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red light. She needed to call Olivia and make sure
everything was set with the kids. Dialing the phone as soon as her car came to
a stop, she waited as it rang. Pick up, pick up. She tapped the steering
wheel, willing Olivia to answer her phone.
    “Hey,” Olivia answered, breathless. “Sorry, we just walked
in the door.”
    “We? Did you pick up the boys?”
    “Yes. Got your message just before I headed to the Scout
meeting. All present and accounted for. What’s up?”
    The light turned green and Jessica hit the speakerphone
button before setting the phone in her cup holder. “Can you still hear me?”
    “Yeah. Jess, what’s going on?”
    A smile crept across Jessica’s face as she thought about her
day. “Eric surprised me by staying home from work today. We spent the whole
day…together.”
    “Oh man. I spent my day volunteering at the library. You’re
so freaking lucky. I want details.”
    Jess laughed. “For details we’ll need to meet for lunch next
week. All I’ll tell you now is that he actually bought one of those Spice
Racks. And we already used one of the suggestions.”
    “Oh my God. Are you serious? The ‘spice up your love life’
Spice Rack? He actually bought one?”
    “Yep. Shocked the hell out of me. So glad he did.”
    “You’re making me crazy, you know. I want serious details at
lunch. And you’re paying. That’s going to be the new rule, whoever’s had sex
the most recently buys lunch.”
    Giggling, Jess maneuvered her car into a parking space at
the mall. “Fine. Lunch is on me. In the meantime I need two big favors.”
    “I’m afraid to ask.”
    “Can the boys sleep over tonight? I have overnight bags for
each of them and I can drop them off at your house on my way home.”
    “Okay,” Olivia said, her voice hesitant, “you know I’ll
always take the boys. What else do you want?”
    “Where’s the best place to buy some really good slutty
clothes?”
    Olivia guffawed into the phone. “Oh, and you think I’d know
that, of course.”
    “I know you do. Come on, I’m at the mall. Where do I go?”
    “What kind of slutty?”
    “I don’t know. Naughty school girl slutty? Clubbing slutty.
Anything. I just need to know, fast. I don’t have much time.”
    “Slutty in a hurry, okay…thinking. Try Fever. Or that new
place, the one that’s practically dark inside the store… What’s it called?”
    “City Lights?”
    “That’s it. One of those places has to have something. What
the hell are you up to?”
    Jessica grinned as she slammed the car door and headed for
the mall entrance. “I’ll tell you next week at lunch. And I’ll drop the kids’
stuff off in about an hour. I gotta go.”
    “Jess, wait—”
    “Gonna lose the call, you know my service sucks in the mall.
Thanks, Liv. Love you.” Jessica hung up, tucking the phone in her purse and
walking toward Fever as fast as she could. She had serious shopping to do and
precious little time to do it.

Chapter Six
     
    Jessica rushed back to the car, arms laden with bags. She
managed to send Eric a few quick texts before the battery died, then tossed her
phone back into her purse and headed home.
    She ticked through a mental inventory as she drove. Did I
forget anything? There’s already wine in the fridge. I have to figure
out how to wear my hair. She checked the clock. Eric would likely be home
in a half hour or so.
    You can do this. She took a deep breath, willing
herself to relax but so full of excited energy she couldn’t. What’s he going
to say? What if he thinks it’s stupid? I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.
    She still remembered the first day she’d set foot in Madame
Carla’s dance studio, two months earlier. She hadn’t had the slightest idea
what to expect. When Olivia had suggested she take dance lessons, Jessica had
laughed. Having two left feet was something she’d come to accept. Some women
moved with a natural grace. She never had. Then the flier had shown up in her
mailbox.