I stare at myself in the mirror. Who is this person? Do I know her? No, I don’t think so. She is seriously hot, though. I’ve just finished putting my dress on. My hair and make-up are already done, and I must say that the salon did a fabulous job. My hair is beautifully curled and swept over one shoulder, held in place in the back by some bobby pins. My make-up is flawless and natural looking, complete with smoky eyes and glossy lips. Since my dress is red, the make-up artist said that red lipstick would be overkill. Can’t say that I disagree.

  The dress is incredible. It’s a bit heavy because it’s covered in beads, but it’s not too bad. It has a low v-neck line, showing off a lot of cleavage. It’s not exactly an empire waist line but it’s close, with a sash laying right at the base of my rib cage. The bottom half hangs straight down to the floor. It has draped cap sleeves, which are covered in shimmering beads that are the same deep red color as the fabric. I absolutely love this dress and Nick could not have done a better job picking it out.

  I finish up by putting on long silver and diamond dangling earrings and a matching silver and diamond cuff bracelet that Nick said he “borrowed” from Harry Winston. I hope like hell that he borrowed them because I am not keeping them. They have to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars…each. There is no way in hell I can keep them, so I will be making sure that Nick returns them as soon as this charity event is over.

  There is a knock on my apartment door making my heart flutter wildly. He’s here! Oh God, am I really ready for this? I’ve never been this dressed up in my life. What if Nick doesn’t like the way the dress looks on me? What if he doesn’t like my hair and make-up? He’s never seen me this done up before. I take a deep breath, pull up my big girl panties, and start for the door. I have to gather up some of my dress to walk so I don’t trip. Even with five-inch heels, the dress is touching the floor. There was no time to get it hemmed, so I am wearing really high heels, and I look a lot taller. That’s always a plus.

  I take another deep breath right before I open the door. My whole world stops. Standing in the hallway is the most insanely gorgeous man I have ever seen. I swear my heart stops beating and my lungs stop breathing. Never in my life has one glance at a man affected me so strongly. I hear Nick inhale sharply, making my eyes snap up to his.

  “Good God, Delilah…I’m…I’m speechless. There are no words to describe how spectacular you look,” Nick says in awe, his eyes wide as he looks me over from head to toe.

  I blush madly and give him a shy smile. “Thank you, Nick. You look pretty spectacular yourself,” I reply.

  That’s putting it mildly. The man is dressed to kill and I know all of the women, including me, will be drooling all over him tonight. His tux is black and tailored to perfection, just like his suits always are. He’s wearing a white dress shirt and a black bowtie. Very classic, very elegant, very suave. His dark hair is styled nicely so that it is brushed back off his forehead. So many words come to mind as I look at him - debonair, dashing, and sophisticated.

  “Thank you, Doll. Shall we go?” he asks with a grin and holds out his elbow.

  I smirk, grab my black clutch purse off the table next to the door, and take his outstretched elbow. I lock my door then put my key in my purse. Nick leads me down the hallway to the elevator and hits the button. As we wait, I can feel Nick staring at me. I glance over at him, catching the look he has on his face. It’s a look that I can’t quite decipher. The smile is gone and his eyes are…I don’t know, but there is something in them that I’ve never seen before.

  “What is it?” I ask softly.

  Nick shakes his head to signify that it’s nothing. I don’t get the chance to push him more because the elevator opens and the next thing I know, I’m being whisked away in a black stretch limo by the man I am madly in love with.

  ♫♩♫♩♫♩♫

  More Delilah…

  I glance around the room. There is not one person here that I know. I look over toward the bar and find Nick talking to a few other men. I smile to myself; he is so handsome. I watch him as he laughs at something someone says and it’s a genuine laugh, not a fake one. His eyes lift to meet mine, and he looks at me for a moment then winks before someone else catches his attention.

  He turns when a female hand touches his shoulder from behind, giving me a glimpse of the woman who dares to touch my man.

