More Than Words: Kissed By A Muse #3 by S.K Munt Page A

outfit. Originally, she’d planned on wearing the incredibly sexy white mini-dress she’d bought earlier that morning at the funky boutique for a night out alone, but it was still in Ryan’s trunk and she could hardly have bowled in it anyway, which meant that she needed a plan B. Bubbling her lips, Leigh ran her eyes over her clothes and ended up stealing an item from three separate outfits for her ‘look’ for that evening: short black dress shorts that she’d be able to bowl in, over the black tights she’d bought to wear with her red sweater-dress which was much to do much of anything in, let alone bowl. She added her favorite, but seldom worn going out top that she’d had for years: a chiffon halter in a pale grey that would have been transparent, if not for the second layer of pale white chiffon lining beneath it, and the intricate pattern of beads over the narrow shoulders and around the bust and hem. Her mother called it her ‘chandelier’ shirt and begged Leigh to wear it often because the pale grey made her eyes pop, but as beautiful as it was, Leigh rarely wore it because it was heavy and almost always too dressy for the places she went.
    Still, it looked good with the casual lower half of the ensemble, and when she added her new black docs, everything came together nicely- almost boho and very Kylie Lyle.
    I’d wear this top all the time now that I know that I don’t need to wear evening slacks and heels to make it work!
    Once Leigh was dressed, she pushed her braided bangs off her forehead with a headband and re-applied her make-up, going to a bit more trouble than usual and almost poking herself in the eye with her kohl eyeliner as she tried to make her tired eyes focus. After three attempts and exactly three minutes, Leigh groaned and reached for her contact case, popping them in and giving her eyes a few minutes to adjust to the awful plastic while she unraveled her braid. When she could see again, she finished her eye make up and then ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing it before setting it with a quick spritz of hair spray.
    When it was all done, Leigh reached for her glasses and stepped back from the small vanity, her eyebrows lifting in surprise when she realised that she’d never looked better. Her hair was full and crinkly, her eyes looked enormous and the brightest shade of green, but the cloud of hair actually buffered her sharper angles and edges and gave her eyes more proportion. She fluffed her hair and straightened her top before grinning at herself and thinking: ‘I kind of do look like Silky…’ and then her heart twisted sharply, knowing that Ryan would have been able to come up with way hotter comparisons for that Isabelle chick. Wanting to vomit again, Leigh put her glasses down and picked up her handbag instead and walked out of the room. She was shaking way too much to stick her fingers in her eyes again and besides, she was actually pleased with the way she looked for once.
    Bruce stood up when she hurried back down the hallway, rolling her favorite perfume ‘Midnight Fantasy’ onto her wrists.
    ‘Okay that was twenty-two minutes,’ she said, tucking the travel perfume away in her purse and fluffing her hair self-consciously again. ‘But I get points for- what?’
    Bruce’s mouth was hanging open. ‘What do you mean, what?’ He crossed his arms and glared at her. ‘How am I supposed to keep my hands where you can see them when you look like that?’
    Leigh blushed, and rode the compliment like a rookie surfer on their first small wave- a wave they were determined to see all the way to the shore. ‘Thank you Bruce,’ she said, smiling shyly. ‘I hope I’m not too dressed up? I just have limited choices in what will work in a bowling alley.’
    ‘You look perfect.’ Bruce pulled at the collar of his red-button down shirt. ‘But again, I ask…?’
    ‘You’ll be able to keep your hands to yourself,’ she assured him, nodding towards the door. ‘The