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Karen, a petite blonde with a vacant smile, motioned for them to follow her.

The first two dresses didn’t work for Hannah, but when Nicki squealed, Hannah poked her head out to find her friend looking like a sexual dynamo in a wine-colored strapless dress with a mermaid skirt. The corset back was lined with sparkling beads that matched the top of the bodice and edge of her skirt.

“That’s the dress,” Hannah called.

“Hell yeah it is.”

Nicki received a disapproving look from Madeline and a clucking tongue from Karen. A few moments later, Madeline slipped a dress through the curtain of Hannah’s dressing room.

“Try this on. I think it will look amazing on you.”

Hannah held up the dress in her hand. It was a gorgeous lilac color with an off-the-shoulder sweetheart neckline. The skirt gathered up with little seed pearls, and the back was a corset, loosened to allow her to step in.

When she had the dress in place, she called out to Madeline, who stepped in to cinch her up. The woman was practically bouncing on her feet as she looked Hannah over.

“I think you’ll be pleased when you see the full effect.”

Once the dress was tightened just shy of oxygen deprivation, Hannah and Madeline emerged.

Nicki’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped. “Oh, Han, you look freaking gorgeous!”

Hannah’s heart kicked into high gear as she stepped up onto the block and let the dress fall around her. Raising her head up to look in the mirror, she stared at her reflection in awe.

In this dress, she didn’t lament the pounds she needed to lose or that her legs weren’t long enough to pull it off. The dress fit her as if it had been made just for her, and with the right heels . . .

It would be completely perfect.

“Geez, I can’t go with you to this thing. Guys will be fighting just to stand near you.”

Hannah knew that Nicki was exaggerating, and she loved her for it.

“As long as you buy that red one, we’ll both be beating them off with a stick.”

HANNAH WAS SO tired by the time they finished shopping. Once they had purchased their dresses, they’d headed to the Sunrise Mall and gone to Torrid for their undergarments. Hannah found a very pretty white bustier and thigh-high stockings to go with it, while Nicki had gone for black everything. They’d hit three shoe stores before they found the right heels and swung by Claire’s for their accessories.

“This is so awesome. I cannot wait.”

“You know this was a lot more expensive than staying in and watching movies, don’t you?”

“It’s only once a year, if we even decide to go again, so stop sweating it. You’re killing my buzz.” As they stuffed their purchases in the back of Nicki’s car, she asked, “What should we do now?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” Hannah said.

“Hell yeah! Wanna hit BJ’s?”

It was a little out of the way, being off Arden Way, but it was Hannah’s favorite. “Sure, sounds good.”

Thirty minutes later, they walked into BJ’s Brewhouse. Hannah’s feet ached, protesting the walk from the parking lot to the restaurant. She couldn’t believe they’d shopped for over six hours; that had to be a record.

“How do you not want to curl up and sleep right now?” Hannah asked.

“Wearing my shoe gels, baby. Gotta dress comfy if you want to shop with the big guns.”

Hannah laughed. There were several groups waiting for tables, and as Nicki went to put their name in, Hannah decided it was a good time to go to the restroom.

And then she spotted Blake, sitting on the bench in front of her, smiling at a pretty brunette holding a present. Their heads were bent close together, the way people did in a loud atmosphere or just when they wanted to be near each other.

The bottom dropped out of her stomach as she realized he’d given her the brush-off. All that talk about not being ready to date, that he was still mourning his wife, had been just to spare her feelings.