Daddy's Perfect Princess (The Shape of Love Book 1) Read online

  Chapter 2

  With trembling hands, Mindy pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed Jenna.

  “Hey! Did it happen already? How big is the diamond? Send me pics!” Jenna’s excited voice increased the pressure in her chest and Mindy was mortified to feel tears stinging her eyes.

  “I need you to come get me. I’m outside of Whitefin headed toward town.”

  There was a brief silence. “I’m on my way.”

  Relieved, Mindy shoved the phone back in her purse and continued her trek towards town. At least she was wearing flats and wouldn’t have to endure the agony of walking a mile or more in heels. Or barefoot. That would have just added to her humiliation.

  How the hell had tonight gone so sideways? Had there been signs she’d missed? She thought of all the hints Todd had dropped over the last few months about marriage and children. With growing horror, she realized that all of his hints had centered around her weight. What kind of wedding gown might she like, and she did know that designer dresses only came in certain sizes, right? Small children were exhausting, and required a lot of activity, so she’d need to be in shape to handle them. Where did she want to go on her honeymoon? Wouldn’t she have a better time laying on a beach in a bikini?

  Her steps slowed until she was standing on the side of the road, staring at the still far off lights of town. “Son of a bitch,” she whispered to the darkness.

  She was still standing there ten minutes later when a car slowed and pulled over in front of her. Jenna hopped out of the car and ran to her, throwing her arms around Mindy’s neck. “Whatever happened, I hate him. I’ll kill him.”

  The first sob broke free and Mindy melted into Jenna’s embrace. They stood together, swaying side to side as Mindy wept. When she figured she’d cried all the tears her body could make, she pulled away from Jenna and swiped at her cheeks. “I’m good. We can go home now.”

  “You’re not good, but I’ll take you home anyway.” Jenna took her firmly by the arm and led Mindy to the passenger side. Inside, Mindy let her head fall back against the seat and closed her eyes.

  Jenna was blissfully silent on the drive back to Mindy’s house. Mindy was beyond exhausted and she had no desire to deconstruct the evening or her now-defunct relationship just yet. When they pulled up in front of Mindy’s house, she sat for a moment, staring at the place she called home. She’d thought that she and Todd might live there, at least for a couple of years, while they saved for a larger house when kids came into the picture. An entire future, up in flames in the matter of less than an hour.

  “Thanks for picking me up. I’ll see you later.”

  Jenna killed the engine and snorted derisively. “Wrong. I’m staying over.”

  “Look, Jenna, I love you, but I just can’t deal with this tonight.”

  “Then we won’t. We’ll go inside, you can take a shower or one of those froo-froo baths you enjoy so much, and we’ll go to bed. Tomorrow, or Sunday, or even next month is soon enough to talk about it. But I’m not leaving you alone tonight.”

  Too tired to fight, Mindy nodded her head and climbed out of the car. Jenna followed her inside and plopped down on Mindy’s teal couch. Todd hated that couch, but Mindy had always been fond of bright colors, so she’d ignored his not-so-subtle insults about it.

  “I’m going to take a bath,” Mindy said, her voice sounding wooden and hollow even to her own ears.

  “I’ll be here, sweetie,” Jenna replied, stretching out on the couch.

  Mindy left her there and wandered to the bedroom. Staring at her reflection, she mechanically began the process of removing her makeup and washing her face. Once she was clean, she carefully applied the oil-reducing mask she’d recently bought with the intention of shrinking the craters in her face the universe mockingly called pores. With the mask in place, she ran the water in the tub again, this time dumping in a few caps full of bubbles. She rarely indulged in the childish act, preferring the more grown up bath salts instead. But dammit, she wanted to wallow, and bubbles were perfect for wallowing.

  When the tub was filled with the frothy, scented water, Mindy pulled the much-anticipated red dress over her head, letting it fall to the floor at her feet. The sexy underwear she apparently no longer needed followed suit, and she slipped into the bath. She realized she’d forgotten to pin her hair up when she saw the blonde tendrils floating by her breasts, but she frankly didn’t care. Going to bed with wet hair seemed to be the least of her worries when her life was coming to an end.

  Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back against the lip of the tub. She stayed like that until the water turned cold and her mask had become uncomfortably tight. Holding her breath, she dipped below the water to wet the mask and scrubbed it off.

  Pulling herself up out of the tub, she dried off and wrapped herself up in her favorite old, fluffy robe and drained the tub. Slathering her night moisturizer on her face, she returned to the living room where Jenna was watching some zombie show she was obsessed with.

  Mindy flopped onto the couch beside her, and Jenna switched the TV off. “How ya doin’, kid?”

  “Shitty,” Mindy replied, laying down with her head in Jenna’s lap. Jenna’s hand came to rest on her head, stroking her hair as they sat in silence.

  “He dumped me,” Mindy said after a long while.

  “Asshole.”

  Mindy smiled, grateful that she could, even when her heart felt like it was shattering into a billion tiny pieces. “You don’t even know why he dumped me. He could have had a perfectly logical reason.”

  “Impossible. You’re perfect.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Mindy replied with a humorless laugh. “Apparently, I’m too fat to be Mrs. Todd Allen, so there’s that.”

  Jenna’s hand stilled on her head. “Excuse the fuck out of me?”

  What a wonder it was, to be loved so deeply by someone that even the slightest insult would bring them rushing to your defense. Mindy closed her eyes and let the warmth of Jenna’s righteous fury wash over her. “Those weren’t his exact words, but it was the basic gist.”

  “He’s going to basically get my foot up his ass. What a fucking douchebag,” Jenna snarled.

  Mindy sighed. “I guess.”

  “You guess? What do you mean you guess?”

  “It’s just… I knew he wanted me to lose weight.” Tears she hadn’t thought she still had in her clogged her throat. “I knew it was important to him and I didn’t bother to try hard enough. It’s my fault, Jenna.”

  The room fell silent, save for Mindy’s occasional sniffle and Jenna’s ragged, furious breathing. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” Jenna finally said at length. “You’ve been through a major trauma, and you’re not thinking straight. We can talk about it after you’ve had some sleep.”

  Though she didn’t agree in the slightest, Mindy nodded and sat up. “I guess I’ll head to bed, then.” Pushing to her feet, she started towards her bedroom.

  “Sweetie.” Jenna’s voice had her turning back to face the couch. “You are so much more precious than you realize. I hope one day you’ll see that.”

  With another small nod, Mindy turned back around and headed to her bedroom. Stripping off the robe and not even bothering to dry her hair, she climbed into bed and fell into a restless slumber.

  She woke the next morning to the life-affirming smell of bacon frying. Grinning in her sleep, she rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. Had Todd finally stayed over? He must have gotten up before her and started breakfast. Holding up her left hand, she froze when she saw her bare finger.

  The memories of the night before came rushing back. Not feeling quite up to the task of dealing with the myriad emotions, she rolled over and pulled the covers over her head.

  Unfortunately for her, Jenna had other plans. Less than five minutes after Mindy had woken, her bestie bounced into the room. “Up and at ‘em, sleepyhead,” she called cheerfully.

  “Go away,” Mindy mumbled from beneat
h the covers.

  “Not a chance. You’re going to eat and then we’re going out for some retail therapy. I hope you’re not naked under there.”

  “What?” Mindy’s question was answered when the covers disappeared, leaving her completely exposed in the middle of the bed.

  “At least put this on.” Jenna tossed the robe at her, hitting Mindy squarely in the face.

  “Bossy,” Mindy mumbled as she shoved her arms through the sleeves of the robe. “Happy?”

  “I’ll be happy when you eat your breakfast like a good girl,” Jenna replied, her voice dripping so much fake sugar that Mindy worried it might give her cancer. “Don’t make me spank you.”

  “Oh my God, shut up. I swear I’m never drinking with you again.”

  Giggling wildly, Jenna placed the breakfast tray, laden with bacon, eggs, toast and chocolate milk over Mindy’s lap. “You don’t mean that. What’s the point of having a best friend if you can’t share all of your deepest, darkest secrets over a bottle or two of tequila?”