  I suck in a sharp breath when I see who it is. The evil queen bitch, in the flesh. The woman who single handedly made Thursdays the worst day of the week. The devil whore herself. It is none other than my boyfriend stealing, backstabbing, Botox loving, ex-boss, Veronica the Bitch. Then it hits me. I’m talking like full out shovel to the face kind of hit. This is the same Veronica that put this whole shindig together. The same Veronica that is Nick’s ex-girlfriend. The same Veronica that I accused of using this party to get back together with Nick. What. The. Fuck.

  Nick gives her a smile and I can’t tell if it’s fake or if he is actually happy to see her. He leans down and she gives him a little peck on the cheek. My hackles rise. There is no fucking way I am going to let her anywhere near my Nick. I stand up and make my way through the crowd over to them. I hold my head up high, knowing that I look fucking incredible – hell yeah, I do – and sidle up next to Nick’s side, sliding my hand across his stomach to show that bitch whose property she just kissed.

  Nick glances down at me, a little shocked to see me, but he smiles wide anyway. “Oh, hey there, Delilah.”

  I catch Veronica’s eyes narrow, as she looks me over. I ignore her and smile up at Nick. “Hi, honey. Did you get my drink yet?” I ask innocently.

  “I was just about to,” he replies with a soft smile before bending down to kiss me on the lips. He then turns back to Veronica. “Veronica, this is my girlfriend, Delilah Sampson. She’s the one who organized to have all of these wonderful desserts tonight,” he says proudly and I want to kiss him all over.

  Veronica’s mouth drops open and she gapes at me. Yeah, that’s right, suck it, bitch!

  “Delilah Sampson? Frumpy, unattractive, Delilah Sampson? You’re kidding with me, right, Nick?” Veronica scoffs.

  Nick frowns. “Do you two know each other?” he asks.

  “I used to work for Veronica,” I state, sending her a hate filled glare.

  I can see and feel the moment it dawns on Nick as to what I’m talking about. His mouth thins outs and his body tenses.

  “I see,” he says stiffly. “How about that drink, Doll?”

  “Sounds good,” I say.

  “See you later, Veronica,” Nick says curtly before he leads me down to the other end of the bar.

  I glance back at the evil bitch and if looks could kill, she would be a dead woman right about now. I smile smugly at her before turning back around. Nick and I get our drinks and head back to the table. He pulls out my chair for me before sitting down himself.

  “I’m sorry, Delilah. I had no idea,” he murmurs quietly.

  I nod. “I know you didn’t.”

  “Listen, forget about her, okay? I want us to have fun tonight. Let’s not let her ruin it,” Nick says then gives me a quick kiss on the lips.

  They come away glossy and I giggle as I use my thumb to wipe the gloss off his full lips. Nick chuckles. “What? Not my color?”

  I laugh as Nick puckers his lips and makes kissing noises. I shake my head at him and roll my eyes. What a goofball.

  The rest of the evening seems to go off without a hitch. We have a few drinks, dance, and laugh a lot. Nick tells me that I am the envy of the ball, which makes me burst out laughing because it sounds like something out of a fairytale. He insists that almost every man in the place has had his eyes on me at one point or another during the night. I find that hard to believe. There are women here who are much more beautiful than I am.

  Veronica keeps her distance all night, which I am glad about. I did catch her giving me dirty looks a few times, though. Oh well, she’s not my problem anymore. Nick and I take a break from dancing and I excuse myself to the bathroom. I’m in a stall, having a fantastic time trying to gather up the back of my dress so that I don’t pee all over it, when I hear the bathroom door open and a couple of cackling women enter.

  “…Nick’s so just trying to make Veronica jealous. There is no way in hell that he would actually go out with that chick,” one of the women says.

  I freeze, half of my dress gathered up in my arms. My heart starts pounding and I hold my breath so that I can listen to what they are saying.

  “I know, right? Veronica says that he’s been begging her to take him back for months now,” the other one relays.

  “Oh yeah? I’m not surprised. Those two were perfect together. Veronica is just making him work for it now. I’m sure she will take him back.”

  “Definitely. She plans on marrying him, so of course she will take him back.”

  “You can just see it in his eyes that he wants her back.”

