Free Blushing Violet by Blushing Violet [EC Exotica] (mobi)

eyes were beautiful.
    “Well?” Bethany tried to snatch the letter from her but Violet held it to her chest. “What is it?”
    “Remember the date that I went on last night? It’s from him.” While she hadn’t filled Bethany in on all the details, she had enjoyed being able to share her excitement with her.
    “Ohhhh.” Bethany’s dark eyes glittered with excitement. “The Sith Lord?”
    Wendy made a snort of disgust but Jason finally looked up from his mail with a small smile. “Sith Lord?” he asked and arched his eyebrows.
    Ignoring all of them, she carefully slid the bow off the box and opened the lid. It revealed a large black velvet case with an elaborate H embroidered on the front in gold thread.
    “Holy shit,” Bethany whispered. “Is that from Hendricks?”
    Wendy peered over her shoulder and said in a dismissive tone, “It’s probably just a knockoff. No guy buys you a present from Hendricks and doesn’t give it to you himself.”
    Violet swallowed and toyed with the small gold catch on the box. “Maybe he just liked the box and reused it.”
    “For the love of God, open it already,” Bethany said as she hit a button on the phone and sent an incoming call to voice mail.
    She lifted the lid and gasped. Inside, nestled against white silk, lay a necklace and pair of earrings made of green jade interspaced with creamy pearls. The apple-green stone glowed in the overhead lights and Bethany stood from her chair to look. “Wow.”
    Unable to form a coherent sentence, Violet stroked her fingers over the beautiful jewelry. She had never owned anything nearly as gorgeous as this. The centerpiece of the necklace was a single creamy pearl as big as her thumbnail.
    Glancing up at Bethany, she caught Wendy’s stunned expression before she narrowed her lips into a thin line and stomped down the hall. Jason leaned on the counter and let out a low whistle. “That’s beautiful. This guy must really like you.”
    Heat flared in her cheeks as she blushed. “Maybe.”
    Bethany hooted. “Maybe? Darlin’, if a man sends you something like this there is no maybe about it.”
    Looking closer, Jason glanced between her face and the box. “Nope. He likes you. No guy would pick out jewelry the exact color of your eyes if he didn’t like you.”
    Bethany grinned at him. “Oh, you’re right!”
    Stunned, Violet continued to run her hands over the jade. This was the color of her eyes? Could it be possible that they were pretty? The foundation of her world shifted as she considered the ramifications. Was it possible that all those years of putdowns by her sister had led her to actually change how she viewed herself? The thought made her feel sick and her stomach twisted into a hard knot.
    “Earth to Violet. Your cell phone is beeping.”
    “Huh?” She put the box down on the counter with a longing glance and fished her phone out. A text message was waiting for her.
    Violet, I can’t wait to see you. I’ll be waiting for you at the fountain in front of Neiman Marcus in Troy at 5 p.m. Barney
    “Oh crap.” Violet jammed her phone back into her white work pants and ran a hand through her braid, which was starting to come unraveled. Thank God her work was only a few minutes away in West Bloomfield. “Glad my last appointment canceled. Barney wants to meet me in front of Neiman Marcus in an hour. I thought I was supposed to meet him there at five thirty, but he wouldn’t say what we are doing. How am I supposed to dress for a date when I don’t know what to wear? Should I wear something nice? What if we go rock climbing? If I wear a pair of jeans and some sneakers we could end up at some fancy dance club and I’ll look like his ugly little sister. Not that I know if he even has a sister. What if he has a beautiful sister and I meet her and she thinks I’m ugly? Thank God I let you wax me because I never would have had time to shave and no one wants a prickly—”
    Bethany shouted, “TMI!” while Jason stared