Free Romance Me (Boxed Set) by Susan Hatler, Virna Depaul, Ciara Knight, Rochelle French Page A

I gripped the phone against my ear. “I’m not interested in online dating anymore. The three pet classes with Henry felt like three of the best dates I’ve ever been on. It was different with him. Not a crush, or infatuation, it felt . . . right. It doesn’t make sense, but I can’t explain it any other way.”
    Silence.
    “I’ve blown it with him anyway and you’re probably glad. But, I can’t date who you think is right for me. I’m thirty-years-old, Mom. I need to live my life my way.” I swiped at my wet cheeks. “I have to go.”
    “I will see you tonight.” Her voice was tight and firm.
    Grunting in frustration, I turned my phone off and tossed it on the cushion next to me. Oh, man. I’d never talked to my mom like that before. Well, not since my teen years, anyway. Great. Dinner and the art show should be such a blast. Not.
    As I rubbed my temples, the white box on my coffee table caught my eye and called to me. So, even though I felt miserable, I tried on my red stilettos. They fit perfectly and I took them for a test loop around my living room. Amazing. Sleek red heels actually made walking more fun. I’d loved these shoes the moment I’d tried them on, but I’d gone for the safety pair instead. Smart and sensible. That’s me.
    Or, that had been me. I promised myself that from now on, I was going to start choosing the shoes I really wanted. Ditto on men.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    After the horrible phone conversation with my mom, I took a long hot bath, hoping to soak away my troubles. No such luck. Now, wearing nothing but a bathrobe, I opened my front door and stared miserably at Rachel, who looked gorgeous in a jade green dress. “Forget tonight. I’m not going.”
    “Turn.” She made a circular motion with her finger, shut the door behind her, then nudged me toward my bedroom. “Change.”
    With Rachel’s hand planted firmly on my back, I dragged my feet as I moved forward begrudgingly. “I had an awful fight with my mom.”
    “Really?” She headed straight for my closet, flipped through my clothes, and eyed a beige dress up and down before dismissing it. “What about?”
    I dropped back on my bed. “Thirty years of pent up aggression, I think. She’s hounding me to get back to Detailed Dating . I told her I’m only interested in one person and she was less than thrilled with my choice.” I sat up suddenly. “Do you think tracking down Henry on the internet would be going overboard?”
    “No need.” She selected a sexy black and red silk camisole from my closet and handed it to me. “I took care of it.”
    Every muscle in my body froze. “Y-you what?”
    She gave an exaggerated shrug. “I called All Things Furry, spoke to Abby Wilson, and used my powers of persuasion to get Henry’s phone number. Then I called him, admitted I’d jumped to conclusions about you liking that Detailed Dating guy, and told him which art gallery we’d be at tonight if he wanted to meet up with us.”
    I squealed. “You did? Seriously?”
    “Yes, which is why you need to get dressed.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. “He kinda came across stunned when I mentioned we were going to the art showing so I told him we were quite cultural, thank you very much.”
    I threw my arms around her. “I love you, Rach. You’ve taken the term ‘best friend’ to a whole new level.”
    “Ooof.” She patted me on the back as I tightened my grip. “It was the least I could do after my negative vibes from my Dillon drama botched your cute flirtation. I can’t believe I lost two days of my life being depressed over that twig.”
    “He was so not worth it.” I slipped out of my bathrobe, then into a black skirt and the dressy tank Rach picked out. “How did Henry sound when you called?”
    “Surprised.” She held her hands up. “But in a good way.”
    “And he said he’d meet us?”
    She tapped a crimson painted fingernail against her chin. “Not specifically, but he seemed interested.”
    My