  “Absolutely.”

  I want to throw up. Could what they are saying possibly be true? No, no, it’s just gossip, that’s what women do. But there is still part of me that wants to believe them, that wants to doubt myself and the relationship that Nick and I have. It does seem too good to be true, and I do still find it hard to believe that a guy as gorgeous as Nick could actually want me. Could he possibly be using me to make another woman jealous? No. No, he’s not that heartless.

  A wave of guilt hits me. I can’t believe that I’m even thinking the worst of Nick like that because of what a few stupid sluts are saying. He’s been nothing but open and honest with me since we started dating. Damn Ryan, this is all his fault, totally screwing up the confidence and trust that I should have with Nick because of what he did.

  ♫♩♫♩♫♩♫

  Nick

  Now that Delilah has gone to the bathroom, I take the time to give Veronica a piece of my mind. The whole situation has been eating at me. What Veronica did to Delilah by sleeping with her boyfriend and then calling her frumpy and unattractive tonight. She pissed me off big time and I don’t plan on letting her get away with it.

  I spot her over by the doors that lead out to the lobby area, chatting it up with a couple of other women. I walk over and clear my throat to get her attention. Veronica looks up at me and cocks a perfectly arched eyebrow in question.

  “I’d like to speak with you for a moment,” I say in a business-like manner.

  “Sure,” she says flippantly and follows me out into the lobby.

  I glance down the hall that leads to the bathrooms. No Delilah, good, I’ll just make this quick.

  “Listen Veronica, I really did not appreciate the way you spoke to Delilah earlier…” I start but Veronica grabs my head and yanks me down.

  Her lips crush against mine. My arms flail for a moment before I latch onto her upper arms. I try to pull away but her nails dig into the back of my head to the point where she would probably draw blood if I pull any harder. What the fuck is she doing?

  I hear a sharp gasp behind me as well as a couple of cackling witches. Shit! Now I know what is going on and there is no way that this is going to end well. Veronica just set me up. When we broke up – well, I dumped her – she said that she would get me back for it. I thought that she was over it because she has been fairly civil whenever we saw each other or spoke due to the charity. Boy, was I wrong. Veronica finally sheathes her claws and lets out a throaty giggle.

  “Oh, Nick, of course I’ll take you back. You don’t have to beg,” she says loud enough for it to reach Delilah’s ears.

  I close my eyes. Motherfucker. I am going to kill this woman. I turn, my stomach rolling when I see the devastation in her eyes - the disbelief, the grief, the resignation, the mistrust. I open my mouth to tell Delilah that this is not what it looks like, but she speaks first.

  “You bitch!” Delilah spits with utter disgust and hatred as she starts forward, her hands balled into fists at her side.

  Veronica runs her hand down my arm. “It’s not my fault that all of your men would rather be with me, Delilah,” she says, her snarky tone irritating the fuck out of me.

  Then, as if in slow motion, Delilah socks Veronica right in the nose. I wince as I hear the crunch of bone and the scream of pain. Delilah just broke Veronica’s nose! She is now sitting on her ass, hand covering her gushing nose as she screams. I can’t help but smile. Holy Catfight! This can be a chapter in the Adventures of Frump Girl. Shut up, moron. This is serious!

  “Nice shot, Doll,” I say before I can think twice. Damn it! That was probably not the best thing to say.

  Delilah turns her furious gaze on me, but now there are tears streaming down her beautiful face. “How could you?” she whispers.

  I can hear the pain in her every word and it breaks my heart. “Delilah, sweetheart, you can’t honestly believe her,” I rasp.

  I take a step toward her, my arms outstretched, but she backs away from me.

  Delilah’s eyes search mine. “First, I have those two sluts…” she points to the two women still standing by the bathroom door, looks of shock on their faces. “…come in the bathroom talking about how you’ve been trying to get Veronica back and that you are just using me to make her jealous. Then, when I come out, here you are, kissing her,” Delilah says, the “her” sounding like it is the most disgusting word in the English language

  “It’s a set up, she’s been trying to get me back since I dumped her, I swear to God!” I plead.

