldn’t sleep with him. If that’s what he’s looking for, he can find someone else.”

“Good for you,” I told her.

“He said he wouldn’t stop trying to get into my pants until I let him, and after he got in them, he wouldn’t be leaving them.”

“Ha-ha. Wait—does that mean he’s your boyfriend?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

The front door opened again, and this time Lili came into the room. She was just as stunned by Sheri in a pair of jeans as Alys had been. Demanding to see all of Sheri’s new clothes, Lili pawed through each item like a vicious little fashion Chihuahua.

In the end, Sheri got the Lili Seal of Approval.

How in all hell can I be
this
nervous?

Phil was picking me up in twenty minutes, and he wouldn’t tell me anything else.

At five thirty, Sheri made me start getting ready. That gave me about two hours
.

Who the fuck takes two hours?

I was scrubbed, shaved, and perfumed before putting on a lacy bra and underwear in a pale apple-green color.

Sheri planted my barely covered ass on a stool in my bathroom. She started creating a soft hairstyle with tiny braids to wind and secure a fancy knot that rested low and to the left of my head so that my hair draped over my shoulder and breast.

“You’ve got an amazing figure, Kenna,” she told me. “You look so strong and muscular but not in a bulky kind of way, you know?”

“Years of yoga,” I replied. “I find it’s easier to work when my body is strong and warmed up.”

“I wish I looked like that,” she sighed.

“You can. Start doing yoga or any sort of exercise really.”

“Do you…do you think you would feel up to helping me a little?”

“Sure,” I told her. “I do most of my workout in the morning. Sometimes, after work, I’ll have a session to de-stress. If you want to wake up early and join me, I’d be happy to help you. But I will suggest a diet to build muscle and add some weight.”

She nodded. “I’d really like that.”

Lili insisted she do my makeup.

“Phil likes a light hand,” I told her. “None of that heavy smoky-eye shit.”

After demanding to see the dress, Lili gave me a smoky-eye look—
she’s a
brat
—in a shimmery light green with a dark brown bit of eyeliner and mascara. I had to admit that she had done a fantastic job. We both got what we’d wanted—a light-handed look with a bit of evening glam.

After the hair and makeup, I slipped into the fabulous dress and heels, and my friends made me feel like a million bucks.

So, now, with five minutes to go, I was nervous as all hell, and my hands were starting to sweat.

Awesome.

A heavy knock came from the front door, and I looked at my friends.

“How do I look?”

“Amazing,” sighed Sheri.

“Fantastic,” said Alys.

“Gigantic,” replied Lili dryly.

“Sweet,” I said.

I made my way downstairs. The three of them followed me and waited on the steps as I reached the front door. Looking back over my shoulder, they all smiled at me, and Lili gave me a thumbs-up.

I turned the handle and opened the door a crack just to peek out.

Well, hot damn!

Phil looked fucking gorgeous. Clean shaven, his sharp angular features and full-sculpted lips were out in all their glory. He still had his signature sideburns going on though. His hair was pulled back into its usual knot. He looked so handsome in a short-sleeved black button-down shirt, opened at the collar, with a loosely knotted black tie. He was wearing a pair of—
Holy shit! No way!—
form-fitting dark boot-cut jeans, a black leather belt with a skull and crossbones buckle, and patent-leather black shitkicker boots.

He was so
beautiful that my heart raced, and my knees shook. I was in danger of hitting the floor.

By the gods! I’m going out on a date with my lifelong crush!

“You look beautiful,” I told him breathlessly through the crack.