  “I’ll find a new best friend, one who knows nothing about me and takes me to brunch like a normal person, instead of invading my room and my bed when I’m completely naked.”

  Jenna climbed into the bed next to Mindy and snagged a piece of toast. “You don’t mean that, either. We’ve spent the last ten years breaking each other in. Neither one of us is about to start over with someone new.”

  Mindy broke an egg yolk and stabbed it with her toast. “Maybe I should let you spank me, since apparently I’m destined to be single forever.”

  “First of all, no. I love you, but not that way. Second of all, you are not going to be single forever, so just get the fuck out of here with that nonsense.”

  “It’s cool. I’ll get a cat. I like cats. Sort of.” Mindy munched on a piece of bacon as she considered her options. “Do you think I could be a crazy hedgehog lady? I’ve always wanted a hedgehog.”

  “Jesus Christ. Okay, you can have one hedgehog because honestly that sounds kind of awesome. But you’re not going to become a crazy anything lady. Finish your breakfast and do something about your hair. I’m going to run home and change, and I’ll meet you back here in an hour. Deal?”

  “You’re really bossy today, you know that?” Mindy said crossly. All she wanted was to lie in bed and wallow, but apparently that was off the table.

  Jenna grinned and leaned over to press a loud kiss to her cheek. “I love you, too. See you in an hour!” With that, Jenna slid off the bed and sauntered out the door.

  Mindy took her time finishing her breakfast, more out of spite than anything. When the tray was cleared, she took everything into the kitchen, rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher. With nothing else to do, she resigned herself to being aggressively cheered up by her bestie and went to get dressed.

  It took her every bit of the time Jenna had allotted her to get ready, in large part thanks to the mess her hair had become overnight. But she was mostly presentable by the time Jenna got back. When Jenna’s horn honked, Mindy grabbed her purse and headed outside.

  “I can’t remember the last time I saw you in jeans and a t-shirt,” Jenna sounded legitimately shocked when Mindy climbed into the car.

  “Todd doesn’t think it’s appropriate to wear such casual attire outside of the house,” Mindy replied, blinking back the fresh tears that threatened at the mention of his name.

  “For the love of… I knew he was an asshole, but every time you tell me something new, I hate him a little bit more.” Jenna pulled away from the curb and drove toward town. “At least tell me you gave him a piece of your mind before you walked out last night.”

  Mindy felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. “Well, sort of.”

  Jenna bounced in her seat excitedly. “Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

  “I may or may not have dumped a glass of wine on his head and called him a pretentious asshole.” She cringed at the memory. “I can’t believe I made such a scene.”

  “You call that making a scene? You’re so cute.”

  It made her laugh, and helped to ease the ache in her chest a bit. “It was his screaming that really made a scene.”

  Jenna howled with laughter, and Mindy worried for a moment that she might drive them off the road. “Oh, I so wish I had been there. The high and mighty Todd Allen screaming like a baby because you dumped wine on his perfect head. Thank you. That is a mental image I will savor for the rest of my life.”

  “Glad I could help. Where are we going?”

  Jenna shrugged. “Figured we’d head downtown, see what’s what. I think some new shops opened up on Main since we were there last.”

  “Lunch at Pepe’s?” Mindy asked hopefully.

  “Sure, kid. Whatever you want. Today is your day.”

  Mindy grinned. “Maybe I should get dumped more often.”

  “I’m totally on board with that. If you’re getting dumped, it means you’re dating, which means you’re not in danger of becoming a crazy hedgehog lady. But Pepe’s is only in the cards when you get dumped by a mega asshole.”

  Mindy blew her a kiss. “I love you, too.”

  Chapter 3

  They parked and fed the meter enough for three hours and took off down Main St. “Maybe you should do something crazy with your hair,” Jenna said as they passed a chic boutique salon.

  “Like what? Cut it off?” Mindy laughed at the ridiculousness of the suggestion.

  “Yeah. Or add some color. Too bad you have such a boring job and can’t add like hot pink streaks or something.”

