“The things I do for my friends,” Dana grumbled.

The manager of the salon rushed over and greeted them. She smiled vaguely at Dana before fawning over Lexi and Izzy. Lexi was immediately shown to a plush chaise and urged to relax.

“Does she get another foot massage?” Izzy asked. “I’d love a foot massage.”

“You’re not pregnant,” Lexi said, relaxing into the soft cushions and sighing. “This is how I want to live my life.”

“It is how you are living your life,” Dana said.

“Lucky me.” Lexi turned to Izzy. “Why don’t you show her what we picked out? Then she can choose the least offensive one.”

“Don’t you want a say?” Dana asked, almost meaning it. She would actually prefer getting the final choice, but it seemed polite to offer the choice to Lexi.

Lexi put her hand on her belly. “All the ones she picked will do a great job covering this, so I’m good.” She smiled at the petite dark-haired woman who approached. “Eva, I’ve missed you. And my swollen ankles have missed you more.”

Izzy grabbed Dana’s arm. “Come look. You should be happy. I went with black rather than red or green. I know it’s a Christmas Eve wedding, but seriously, that color of green doesn’t flatter anyone over the age of eight.”

Although Skye had said no one had to dress up as her bridesmaid for her second wedding, all of them knew that she would love to have her sisters and Dana as part of the ceremony. Izzy had come up with the idea of surprising her at the wedding in matching dresses. Dana thought that idea was right up there with a root canal, but they were talking about Skye, whom she loved very much. Sacrifices would have to be made.

“Erin’s dress is adorable,” Izzy continued, leading Dana into a large dressing room and pointing at the dresses hanging along the wall. “I saw it earlier and chose elements for our dresses that would complement the style. I also picked what would look good with Skye’s gown.”

Dana pushed down a flash of guilt. The gown she hadn’t stayed to see. So she wasn’t really in a position to know which dress worked best.

Fortunately all the dresses Izzy had chosen looked pretty nice, considering they were bridesmaid dresses. They were long and simple. One had more ruffles than the other, one had lace, but none of them would make Dana gag.

Izzy pointed to the one on the left. “That one has the best shot at a second life,” she said. “Chop it off at the knees, shorten the sleeves and you have a fancy cocktail dress.”

Dana studied the dress in question. The black lace sleeves looked three-quarter. The top was beaded, but there wasn’t any lace and the skirt hung fairly straight. No ruffles, no flounces.

“Can Lexi get into that one? Where would her stomach go?”

Izzy crossed to the dress and held out the sides. “There’s a lot of material here and the empire waist means it’s more flattering than most.”

Dana would have agreed, had she known what an empire waist was. “Let’s try it on,” she said.

Five minutes later she stood in front of the big mirror in the main room. Lexi raised her herbal tea in salute. Eva had apparently worked her magic and left.

“You look nice. I like it. Can they get them here in time?”

Izzy nodded. “They’re not custom. It’s just a matter of calling other stores and getting them here. So what do you think?”

Dana stared at her reflection. Apparently an empire waist was one that sat up higher, just below her breasts. The dress was pretty and not so girly that it made her want to run screaming from the room.

“I like it. Are you sure Skye won’t mind us wearing black?”

“She’ll love it. Then we’re agreed?” Izzy asked. “We’ll get this and surprise Skye right before the wedding.”

“Uh-huh.” Lexi sipped her tea, her gaze intent. “Dana, are you all right?”

“Fine.”

“You don’t look fine. You look…tired. But not in a happy, I’ve-been-having-sex kind of way.”

“Maybe I need a new moisturizer,” Dana said. “Or highlights.”

Lexi wrinkled her nose. “Don’t toy with me. You’d never get highlights. But I think they’d look nice. Is something wrong?”

Dana glanced at Izzy, who shrugged. Dana didn’t know if that meant Izzy hadn’t told Lexi about their conversation the last time they’d been in the salon or if Izzy didn’t know how to distract Lexi.

“Not wrong, exactly,” Dana mumbled. “Just…confusing.”

“How?” Lexi asked, lowering her voice. “This is about Garth, right?”

Dana shrugged. “Mostly.”

“Because you’re not running this time?” Lexi asked.

“I don’t run.”

“You don’t stay,” Izzy said. “It’s practically the same thing. You pick guys who aren’t interesting to you, then leave when you get bored. You go safe. Garth is anything but safe. Of course it’s uncomfortable. You’re stepping into the unknown.”

