“Are you sure this looks all right?” I turned to the side once again and checked out my almost bare back.

Megan was watching me from the edge of my bed. She smiled at me in the mirror. “I’m gonna need to break out the thesaurus to find compliments I haven’t already used.”

“I feel like I’m showing too much back.”

“What’s wrong with showing too much back? You have a sensational back. If it were cut that low in the front, then we’d have to talk.”

“If it were cut that low in the front, I’d get arrested.” I shook my head, fretting. “Is it a little too much skin for the St. Regis though? I don’t want anybody thinking I’m working, and I don’t mean as a server.”

Megan frowned. “It’s sexy obviously, but in a classy, elegant way that would be totally acceptable at the St. Regis.”

I faced the mirror again, chewing my lip uncertainly. I was never this insecure.

With an exasperated sigh, she fished through a tote bag full of accessories she’d brought with her. “Here. If it makes you feel better, use this.” She wrapped a silver shawl around my shoulders and stood back. It went beautifully with the strappy silver stilettos she lent me after making me promise to care for them like I would my own child. Friendship was friendship, but a good pair of shoes were forever.

I stepped back, taking in the full picture. The dress was navy blue with a halter neck. The front was completely demure and classy, but it was completely backless coming dangerously close to flirting with the top of my thong. It didn’t seem like the dress should stay in place, but it was so beautifully tailored it did, even when I sat.

I smoothed down the front of the dress, where it came down to just above my knee. I had to admit; the slim cut hugged my figure and made me feel like squeezing my shoulders forward and blowing sultry kisses like those bombshell movie starlets from the fifties. I wondered what Max would make of this dress. I thought of his burning gray eyes roaming hungrily over my body.

“Where did you go just then?” Megan asked as she plugged in my curling iron.

“Nowhere. I was right here.”

“No, you weren’t. You looked worried. Are you worried about something? Is it that woman Tracee?”

“No.”

“There are lonely, sad people like her in every big city. You’re nothing like her.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“So, what you are worried about?”

“I’m not worried,” I denied.

“Bull. Try again.”

“I’m…I was…um…thinking. Wondering.”

“About Josh?”

“God, no.”

“Good, because he’s not worth another minute of your life.”

“He’s not worth my life? Then why am I going to this party again?”

She sat me down on the dining chair she’d pulled into my bedroom and started working on my hair. Her sister was a stylist and had taught her a million tricks, which explained why her natural curls never looked frizzy or unkempt even on windy or humid days.

I draped a towel over my chest and started with my makeup while she separated my hair into sections and pinned it up all over my head.

She waved the curling iron around to make her point. “To show whats-her-face that you’re okay. To rise above the mean little shits who seek to drag you down and be gracious in your good fortune.”

“Good fortune?”

“She’s settling for Josh. You’ve got Max,” she told me.

“I haven’t got Max,” I reminded.

“She doesn’t know that,” she said merrily.

“Tonight, you will go out there and enjoy yourself. Show her you’re doing just fine.” I saw a twinkle in her eye before she continued, “And if you happen to do a little canoodling with a guy about a million times hotter than Josh could be in his wildest dreams, well…”

“There will be no canoodling,” I shot back.

“And you wonder why I think of you as an old lady.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head with the expression of a disappointed mother.

“You’re assuming he’ll even want to canoodle with me. I told you, he agreed that we’d be friends.”

“Friends, my ass. Honey, when he sees you looking as good as you’re going to look when I’m finished with you, you’ll be lucky to make it to the party.” She winked at me in the mirror.

“I don’t think so.”

Her sigh echoed throughout the room. “What is it about Max that pushes you away like this? From what you’ve told me he’s funny and charming. And he swooped in to save you when Josh was being an insensitive asshole. I’m sorry, but I don’t know why you didn’t wake up in his bed this morning.

She doesn’t know I very nearly did.

“Well, I guess I’m just going to need to hang around here until he comes and find out for myself.”

“Don’t you dare,” I threatened.

She snorted with laughter. “If you don’t think I’m not gonna stick around to get a look at him, you’re insane.”