  “I am not cutting my hair, and my job is not boring.” Mindy loved her job. Accounting wasn’t a big draw for most people, but she adored the process of lining up the numbers and making sure every detail was exactly correct.

  “Your job is a total snooze fest. Maybe I should add some color to mine,” Jenna added, running a hand through her short swing of black hair.

  “Don’t you dare. Your hair is gorgeous just the way it is, Jenna Sykes.”

  But Jenna simply shrugged. “It is, but sometimes I get the urge to try something new. Probably wouldn’t go over well at the hospital, though. Oh, like this outfit. Let’s go inside.”

  Mindy allowed herself to be dragged into the boutique. It was new, or at least a new addition since the last time they had been shopping downtown. Which, she had to admit, had been months because Todd had thrown a fit the last time Mindy had wanted to spend a Saturday with Jenna.

  She was slowly realizing how much control over her life and her actions he’d had. And it was humiliating. Humiliating to realize she’d completely submitted to every demand he’d ever made of her, and he’d never once returned the favor. She wanted Italian, he wanted seafood, they got seafood. She wanted to see Bruce Willis kick some ass on the big screen, he wanted to see some artsy foreign film, they went to the film festival. And, God help her, she’d learned to pretend that she enjoyed all of the things he loved, because she’d thought that was the way to his heart.

  But no. Apparently being thin and beautiful was the way to his cold, dead heart. “I’m going to join a gym,” she declared, surprised she’d spoken aloud.

  Jenna turned away from the breezy top with loud geometric patterns she’d been studying to stare at Mindy. “Come again?”

  “I’m going to join a gym. No, not just join a gym. I’m going to hire a personal trainer and get in the best shape of my life. And when I’m thin and gorgeous, I’m going to march right up to Todd Allen and show him exactly what he’s missing out on.”

  “Mindy, you don’t have to lose weight for all that. You’re fucking gorgeous already, and the fact that he can’t see that is on him.”

  But the idea had taken root and was already blossoming into a powerful, mighty oak. Mindy shook her head. “No. I’m pretty and I know how to work with what I have. But I want him to look at me and realize what he could have had, if he hadn’t been such a dick-bag.”

  Jenna grabbed her arm and pulled her back
outside. “Look, I’m all for you losing a few pounds and being more active, if that’s what you want. But I want you to do it for the right reasons.”

  “Revenge is the right reason. Why can’t you just be on board with this, Jen? It’s not like I’m going to do something dangerous.”

  Jenna blew out a breath. “Okay. Fine. I’m on board. But the first whiff that you’re being too obsessive or you’re doing something dangerous and I’ll… Well, I don’t know what I’ll do but I have a few days to figure it out.”

  “I won’t get obsessed or do anything dangerous, promise.” They’d only taken a few more steps when Mindy stopped in front of a store front with darkened windows, and a sign taped to the front advertising personal training services. “Jenna! It’s a sign! I’m going in.”

  “Yes, it’s a sign. Literally a sign on the window. But it’s not a sign. Where are you… Goddammit, wait for me.”

  Ignoring Jenna’s muttered swearing, Mindy pulled open the door and walked inside. The first thing that hit her was the smell. It smelled… male. She hadn’t even realized an odor could be so distinctly, aggressively male until just now.

  And speaking of aggressively male—the men scattered about the room were exactly that. She’d never seen so many muscles outside of the action flicks she secretly enjoyed so much. Every single man in the place was built like a truck, with rippling biceps and six pack abs. Mindy was pretty sure she had more fat in one thigh than all of the men in here put together.

  She glanced around the room, trying to see if she could figure out who might be in charge. Her gaze landed on a man barking orders at another man as he lifted a bar with monster sized weights attached to either end. The first man’s deep, gravelly voice carried over the din, and Mindy felt a familiar tingling between her thighs.

  “Come on, Masters. I know you can do better than that. One more, you useless cock weasel.” As if he sensed a disturbance, the yelling man’s head snapped up and he looked directly at Mindy. His eyes narrowed, and he said something to the other man, who placed the bar back on a rack with a look of obvious relief on his red face.