LITMIR.BIZ

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took a while to get there. I spent years slicing and dicing to prove myself. The hours are long. It’s impossible to have much of a social life. Unless you’re married to a chef, which has its own problems. It’s not like the store, where I have a lot of direct contact with customers. When you’re back in the kitchen at a restaurant, you don’t get much interaction.”

      Violet had never thought of what happened behind the scenes when she went out to eat. She’d never considered that the person cooking the food cared about her experience one way or the other.

      “You put a lot of yourself into what you do,” she said.

      “Which is both good and bad.” She shrugged. “So tell me about your date. Where are you going?”

      “Wildfire. It’s in Old Town.”

      Jenna studied her. “We’re nearly the same height, but you have more curves. Not that I’m bitter.”

      “You don’t have to worry about your weight,” Violet pointed out.

      “Yes, and you get to have breasts.” Jenna sighed. “My mom is always worrying about her weight. She gains and loses the same fifteen pounds nearly every year. What she can’t see is she’s beautiful no matter what. When I was a teenager, I would see my dad watching her and I knew what he was thinking. It totally freaked me out. Parents should not have sex. But now, I think it’s great. Well, in theory. I still don’t want the details.”

      She moved into the closet. “Your date is on Tuesday, right?”

      “Uh-huh.”

      “So he’ll probably be coming from work. Which means a suit. I think you should wear a dress. That’s my mother’s training coming out, by the way.” She raised her voice to a slightly higher pitch. “A man likes to see a woman in a dress.”

      Violet knew she had plenty of experience when it came to the likes and dislikes of the average male but didn’t think it was helpful when it came to things like dating this particular kind of guy. This wasn’t her world. Who was she trying to kid?

      Jenna pulled out three or four dresses. “Why don’t you try these.”

      The top one was a short-sleeved cotton dress in dove gray. The bodice had tight horizontal ruffles with some banding at the waist. The skirt had wider ruffles.

      Not really her style, Violet thought, eyeing the dress doubtfully. She wasn’t exactly a ruffle person.

      “I have a belt that could go with this,” Jenna said. “It actually looks really great on.”

      “Okay. I’ll try it.” After all, her goal was to look like someone else.

      Jenna handed over the dresses. “Can’t wait to see the fashion show.”

      She stepped out of the closet and returned to the bedroom. Violet pulled off her black pants, the tank top and lace overshirt she wore, then stepped out of her boots. She drew the ruffled dress over her head and buttoned the front.

      “There’s a full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door,” Jenna said, pointing, then leading the way.

      Violet trailed after her. Once in the huge bathroom, complete with separate shower and massive soaking tub, she closed the door and stared at herself.

      The color wasn’t bad, she thought, turning back and forth. The fit was great, but the style just wasn’t working.

      “I look like I’m twelve,” she said.

      “It’s not quite right,” Jenna agreed. “There’s a black dress that should be better. Let me get it.”

      She left the bathroom, then returned seconds later. The dress she held looked more fitted. A simple scoop neck, tank straps and a skirt that fell to mid thigh. Some tucking detail on the front gave the shape definition.

      “Simple, elegant, silk,” Jenna said holding it out.

      Violet’s gaze dropped to the tag still attached. “I can’t wear that. It’s new.”

      “What does that have to do with anything?”

      “It’s your dress. You should wear it first.”

      “If we wait for that, a millennium will have passed.” Jenna pushed the dress toward her. “You have to at least try it on.”

      Violet took it reluctantly. She didn’t have any silk in her wardrobe. It was costly to buy and usually had to be dry-cleaned. Not an expense she needed. But the fabric was whisper soft and the style appealed to her.

      After hanging the black dress on the towel rack by the light switch, she unbuttoned the front of the dress she had on and shrugged out of it without even thinking. When she reached for the black dress, she felt more than heard Jenna’s surprise. A second too late, Violet remembered that stripping down to a thong and bra in front of her boss probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

      Jenna stood slightly behind her, so she had a full view of the delicate scrollwork on the small of her back and the roses between her shoulder blades. Chinese characters trailed along her left thigh, a Celtic design extended up both arms and a dolphin arced just above her right ankle.

      “They’re beautiful,” Jenna said, sounding very close to meaning it.

      Violet drew the black dress off the hanger. “It was a geographical necessity,” she said, undoing the zipper. “I lived on the streets for a while. I got my first tattoo on a dare and the next couple to fit in.”

      The others had followed because they’d seemed like what she should do at the time. Now she regretted them, but it wasn’t as if they could be scrubbed off.

      “Why were you on the streets?” Jenna asked. “Or is that question too personal?”

      “I was independent.” Violet slipped into the dress. “This is great.”

      Jenna moved behind her and pulled up the zipper. “It’s perfect. You have to wear it. I think it needs a little jacket. I have a couple you can choose from. My mom is very big on accessories.”

      Violet was grateful for the change in subject. “She trained you?”

      “Actually, she does my shopping.” Jenna shrugged. “I know it’s weird, but she loves to shop and she’s good at it. She’ll show up with bags of clothes for me to try on. I keep the ones I like and she returns the rest.”

      “Nice system.”

      “It is. I’m spoiled. If things get serious with this guy and you want to change your look, you should talk to her. I’m sure she’d love to help. She can suggest stores or even take you shopping.”

      The thought was nice, Violet thought. Impossible, but nice. In her world, the mother of her boss didn’t bother with an employee. Of course in her world, her boss didn’t usually lend her brand-new dresses.

      “Let’s go see what jackets I have. I’m thinking short and tailored, but not too severe. We want him to be impressed, not afraid you’re into discipline.”

      Violet trailed after her, wondering what life would have been like if her own mother had cared about her. As it was, Violet had run away at fifteen and never gone back. When she’d been younger, she’d dreamed about finding a family to take her in. A place to belong. She’d always wanted that.

      Without meaning to, she thought of Cliff. He wasn’t anything like the guys she usually dated. He was normal—at least on the surface. She would bet he’d never gone hungry a day in his life.

      They had nothing in common. She would be foolish to allow herself to hope. But maybe, just maybe, a little anticipation couldn’t hurt.

      She wasn’t too proud to buy love, Jenna thought humorously as she delivered paper plates filled with lemon bars to the businesses around her store. Or at the very least, good neighbors and potential customers.

      She

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