“White,” Sam said with a smile.
She was feeling much better about this whole experience. Amy, the manager, only needed to bring her four dresses until they hit gold. It was a fitted red coat dress that ended just above her knees, but when she sat down and crossed her legs, it showed enough upper leg to be tantalizing. The black buttons that went up the front matched the ones that went down the arms to the vee-tipped sleeves. Not too long on the sleeves, since they wouldn’t like that as she played poker.
“Can I make a suggestion?” Amy asked as she rang Sam up.
“Absolutely.”
“Wear stockings and garters. Occasionally when you cross your legs, whoever sees you wearing the dress might see a garter. It’s usually a show-stopper.”
“Oh, you’re good at this,” Sam exclaimed.
“I’d also go with black patent leather stilettos. It’ll go with the buttons. Red wouldn’t be right for the look.” Amy handed her the store garment bag with the dress. “Enjoy.”
“I think I just might,” Sam said.
Until she ended up at her favorite department store looking for shoes to go with the dress and bumped into Eden.
“Hey, Sam. I called you earlier to see if you wanted to go shopping, but it went straight to voicemail. But looks like fate stepped in. Whatchya shopping for?” Eden asked as she eyed Sam’s boutique bag.
“Shoes and some lingerie.”
Eden eyed her quizzically. “Got a hot date with Ezio?”
“No, nothing like that. Just a work event,” Samantha lied quickly.
“Pretty fancy if you were shopping at Ellie’s Boutique. Can I see what you bought?”
Samantha hesitated, but realized she was caught, so she unzipped the garment bag and showed Eden.
“This is gorgeous. Besides your wedding dress I’ve never seen you in something so fancy. Are you angling for a promotion?” Eden teased.
“Uhm, no. Are you up for helping me buy some shoes?” Sam asked as she tried to change the subject.
“Absolutely. So where is the party?”
“The shoe department is downstairs, right?” Sam asked.
Eden nodded then pointed to the escalator. “So where is it being held?”
God, she was relentless.
“Uhm, the Jefferson,” Sam lied again.
“That sounds great. When is it?”
Well, that was easy; the card game was the day after tomorrow, so she’d stick with that.
“It’s Saturday.”
“Is your team going to be there? Toni?”
“Sure. My team will be there. Toni too.”
“I bet David will look good dressed up,” Eden said as she got off the escalator.
“Huh?”
“David, Toni’s husband. Or don’t you get to take guests to the party?”
“I don’t know,” Sam said as she eyed the first table of high heels.
“How could you not know?”
Sam turned on Eden. “Why the third-degree?”
“Because I don’t believe you. Too many uhms in your answer. You’re not meeting my eyes when I ask you a question. What gives?”
Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. My best friend sucks.
“Look, I’m doing a favor for Toni. It’s not a big deal. I’m going out to a casino and going to tap her brother on the shoulder and tell him that Toni’s worried about his drinking and gambling. I’m going to tempt him away from the tables. That’s all.”
“People who are addicts aren’t just going to walk away, Honey,” Eden said sympathetically.
“Yes, he will. Toni and I have a plan.”
“What’s the plan?”
“I was sworn to secrecy. Seriously, there’s no reason to worry.”
“Where is this taking place?”
“At Goldy’s. You know they’re aboveboard. Nothing bad can happen there. I’m going to be good. Toni will be there to back me up.”
“And David?”
“He’ll be there too. So, no problem.” God the lies just kept coming.
Samantha picked up a pair of patent leather stilettos, looked at the price tag, and immediately set them down again.
“If you’re planning on talking him out of there, I think you’re going to need to buy those bad boys,” Eden said and handed them back to Samantha.
She grimaced. “You’re probably right.”
The plan had seemed workable until a manager from Goldy’s had called Samantha up and told her there would be a change of venue for the card game. He told her that there would be a car that would pick her up to take her there.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t get into a strange car. Maybe the men in the tournament will, but not me.”
“Then you won’t play,” he said smoothly.
“Fine, I won’t play.” She hung up and crossed her fingers.
They were giving up a twenty-thousand dollar buy-in, were they really willing to throw that money down the drain just because she didn’t want to get into a stranger’s car?
She paced her small apartment, opening the refrigerator and taking a big spoonful of the chocolate chip cookie dough batter. That helped her feel better.
This was going to throw a major wrench in the works. Toni was supposed to act as a back-up. During one of the potty breaks, she was supposed to lure Phil to Toni who was going to show him pictures of the baby’s scan, and of his wife and child. Her friend had been positive that would do the trick. Deep down, Phil loved his family.
She paced some more, sucking on the spoon. She didn’t want to call Toni if the deal hadn’t been screwed up yet.
Her phone rang and she made a dive for it. The spoon fell onto her rug.
Dang it!
“Hello?”
“You can follow us in your car.”
“When?”
“Now. We’re waiting outside your apartment.”
“I need to fix my makeup. Give me two minutes.”
The man sighed. “Fine.”
She picked up the spoon and threw it in the sink, then she called Toni and explained what was going on. “As soon as I arrive wherever I’m going, I’ll text you the address.”
“But this won’t work now,” Toni
