"Will do." I smiled and ripped the first two pages off and handed the rest back to her.
I got busy working my way down the list, and before I knew it, it was already lunchtime. Good news, I’d only thought about Reed maybe a hundred times during the last few hours. Bad news, it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought to get him out of my head.
Isabel poked her head into our office. She had a huge smile on her face, looking really excited. "You have a delivery, Emily." Her voice matched the expression on her face, high with excitement.
"Did you have something delivered to me for the event?" I looked over to Christine.
She shook her head. "No, I usually just address the packages to the company."
My heart started beating rapidly and I wasn't even sure why. In the darkest corner of my mind, I always thought of Jake at times like this. I could see him sending me something, letting me know in a subtle way that he had found me.
Following Isabel into the front lobby area, I saw a familiar woman. She was the sales lady working at the dress store that Lexi and I had visited this weekend.
"Hi, are you Emily Anderson?" she asked, smiling at me.
"Yes, that's me."
My whole body buzzed as she handed me the long, navy-blue dress that I had tried on, hung inside a clear garment bag. For a long moment, I just stared at it in her hands. Finally, I reached out and grabbed it.
"What is this?" Of course I knew what it was—it was a dress. I just wasn't sure why this lady was standing here and why she had just handed me a twenty-three-hundred-dollar dress.
"Mr. Alexander wanted me to deliver it to you personally. He also asked me to give you this." She handed me a card. I took it, feeling as though my legs were about to give out beneath me.
"Thank you?" It came out sounding more like a question, but again, I was at a loss for what to say.
After the woman left, I turned around to find both Christine and Isabel staring at me.
"What was that all about?" Christine asked, mouth gaping.
"Um, I think Reed Alexander just bought Emily a gorgeous gown and had it delivered to her work. Wow, that is so romantic. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?" Isabel asked, looking at me all dreamy, like she was witnessing some fairytale play out in front of her.
Swallowing hard, I looked at the dress and envelope in my hand, still not believing this was happening. Didn't I tell him I needed some time, more space? Yes, I am pretty sure I made that clear. Then I remembered the small grin he had on his face when he said those words… What was it? Something about being more persistent?
"I'm going to go hang this up." I walked past them and started making my way back to the office. I could hear them whispering the entire way.
After hanging the dress on the back of my door, I sat in my chair and slowly opened the envelope. I pulled out a single card with the initials R.M.A. printed on the top.
You looked gorgeous in this dress. It would be a shame not to see you in it again. - Reed
My throat felt tight as I stared at his words. He had bought me the dress and had it delivered to my work. What part of this is giving me space? I said I needed that, right? I asked myself again.
Glancing up, I looked at the dress hanging from the door and couldn't control the smile that spread across my face. I really did love the dress. It was beautiful and I felt beautiful in it. Then, the smile dropped from my face as quickly as it appeared. The dress was too much. I couldn't accept it. I would have to return it or give it back to Reed so he could return it.
"So that was some gift." Christine walked back into our office.
"Yeah." I shoved the card and envelope into my purse.
"Is there something going on between the two of you?"
I shook my head an excessive amount of times. Way to be obvious, Emily. "No, there's nothing." I cleared my throat. "I went with Lexi to look for a dress this past weekend and tried this one on for fun. He saw me in it and bought it for me."
She nodded, eyeing me curiously. "It's okay if you're seeing him, Emily. Sharon wouldn't care unless it interfered with the event. I can keep a secret, if you want."
"Thanks, but really, there's nothing going on."
"Whatever you say." She shrugged, turning around to face her computer again.
AFTER WORK, I met up with Lexi. She had texted me earlier, asking if I wanted to meet up for coffee. I assumed she knew about the dress, and I was curious if she had anything to do with Reed buying it. I was sure he would've asked her what she thought about it at least.
"Reed told me he bought it for you, but only after he did it. Once he's made up his mind, he's a very difficult man to reason with. He's just trying to be nice, Emily. You're reading too much into it."
Reading too much into it? It was a twenty-three hundred dollar dress. "It just doesn't feel right."
"Can I ask you something?" Lexi asked when I sat there staring at the table for a long minute.
I nodded.
She bit her lip, hesitating. "Did something happen between the two of you?"
An ache hit my chest and I swallowed hard. "Why? Did he say something?"
"Well, he asks about you sometimes, and when I told him I was going dress shopping, he wanted to know if you would be there. Then, the other day, he asked me a really awkward question."
"What's that?" I was pretty sure my heart was in my throat.
"He asked if you were seeing anyone."
My mouth dropped open. What kind of question was that? Of course I wasn't seeing anyone. Would he really think I would’ve slept with him if I was seeing someone else?
"Something did happen between the two of you, didn't it?" she asked. My eyes closed. This was such a mess—a mess I created. The last thing I wanted to do was make this a big deal. I didn't want what happened between Reed and me to interfere with my and Lexi's friendship.
"When you and Brandon went out of town, when you asked me to check on him, we spent a night together," I confessed.
It sounded like she choked or something and then her eyes grew wide while my entire face fell. I felt bad for keeping it from her for so long.
"You actually spent the night at his place?"
Does she really want me to spell it out for her? I wasn’t sure how much clearer I could be.
I nodded as I closed my eyes again.
"Okay, so from the look on your face, this was a bad thing."
I nodded again, opening my eyes. "It's just complicated. It wasn't all bad. It just shouldn't have happened."
"Oh no, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have asked you to go over there."
"No, no, it wasn't your fault. We both had a weak moment and it was a mistake."
"Does Reed think it was a mistake?" she asked, her voice cautious.
I swallowed hard. How am I supposed to answer that? "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who thinks it was a mistake. Or at least I'm the one who doesn't want it to happen again anyway."
"Why didn't you tell me? Or why didn't Reed tell me?"
I shrugged. "I didn't want it to come between our friendship. It was just that one time and it won't happen again. I promise."
She shook her head. "I knew something was up when you two were acting weird the other day at the dress shop and then the way you two were trying to avoid staring at each other at dinner that night. Brandon thought I was crazy, but I know my brother, and I know when he sees something he wants."
My stomach dropped to the floor.
"Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind if the two of you wanted to get together, but I totally respect whatever you want to do. And I just want you to know, Reed is a good guy. He's changed a lot in the past few years. Yes, he used to have this reputation as a womanizer, but that was when he was in college. He just wasn't ready to settle down with one girl. It was all in innocent fun. I don't think any girl got her heart broken. I actually don't think he's had a girlfriend of any kind in a couple years now."