Page 23 of His Princess

“Let me refresh your latte. I’ll send someone to Grounds and Gears,” she said with a wide smile.

“Oh, uh, okay.” I shrugged.

After that, everything was a whirlwind, and she came in with several rolling racks of dresses. Inlaid patterns covered the metal rods. Not even the hangars were normal here.

The first dress I tried on did remind me of the 1950s. It was red and had a flared skirt that came down to my knees and a top that hugged my chest. The capped sleeves were scalloped around the edges. It was odd to stand in front of the full-length mirror and see myself this way. I’d never tried on a dress as an adult, and I slid my hands down my waist to my hips. I could see myself with red lipstick to match and absolutely loved the way it made me look. I felt like a different Quin this way. With a chignon, this would be elegant.

I would be elegant.

Colt would salivate over this.

A powerful pleasure coiled in my gut, and I thought about strutting down the street in this dress. I gasped and slid my hands over my belly.

There was a knock on the door and Morgan popped her head in. She stepped inside and clapped. “Oh, I knew it! That’s perfect!” She beamed at me and her deep brown eyes danced with joy. “You’re so pretty!”

My face blazed with heat and I whipped around to face the mirror. “I am, aren’t I?”

She giggled.

“Morgan?” From the other side of the door a man’s voice intruded on our happy moment. “Someone said, well, will you come out here? Why is there a rack of clothing sitting here?”

Morgan sighed and her face fell, but she was fast to smile at me again. “Just a minute, sir,” she called in a voice that was so chipper it was clearly fake. “You go ahead and try on these dresses. If you don’t love it, don’t buy it. It’s really not worth it with these price tags,” she whispered.

“Uh, I don’t see any price tags?” I frowned down at the dress I was wearing.

“Yes, exactly.” Her wry smile curved her lips.

“Latte?” someone outside the door called, and Morgan ran out, grabbed it, then rushed back before disappearing again.

“Okay, then,” I said with a laugh, sipping my fresh drink.

It took me about forty minutes to decide that I liked twenty dresses and hated as many others. It was strange to have opinions on dresses, but I didn’t want anything that showed my abs. While I knew that Colt might like me to be slutty sometimes, I got the impression he was looking for a classy partner. I had a pile of nightgowns and frilly things that I thought looked good. I heaped my choices in a mountain on the vanity, and by the time Morgan stuck her head back in, they were in danger of toppling over.

“So, how many are we keeping?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Those ones,” I said, pointing at Mt. Elegance, as I’d dubbed it.

She slapped a hand to her chest. “Okay. Most people don’t buy that many at once.” She laughed and looked as if she might collapse but straightened quickly. “Hold tight.” She called in a couple of assistants, all women, and there was a flurry of activity as they brought in a cart and began to carefully fold and box up everything I wanted while Morgan scrupulously kept track of each item on her iPad.

Since they were busy, I wandered outside and over to a makeup counter, where I began to look for a red lipstick to match the dress I thought I would wear tonight.

“Excuse me, sir, but you’re not allowed on this floor,” a man said behind me, and I whirled around.

“Huh?”

“If you’re waiting for your significant other or family member, you must do it on the first floor. The changing rooms are up here,” he said, staring at me with a frown. The guy wasn’t bad looking, with his silver hair combed to the side and a strong chin. He was wearing a suit, which also didn’t surprise me in a place like this.

“You’re up here.” I shrugged and stuffed my hands into my pockets.

He scowled. “I work here.”

“And I’m buying a pile of clothing.”

He shook his head and I could see him holding in an eye roll. “I understand that men who are buying things want to see a show paraded in front of them.” He sniffed. “But this isn’t the place for that. If you don’t approve of the purchases, you can exchange them for store credit later.”

Irritation slithered through me.

Morgan and the girls came out of the dressing room, and she hid her face with her iPad for a second before she wandered toward us with a bright smile. “Mr. Allard, what a nice surprise!”

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