SCOUT
“Desi,I can’t. This stuff is too much!” I flicked the price tag on the red cocktail dress he had pulled from the rack. “This costs almost as much as my car.”
“So?” He smirked. “I’m paying, what does it matter?”
I shook my head. We’d been over this a dozen times if not more. He glared at me and pulled another dress off the rack.
“I’m buying you stuff today, so either you tell me what you want, or I’m going to dress you how I want.”
I considered his words as he switched to another rack of dresses.
“Yeah? And how do you want me to dress?” I crossed my arms and followed him around the store.
“As a rule, I’d rather not have you dressed at all.” He grinned, to which I blushed furiously. “But I don’t know. I think you look pretty fine as you are.”
“Really? When we go out together, people give us weird looks.”
“Yeah, because they’re thinking,what’s this piece of shit doing with this total babe?” Desi teased.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re funny. I think it’s the opposite way.”
These weren’t my style. I wanted something more laid-back, but I also wanted to look like I belonged with Desi. “Maybe I should try your style. I could wear some plaid.”
“You do look incredibly sexy in my Iron Maiden shirt. Let’s get you a new wardrobe. Ripped jeans, some plaid, and boots?”
“So, no dress?” I raised my eyebrows. He had insisted we go here first, as he wanted to go to dinner tonight.
“Let’s start here and then get you some more casual clothes somewhere else.”
Something in me shifted that day. Desi had finally worn me down and convinced me it was okay sometimes to let someone else pay for things. I didn’t need to be completely independent at all times. I just needed him.
He made me try on every single item he bought. When we dumped all of our bags onto the bed in the hotel, I found almost thirty pairs of new underwear and a dozen new bras. All lacy and various shades of black, red, and gray. In fact, everything we’d bought today were those colors.
“I bought these while you were trying stuff on,” he admitted.
“I think we went a little overboard.” I cringed. My closet didn’t have space for everything.
“Nonsense. I can’t wait to see you in everything.” Desi wrapped his arms around me from behind. He brushed my hair back, pressing a soft, tender kiss on my neck. The heat of his breath sent shivers down my spine. “And I can’t wait even more to take them off you.”
He trailed his hands up and down my body, finally slipping under my shirt. “Let’s get in the shower so we can get to dinner. I’m famished.”
* * *
“I’m nervous,”I admitted, slipping the dress he had picked out for me over my head and down my body.
“Why? You look sexy,” he admired me from the other side of the room where he was drying his hair. We had showered together, but every time I tried to touch him in a more intimate place, he would direct me elsewhere, claiming he wanted to wait. It had left me incredibly frustrated and wanting.
He tossed the towel down and began to pull on his clothes. He was wearing a simple, all-black suit tonight. My dress was more of a nightgown than a cocktail dress. It was black and low cut with spaghetti straps. But it was incredibly sexy.
“Where’s those strappy heels I bought you?” he asked and then smiled wide. “I love buying you stuff, you know that?”
“I realize that.” I laughed as I went to grab the shoes. “I’m getting used to it. It’s not terrible,” I teased.
“Keep that up and you’ll be getting a boat for your birthday.”
“You’re so presumptive.” I slid my feet into the six-inch heels. “What makes you think we’ll still be together in October?”
Desi flicked his gaze at me and stopped tying his tie. He stalked over to me and pushed me back onto the bed. Then he kissed me long and hard, bringing the hand with the ring he’d bought me up for us to look at.
