Page 37 of Agent of the Heart (Hearts in Hawthorne #3)

“Honestly, I can’t wait to meet my students and begin a new career. I’m just wondering how I can keep things going with Jace while I’m doing it.”

“I’m here if you need an ear.”

“I know. We’ll be back late Friday afternoon to go to the game. Kay asked if I could stop by with you again and visit with the cheerleaders before the game.”

“We can do that,” Kelby said. “We’ll send Jace down to stand with Eli to keep him busy. Text me a picture of which dress you decide on. Or if you’re having trouble deciding, send me some from the dressing room. You know I’m always happy to give my opinion.”

“You have great taste, Kel. Champagne tastes. Probably a little too rich for my blood.”

“You’ll find something. I know it.”

“Okay. I’ll send you a picture.”

Darby checked to see where NorthPark was.

Way too far to walk from Jace’s condo, so she brought up her rideshare app and scheduled a ride to the mall.

Once she arrived, she walked the entire mall, consulting the list of stores Kelby had provided to her.

The windows displayed models in chic clothing.

She decided she would buy something classic. Elegant. Timeless. That way, she could wear it for years to come and justify whatever price the dress was.

Entering the first store, she strolled through, eventually finding a sales rack which was picked over.

Finding nothing there, she perused the rest of the store, pulling two dresses to try on.

She was afraid to look at the price tag at this point.

A salesclerk escorted her to the dressing room.

She tried on both, taking a picture of herself in each outfit, then glancing at the tags and wincing.

Changing back into her own clothes, she left the dressing room. A salesclerk approached her.

“Would you like these two?”

“I may be back,” she said coolly. “I’d like to try a few other places before I make up my mind.”

After going to four other dress shops, she took a seat on a bench by a fountain and pulled up her pictures.

She texted four to Kelby. Her friend texted that she liked the first and third one.

Darby liked those the best, as well. While all four dresses cost far more than she could spend, those two were the most expensive.

Then again, she knew Jace would be introducing her to the crème de la crème of Dallas society. She didn’t want to embarrass him.

She returned to the first store and went to the salesclerk. “I’m back. I’d like to purchase one of the dresses I tried on earlier.”

“I put them aside, hoping you’d be back,” the woman said, smiling at her. “Let me get them.”

When she returned, Darby indicated which one she wanted and handed over her credit card.

She paid her balance in full each month in order not to ever have to pay the exorbitant interest fees.

She’d also practiced only charging what she could pay for at the end of each month.

It was a good thing Sawyer was letting her live with him for a few months.

Though she’d offered to pay rent to him, he’d waved her away.

Now, she was grateful to have a cushion so she could build up her bank account.

“You will look spectacular in this dress,” the salesclerk assured Darby. “It’s something you can wear today and ten years from now, as well.”

“I hope so,” she said.

Once she’d paid for the dress, she walked through Neiman Marcus and requested a rideshare for pickup there. She figured it was the best known store at NorthPark and that a driver would easily be able to find her outside its doors.

Back at Jace’s condo, she tried on the dress again, liking how well it fit her.

She unzipped it and hung it in the closet, spending a couple of hours going over ideas for future stories and columns for the Hawthorne Herald and looking through the yearbooks again, trying to match names and faces.

She knew almost everyone at this point. Even though these students’ appearance would have changed some in a year, it filled her with confidence to enter her new teaching position knowing most of their names.

Darby took her time doing her hair and makeup, knowing she would be scrutinized being with Jace.

She donned the black cocktail dress and slipped into her pumps, wishing she had brought her single pair of sky-high black stilettos.

They hurt her feet after an hour, but they would’ve been killer with this dress.

Maybe the next time she wore it, she could wear the stilettos.

Jace texted that he was leaving the office. It usually took him ten to fifteen minutes to make it back to the condo, but she decided to go downstairs anyway. Darby chose a lipstick and took it with her, keying in the code to lock the door behind her.

When she saw his car pull up in front, she walked outside. He quickly got out of the car, and for a moment, he took her breath away in his black tux. To think a man this handsome and smart cared about her almost made her grow dizzy.

“Wow!” he said. “Just … wow. You look amazing, Darby. I don’t deserve to be seen with you.”

Trying to make light of things because feelings of love were swelling within her, she said, “Chris Hemsworth and Ryan Gosling were busy tonight. I suppose you’ll do.”

Jace laughed and opened the passenger door for her. She handed him the lipstick, saying, “Tuck this into your pocket for me, okay?”

He did so. “I want to kiss you so badly, but I don’t want to mess you up.”

She got into the sports car as he came around and slid behind the wheel. She caught a whiff of his cologne.

“Seriously, no actor in Hollywood has anything on you, Tanner. You clean up nicely.”

Taking her hand, he brought it to his lips for a tender kiss. “Back at you, Montgomery. I’m going to be the envy of every guy there tonight.”

“I doubt that.”

“Doubt all you want, but just remember that you’re mine—and I’m proud of you.”

Darby hoped everything would go well tonight and that Jace would be happy that he had brought her.