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I stared at myself in the mirror after Amanda stepped away and I giggled again. Not only was the dress too small, the beads were stretching out over my full breasts and my nipples had fully poked through the new, wider openings.
“Would you like to show the Hawkes?”
I full out laughed and shook my head. “No. No, I would not.”
Taking the thing off was a job and a half, leaving the perfectly put together Amanda breathing heavily and slightly sweaty. She adjusted her dress and nodded to herself. “This next dress will work, for sure.”
The next dress did not work. It made me look like ten pounds of ham in a five pound sack. Each dress after was much the same. Around the tenth dress, it stopped being funny. After the fifteenth dress, I wanted to slap someone. Namely Remy. He’d made it very clear that his previous flings were much, much smaller than me. He’d brought me to a store that didn’t carry my size.
“I am so sorry. I don’t think this is going to happen, Ms. King.” Amanda looked even more defeated than I felt. She sagged against the wall behind her and pulled at her hair.
I pulled my own dress back on and patted her shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Amanda. It’s okay.”
She shook her head. “I can’t face Mr. Hawke. I’ve dressed dozens of women for him over the years. I’ve never failed him before. This is horrible.”
Dozens? My mood soured even farther. “You know what? Let me take one of the dresses. I can always gift it to someone later. You can tell Remy that I just didn’t like any others.”
“No, no. It’s okay.” She fanned her face and I hoped with everything she didn’t start crying. There was something wrong with me that made me cry the moment I saw someone else cry.
“Here. I’ll take this one. At least it made me laugh.” I grabbed the ruined beaded number and forced a smile. If I ever wanted to put on a really sad strip tease, it would come in handy. I did what came naturally to me and looked at the price, even if I wasn’t the one paying. What I saw made me screech. I could’ve bought a new used car with that kind of money. A nice one. I looked at Amanda again. “Is this right?”
She shrugged. “Yeah. Why?”
“Everything okay?” Boone’s calm voice clashed with how I was feeling as he joined us.
Amanda tried to correct her smile into perfection again, but she couldn’t do it. She dabbed at her eyes and hurried out of the room.
Boone’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me. “What the hell was that about?”
I put the dress down, because there was no way I was letting anyone spend that much money on a pity buy. I reached up to straighten my bun and wiped sweat from my upper lip. I was in fine form. “It seems like Remy brought me to the store he always dresses hiswomenat and it seems like he prefers his women a lot smaller than me. There’s not a thing in this store that will fit me.”
Boone’s eyes narrowed and his face looked thunderous. “You’re fucking kidding me. You’re normal sized, Memphis. How do they not carry your size?”
Remy appeared behind Boone and looked me over. “Why aren’t you wearing something new?”
I swallowed a lump in my throat and counted on him moving as I walked towards him. Thankfully, he did, and I marched past him and out of the store. For some reason, the moment I saw Jake standing outside, waiting with a giant smile on his face, my resolve to not cry broke. Big tears filled my eyes as his face fell and without thinking twice, I walked into his open arms and let him hug me. He reminded me of Knox in that moment and I missed my brother more than anything.
He hugged me there on the sidewalk for a while, until I felt like I could pull myself together. His hands gripped my shoulders when I pulled back. “Do you need me to kick someone’s ass?”
I laughed and wiped the last of my tears away. “The clothing industry?”
24.
***Memphis***
Remywasstandingatthe back of the car with the door open, glaring at Jake when I looked around for them. Boone was on the phone a few feet away, casting dark looks all around, like he wanted to punch things. I patted Jake’s chest and thanked him before moving towards Remy to get inside the car.
He caught my arm before I could step inside and stopped me between his body and the door. His hand was hot against my skin and his fingertips brushed the side of my chest as he stared down at me. “I made a mistake. Bringing you here wasn’t a conscious decision. It’s the only place I’ve ever gone to and I didn’t think about it.”
I nodded and tried to get into the car, but he stopped me again. Sighing, I looked up at him and met his gaze. “I think I just want to go home.”
His fingers tightened ever so slightly as his face pinched. “Home? Memphis, there’s no reason to leave us. I fucked up, but I can guarantee it won’t happen again. Seeing your face right now will make sure of that.”
My hand moved to rest over my stomach at the thought of leaving them. I shook my head and shifted closer to his body. “To the guest house, Remy.”
He pulled me the rest of the way into his chest and I breathed in his scent hungrily. Wrapping his arms around me, he lowered his mouth to my ear and growled. “I didn’t like seeing him hold you. I’ve known Jake for forever and I want to fire him right now. I’m right here if you need comfort, sweetheart. I’m right here for whatever you need. Do you understand me?”
I was torn between melting into a puddle of desire at his feet and telling him to take a flying leap. I could feel his heart racing against my cheek, though, and I lost all desire to correct his behavior. I pressed a light kiss to his chest, hoping he wouldn’t feel it, and looked up at him. “Are you sure about that?”
