"It looks fine."
"Fine." She turns to Simone. "He said fine. I think we can do better than fine."
“Hold on—“ I start, but Harper's already disappearing behind the curtain again.
Simone turns to me with an expression that lets me know she deals with idiots all day and I'm just another one. "Mr. Kade, when a woman asks how she looks, 'fine' is never the right answer."
I blink. “Then what is?”
"Try 'beautiful.' Or 'stunning.’” She coughs lightly. “Or literally anything else.”
My phone buzzes before I can respond. I pull it out.
CHRISTIAN: Where are you? You're late for the venue walkthrough
ME: Delayed. Handle it.
CHRISTIAN: This is your job, fellow Best Man
ME: You've been to a thousand of these. You know what to do
CHRISTIAN: Are you with Harper?
I hesitate too long.
CHRISTIAN: You're with Harper. At the dress fitting you told us about
ME: It's practical. I need to approve the wardrobe for tonight's appearance.
CHRISTIAN: Sure. That's definitely why you're there.
CHRISTIAN: Not because you want to see her half-naked
ME: I'm turning my phone off now.
CHRISTIAN: Have fun checking out your wife!
I silence my phone and look up just as Harper emerges again.
This dress is different—black this time, with long sleeves and a high neck that should be conservative but somehow isn't. It's fitted in a way that's almost lethal, highlighting every curve, and there's a slit up one side that makes my brain leak a neuron or two.
"Better?" she asks.
I've forgotten how to speak.
"Victor?"
"That's..." I clear my throat. "That's also appropriate."
She crosses her arms, which does interesting things to her full, freckle-spattered cleavage. "You're terrible at this."
"At what?"
"At giving feedback. Simone, is he always this helpful?"
Simone, who's watching us with poorly concealed enjoyment, nods. "In my experience, whenever Mr. Kade makes an order through his assistant, he seems very decisive about business matters. Personal matters seem to... challenge him."
"I'm standing right here," I point out.
