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“You are doing a lot of what-ifs for a girl you haven’t even been on one date with. You might hook up with her and find out she sneezes like a lumberjack and wipes her nose on her sleeve.”

Blake laughed at the image in his head. “You’re an idiot.”

“Just trying to give you so

me perspective. It does no good to speculate on what might happen, and besides, you haven’t dated for thirteen years. You don’t want to jump right into another relationship. Test the waters with Hannah. At least you know her, right? And she knows what you’ve been through. She seems like she’d be good for you.”

Blake had to admit that Sparks had a point, which brought him back to Dr. Stabler’s comment about his attraction to Hannah being a part of his body and mind letting him know he was ready to move on and try dating again.

If he started to move that way, maybe he could cut back on his sessions with Dr. Stabler. If she thought he was at least trying to move on . . .

“Yeah, I’ll think about it, but don’t tell Bryce, or I’m going to be bumping into her entire Facebook friends list at every function.”

“Deal.”

Chapter Fourteen

ON SATURDAY, HANNAH dropped Milo at her parents’ for the day and thanked them for watching the puppy while she and Nicki went shopping. Her mom had been especially excited about the Valentine’s Day ball and ordered Hannah to show her everything she’d bought when she returned to pick up Milo.

“Actually, Nicki is coming to pick me up, and I’m going to leave my car here, if that’s okay?”

“Oh, sure, sweetie, do you think you’ll be back to join us for dinner?”

The sound of a horn honking outside was Hannah’s cue to skedaddle. “Probably not. Who knows how long it will take with Nicki in charge.”

“Well, have fun!”

Hannah raced out the door before Milo could escape with her and ran toward Nicki’s car.

“There she is!” Nicki, her dark hair in a clean A-line bob with burgundy streaks throughout, waved out the window. Hannah climbed into the passenger seat and gave her a hug, pulling away to study her friend’s face; Nicki’s eyes were lined with kohl and dark shadow, and her lips were the same shade as her hair. She always did her makeup as if they were going clubbing, and today it was a little much for trying on formal dresses.

“Ready to get our pretty on?” Nicki asked, stepping on the gas as she backed out of Hannah’s parents’ driveway.

Hannah grabbed the oh, shit handle and held on for dear life. “As I’ll ever be.”

“That’s the spirit.”

The bridal shop was about ten minutes from her parents’ house, near the Sunrise Mall. Traffic wasn’t bad in the middle of the day, so they didn’t have nearly as long to talk before Nicki was pulling into the parking spot in front of the store.

“All right, we have an appointment, and I don’t want to hear any whining about the prices, you got me?”

Normally, assertive people intimidated Hannah, but she’d known Nicki too long to let her railroad her. “I won’t whine. I’ll just take off out the door and wait for you at Starbucks. I’m not blowing my savings on one dress I’ll never wear again.”

“You’re such a poop,” Nicki said, climbing out of the car. Hannah didn’t take offense, though. For as romantic as she was, she was the more levelheaded of the pair and wouldn’t let Nicki go broke over an outrageously priced ball gown, either.

They stepped into the open room filled mostly with white wedding dresses, and Hannah was a little surprised when the elegantly dressed saleswoman walked over to them and gave Nicki a hug.

“Nicki, I’m so glad you came in.” She gave Hannah a discreet once-over. “And who is this?”

“This is my friend, Hannah. Hannah, this is Madeline, a friend of my mom’s.”

“Nice to meet you.” Hannah held her hand out, and Madeline placed her soft palm in hers.

“Lovely to meet you. Hmm, what size are you, dear?” Madeline asked.

“She is a size sixteen,” Nicki answered for her.

Hannah expected the woman to remain cool and aloof, but instead, her dark eyes twinkled. “I think I have something just perfect for her. Why don’t you ladies follow Karen to the dressing rooms, and I will bring you some choices.”