Free Simply Being Belle by Rosemarie Naramore Page A

said with a beleaguered sigh.  She had to concede
that she probably did need a night out. 
    “Good!” Lacey said,
sounding somewhat surprised she had acquiesced.  “Dress in something nice.”
    “Don’t I usually dress
in something nice when I go out to dinner?”
    “Not always. 
Besides, I heard about the stylish ensemble you put together for your meeting
with Dare yesterday.”  She chuckled.  “I understand you flashed half the
office.”
    “I did not!  Did
I?” she moaned.  “I didn’t think anybody saw…”
    “A big, gaping
hole in your t-shirt?  Yeah, they saw.”
    A wave of
mortification washed over her.  Suddenly, she felt weary and wished she hadn’t
surrendered to Lacy and agreed to a night out.  But too late, she would never
let her off the hook now. 
    “I’d better go
then,” she murmured.  “I need to see if I have anything clean in my closet.”
    “Wear that pretty
sundress—you know, the one with splashes of blues and purples.  It really
brings out your eyes.”
    “Why do I need to
bring out my eyes?”
    “Just wear it.”
     
    ***
     
    Belle arrived at
the Riverside Restaurant fifteen minutes late.  It wasn’t like her to be late,
but she’d spent the better part of the last forty-five minutes attempting to
iron wrinkles out of the blue and purple sundress that she’d found stuffed into
a dresser drawer. 
    She climbed out of
her car, smoothing the dress with her hands as she hurried toward the
restaurant entrance.  No doubt Lacey would be annoyed by her tardiness. 
Suddenly, she was feeling annoyed with Lacey and decided she could be tardy if
she darn well pleased. 
    She picked up her
pace anyway and was reaching for the door when someone called out her name.  She
spun around, surprised to see Dare striding toward her, a broad smile on his
face. 
    “I’m glad you
could make it,” he said cheerfully.  “I’m a little late myself.”  She watched
him curiously, and he noticed.  “I was held up at work,” he informed.
    She nodded
distractedly.  Wait.  He said he’d been held up.  Held up with what?  Oh, how
she wanted to ask him if the holdup had anything to do with the Rodriguez case.
    Wait.  Why was he telling
her he was late?  And why didn’t he seem particularly surprised to see her?  And
then a light bulb went on in her overtired brain.  “You’re meeting Lacey and
Steven too?”
     He nodded. 
“Yes.  Didn’t you know?”
    “Oh, well, no,
but…”
    “Do you mind?” 
His crisp blue eyes bore into hers, and the corners of his mouth quirked into a
hopeful smile.
    “Oh, no, not … at
all,” she said, realizing she hadn’t sounded particularly coherent since coming
to face to face with him.  She didn’t sound particularly convincing, either. 
    “Shall we?” he
said, reaching past her and opening the door.
    She stepped past
him and into the crowded restaurant.  She immediately spotted Lacey and Steven
sitting side by side on a bench along a wall in the lobby.  Lacey offered a
small wave, while Steven motioned them over. 
    She started to
make her way through the crowd, when she felt a warm hand on her low back.  She
found herself guided through throngs of people toward her friends. 
    Lacey grimaced
when they reached her.  “Steven didn’t make a reservation,” she said in a flat
tone, shooting him a look of daggers.
    He shrugged.  “Sorry. 
I forgot.”
    “Not a problem,”
Dare said and glanced around.  “Maybe there’s space in the bar.  Do you know if
we can order dinner there?”
    Lacey nodded.
    “I’ll check it
out,” he said.  He was gone all of thirty seconds, but returned shaking his
head.  “No room,” he said simply.
    “We could go
somewhere else,” Lacey suggested.  “What do you think, Belle?”
    Belle met her
friend’s gaze and shrugged.  Vaguely she registered Steven and Dare talking
about something, but she didn’t listen.  What did she think? Lacey had asked. 
She thought her friend