  “I knew it! I called it when she first asked for your help with the desserts, and you let me go on and on thinking that I’m just being a jealous asshole, but I was right! I knew there was no way she would just ask for your help without an ulterior motive. Ex-girlfriends are not that nice.” Delilah laughs bitterly.

  I gape at her for a moment. “I didn’t realize what she was doing…”

  “You didn’t pull away from her; you just let her kiss you. Her lipstick is smeared all over your mouth,” Delilah states, her gaze turning cold and hard.

  I use the sleeve of my shirt and scrub Veronica’s lipstick off my mouth. “She was gripping my head, Delilah. I couldn’t pull away without her nails sinking into my scalp,” I say, trying to show her with my eyes that I am telling her the absolute truth.

  Delilah starts shaking her head slowly. “I don’t know if I can believe you,” she says sadly.

  A crowd has now formed around us. A couple of people are helping Veronica and her bleeding nose, while others are just watching from a safe distance. I reach out to take Delilah’s hand, and surprisingly, this time, she lets me.

  “Doll, I would never do something like this to you. I know how badly it would hurt you. Why on earth would I want to hurt you like this?” I say, trying to reason with her.

  Delilah shakes her head again. “I don’t know,” she whispers, “I need to go.”

  She pulls her hand away and starts for the door.

  “Let me go grab my coat and…” I start, but she cuts me off, turning back around to me.

  “No, I want to be alone,” she says in such a way that I know there will be no changing her mind.

  I swallow hard and give her a jerky nod. She stares at me for a moment before turning back around and walking out. I stand there, staring at the door. What the hell just happened? The anger slams into me like a ton of bricks. I whirl around and glare at Veronica, who is still sitting on the floor, but now with a wad of paper towels pressed up to her nose. Her eyes are already turning black and blue.

  “If she leaves me, I am going to make your life a living hell,” I growl.

  “She’s a loser anyway. It’s not going to be that big of a loss,” Veronica replies nasally.

  Red hazes my vision and I didn’t even realize that I started forward until someone grabs my arm to stop my motion.

  “You fucking cunt! I love her!” I scream at the stupid bitch that may have just ruined my life.

  Veronica’s eyes widen slightly. I can see the moment that she actually realizes what she’s done. She doesn’t apologize, though, and I really don’t expected her to. She has too much pride for that.

  “How could you love her and not me? What could she possibly have that I don’t?” Veronica sneers from behind her wad of paper towels.

  “Everything! She is twice the woman you will ever be! You are nothing compared to her!” I shout at her.

  I fight the urge to spit on her as I yank my arm away from whomever it is that has a hold on it. I go back into the ballroom to grab my tuxedo jacket before storming out of there. Delilah must have taken a cab because the limo and driver are waiting for me outside. What a fucking disaster!

  I get in the limo and the driver asks where to go. I start to tell him my address, but change my mind and give him Delilah’s instead. I am not going to lose her, not now. I’m in love with her. I planned on telling her tonight, but then this shit happened and screwed everything up. I scrub my hand roughly over my jaw in irritation.

  I stare out of the window of the limo as we drive. A flash of red catches my eye and I do a double take. Sonofabitch! I yell at the driver to pull over and as soon as the limo stops, I jump out.

  “Are you fucking crazy? You can’t walk around New York City at midnight dressed like that!” I squawk as I make a beeline right for Delilah, who is walking down the sidewalk in bare feet. Her heels are dangling from the finger of one hand while she is holding up her dress with the other.

  Delilah jumps, her head snapping up to look at me. My chest aches when I see the black streaks of makeup running down her cheeks and her red nose. Fucking Veronica. Delilah’s initial shock in seeing me quickly fades and anger replaces it.

  “What the hell do you care?” She snarls and shoves past me.

  “Delilah, enough! You have to be blind to think that I don’t care about you,” I say, grabbing her arm before she can walk by me.

  “You just kissed another woman in front of me!” she shrieks, almost hysterically.

  “She kissed me, dammit! I did not kiss her back! She was just about ready to scalp me if I tried to pull away!”