“This is a good thing,” Izzy said, coming up next to her. “The other guys were never what you wanted.”

Dana really didn’t like being the center of attention. “How do I know Garth is?”

“He’s a step closer,” Lexi said.

“And you know that how?”

Lexi smiled. “Because your eyes light up when you talk about him. Because he makes you crazy and you can’t wait until you see him again. Because when the phone rings, there’s only one person you want it to be.”

Dana swallowed. She would never have thought to explain her relationship that way, but when Lexi said it, everything made perfect sense.

She leaned against the gilded chair by the chaise. “I’m confused,” she admitted. “Some things are clear. I know he’ll do whatever it takes to get the revenge he wants. But at the same time, I don’t think he’d hurt any of you, anymore. So that’s good, right? But it means he changed and I don’t believe people change.”

“Maybe you’ve been wrong,” Izzy told her. “Stranger things have happened.”

Dana nodded. “Maybe. I just…” She cleared her throat. “How much of what’s going on is about me and him and how much of it is just about keeping me safe? Are we together or is it convenient?”

“Have you tried talking about this?”

Dana stared at her.

“Right,” Lexi said. “Why would you do the rational thing?”

“Oh, please.” Izzy rolled her eyes. “Because you discussed everything with Cruz while you were pretending to be engaged. There were no surprises, no misunderstandings.”

Lexi sniffed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about and that isn’t the point. Dana, you should talk to Garth. Ask some of these questions.”

“What if I don’t like the answers?”

“What if you do?”

That almost scared her more, she thought, not wanting to admit it even to herself. “I’ll wait until this is over,” she said. “Right now he’s too distracted. I wouldn’t want to get in the way.”

Izzy made a clucking sound.

Dana turned and glared at her. “You so want to take that back.”

“Why?” Izzy put her hands on her hips. “I call ’em like I see ’em. You’re scared. Taking down Jed could take weeks or months. Are you really going to wait that long to figure out what’s going on?”

The only problem Dana had with that plan was admitting it to her friends. “There are other considerations.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “Name one.”

“Izzy, stop,” Lexi said.

They both looked at her.

Lexi smiled at Dana. “The problem isn’t Garth’s busy, the problem is you don’t want to know the answer to the question. If he’s interested, you have to deal with an adult relationship with a man you can’t control. You have to risk your heart and that’s terrifying. If he’s not interested, you’re in trouble because you’ve passed the point where you can protect yourself. You’re emotionally engaged and there’s no win in that. At least from your perspective.”

Dana stared at her friend. She heard a faint buzzing in her ears. She had a feeling that it was her protective wall crashing around her, leaving her fully exposed.

Izzy moved close and wrapped her arms around her. “Wow,” she whispered. “Don’t you hate it when Lexi gets it right?”

“More than you know.” Dana hugged Izzy back. Lexi grabbed her hand.

Izzy drew back first. “Don’t get mad, but are you in love with him?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s honest,” Lexi said. “Could you be?”

“Maybe. I want to be sure.”

“That doesn’t happen,” Izzy said. “I wish it did, but love requires a step of faith. Make that a leap.”

“It’s worth the risk,” Lexi told her.

“It was for you.” Dana squeezed her hand, then released it. “You don’t know that it will be for me.” Put it all out there for a man who may or may not be interested in her. “I want to believe,” she said slowly. “But his world is too different. I don’t know if I belong there.”

Izzy shook her head. “Sorry, but it’s not that complicated. You can belong if you want to. If he’s worth it.”

Is that what it came down to? Was Garth worth it? Or was she really afraid that the question on the table was more along the lines of her being worth it to him?

GARTH KNEW THAT DANA would get home after him. Something about Skye’s wedding or dresses. He wasn’t sure exactly, but he knew it wasn’t a subject he wanted to talk about. Girl stuff.

He’d decided to surprise her with dinner from their favorite Italian restaurant. Mario, the head waiter, had given him easy instructions for heating the entrées. The salads would stay in the refrigerator until they were ready for them. He’d chosen a great bottle of wine and there was tiramisu for dessert.

She was back. Physically she’d been back for a while, but she wasn’t…distant anymore, and he wanted to celebrate that.

There was something about her, he admitted to himself. Something challenging. She was unique. Not just because she never met a hair product she didn’t hate, but also because she was stubborn and determined. She expected more of people and didn’t mind letting them know. She was loyal and honest. He could trust her. There weren’t a lot of people he trusted.