what? What are you talking about?"
"Do you think I'm dumb? I saw that look on your face, and your hands are shaking."
"It's nothing. They were cute. What? Can't a girl look?" Isabelle tried to backpedal, despite knowing that Amber was way too smart to believe any of it.
"Yeah, a girl can look. That wasn't a look. That was a moment."
"They were cute firemen. That's all."
"Uh-huh. I'll let you get away with that this time. But seriously. Which one?"
"Come on, Amber!"
"Fine. As long as it wasn't Axton."
"Which one was Axton?"
"The gorgeous one."
"That doesn't help me. They were all cute."
"Exactly. They're all cute, but Axton is gorgeous." Amber sighed and took a sip of her coffee. "Those guys were Axton, Jake, and of course Donovan." She watched Isabelle's face change at the mere mention of Donovan's name. "It's Donovan, isn't it?"
"It's Donovan what?"
"The one making your panties wet."
"Amber, come on, really?"
"Oh, please, Isabelle, I'm a woman too and I know that look. I need a change of panties and Axton's never rescued me after a night alone outside on a mountain."
"Alright, enough. Yes, Donovan's cute, he's really nice and he saved my life. That's all there is to it, okay?"
"Sure, keep telling yourself that, honey. I'll leave you alone about it. For now. And don't worry, I won't say a word to anybody. I promise." Her words didn't exactly reassure Isabelle. "Hurry up and finish that so we can head to town. I don't know about you, but I need a dress for Saturday. Axton and I have been doing 'the dance' for a while now, and I'm not sure how much more I can take." Amber finished her coffee and grabbed her purse.
Amber led the way to her little sports car, a beautiful blue two-seater BMW. "This is your car?" Isabelle asked.
"Yeah. Don't drool too much; it's like ten years old. I'm just trying to keep it alive until I marry a billionaire."
"Well, good luck with that!"
"Well, there are plenty to choose from up here. All those guys."
"Which guys?"
"The firefighters. Maybe not billionaires, but they have a ton of money, all of them. Just pick one, take a weekend workshop on giving blowjobs and give him the time of his life."
"Is that your plan with Axton?"
"Already took the workshop." Amber licked her lips and pulled her door shut.
Forty minutes later and they reached the Shops at Gramsby. The new shopping center was overflowing with posh boutiques. Isabelle was amazed it wasn't gated.
"Laylah gave me $500 for clothes. I can't spend it all on a dress and shoes for Saturday. People will begin to notice if that is the only dress I wear to work every day."
"I know just the place." Amber turned out of the parking lot and they headed further east. Buried back in an older strip mall was a tiny dress shop. There was only one other car in the parking lot, and a flashing 'Open' sign in the window.
"My aunt Catherine owns this place. She'll hook us up." The girls headed inside the tiny store and looked around at racks of irregular dresses. "She gets these dresses for almost nothing because they have little flaws. She's a seamstress and repairs them, making them better than new. This place is amazing. I can't believe I didn't think of it before."
"Amber! Hi, honey! How are you?" Catherine came up from the back room and Isabelle could see that Amber's bubbly nature ran in the family.
"Hi, Aunt Kitty. We're here for dresses. Got a fancy party on Saturday and we're on the prowl."
"I love you, Amber, honey, but you're always on the prowl. How is this Saturday any different?"
"Well, this Saturday I have a cohort. Kitty, this is Isabelle. Isabelle, this is my aunt Catherine. I call her Kitty because when I was little, my mom always called her Cat. I guess it stuck."
"It's nice to meet you, Catherine. This looks like an amazing dress shop."
"Thank you. Please call me Cat, or Kitty. I'm doing some work in the back. Prom season is going to hit like a hurricane before I know it and I have a ton of dresses to get