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“Of course.” Lilly set down the ivory panties to do Phina’s bidding.
Even the littlest Davenports had an intimidating edge to them.
“So…” Phina fanned out her fingers and breathed in as if she could detect my taste through the scent of smell alone. “What sort of gown did you have in mind?”
“Uh, a white one.”
Hale’s sister laughed. “Well, no kidding. What sort of bodice? Are we thinking traditional or modern? Minimalistic or something divinely couture and beaded?”
Lilly returned with a silver tray, two champagne flutes fizzing softly. I instantly wondered if she knew Percy.
“To sisters.” Phina held up her glass. “I’ve always dreamed I’d have one, and I’m so glad my brother found you. We’re going to be best friends, Rayne. Cheers.”
Oh, boy. I instinctively sensed Elle’s head perk up from thirteen hundred miles away.
“Cheers.”
As I sipped the champagne, it occurred to me that Seraphina already had a sister, but she would never know. To her, Elara would only ever be Hale’s daughter and her niece.
“I have the entire afternoon blocked off, so we’re in no rush today.”
We sat on a set of white leather chairs as Lilly hauled out another long rack of white gowns. There were so many.
Seraphina, who could never sit longer than a few minutes, sprung to her five-inch blush heels. She was styled and stunning enough to be a Kardashian, and there I was sitting in my jeggings and boots looking like a Han Solo reject. I should have been sipping my champagne through a straw because my fashion sense sucked.
“What do you say we start with the more traditional gowns? You’d look so elegant in a long train with Italian beading and lace.”
“Okay, but nothing too complicated.” I was prone to tripping over my own feet.
“Of course. I know just the one.”
Ten minutes later I was lugging around an impossibly heavy dress that fit about as comfortably as a beaded strait jacket. “I think this is a bit much.”
“There’s no such thing as too much when you’re a bride.”
I didn’t agree with that. “I think the Princess of Wales had a shorter train. How about something more ergonomic?”
She laughed. “It’s a bridal gown, not an office chair, Rayne.” Unhooking the top clasp, Phina followed me back into the dressing area. “But I hear what you’re saying. We want your gown to look and feel like it was made specifically for you. Let’s try something more contemporary.”
Sure, because I screamed nifty and new-age. I was starting to sweat under the weight of beaded lace.
I’d been forced out of my own undergarments and squeezed into an ivory dominatrix bustier with more bones than the human body. It was cutting off the circulation to my ribs and my boobs were smashed into uplifted conformity. When I looked down all I saw was a butt crack of cleavage on my chest.
“I think this corset might be a size too small.”
She stuck her finger between my skin and the ungiving silk as casually as a seasoned grandmother might wedge a thermometer up a baby’s ass.
“Um, do I have a fever?” Her finger was literally buried between my tits.
“Nope, you’re fine. It’s supposed to be tight.”
“It’s crushing my chesticals.”
She paused and then did a quick adjustment of my boobs. “If that’s what you call your breasts I can only imagine what kind of other stuff my brother hears.” She smiled as she adjusted the heavy silk. “I honestly think you’re the best thing to ever happen to Hale. He’s never been this happy or at ease. You singlehandedly pulled the stick out of his ass and turned him into a normal person.”
I quickly learned there was no privacy when shopping with Hale’s sister. She didn’t hesitate to manhandle my private parts and gave no warning before cutting off my oxygen to cinch each bodice tighter than a hangman’s knot.
As she tied off the next dress I thought my eyes might bulge out of my head. She literally pulled the tapes so tight the air was forced out of my lungs.
