AllFreeNovel
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“Good afternoon, Liam.”
“Hey, good afternoon.”
His gorgeous fake girlfriend had worn a white ribbed sweater and jeans. Other than her purse, which hung from a shoulder, she was dressed rather casually, at least for her typical style. It was almost a more Avril-esque outfit that she’d picked for today, though Avril would have found a way to show off some more midriff or a shoulder, even if it did mean that she suffered the cold’s abuse.
“Did you have a good Christmas yesterday?” she inquired, eyelashes fluttering as a brisk wind battered them.
“Yeah, it was great,” he said, going no further into details. While Anna had let him know a while ago that she didn’t want to stand in the way of him and Tess potentially pursuing romance, that had just been based on her hunch that they each secretly shared an interest in the other. Correct or not, he didn’t plan to confide in her about the relationship that he now had with Tess.
“How about yours?”
Anna’s smile slightly waned. “It was fine. Avril and I got together with a few friends late in the evening. That was fun.”
Though the specifics were vastly different, he knew her lack of details came from a similar place as his did. Knowing what he did about her family circumstances, he just hoped that her time spent with them yesterday really had just been “fine,” and not some unmitigated disaster that had left her in tears.
“Well, I’m excited to see what you think looks good on me,” he said, wanting to redirect them toward the here and now. “I don’t have much taste for this kind of clothing.”
“A lot will look good on you, so it’ll just be up to what you like most,” Anna assured him quickly. Almost as quickly behind, a surge of color spilled into her fair face. “Erm, I mean, I think you’ll have a lot of good options to choose from.”
Liam blinked. Outside of a few rare instances that Avril had instigated, Anna didn’t usually end up flustered. He’d certainly never heard her use a filler word before. That washisthing.
“Thanks,” he elected to say, smiling. “I hope so, given the company I’ll be in. I wouldn’t want to drag the room’s elegance down with my plain old self.”
It was halfway between a jest and the truth, though Anna, in her rare off-balanced state, didn’t seem to realize that.
“I’m certain that won’t be the case.”
Another chilly gust of wind raked its unpleasant nails across their faces, and they both shivered. It hadn’t relented by the time he and Anna hurriedly found the coverage and warmth inside the clothing shop. Once there, a middle-aged tailor—or a clerk dressed like a tailor—immediately approached and greeted them.
He also greeted Anna by name.
Eyebrow raised at that, he learned from her a little later that the men of her family almost always bought their suits and other formalwear here. His worries about the expensiveness of his outfit further intensified because of it.
“You don’t have to pay,” Anna said, almost sounding concerned that he’d even broached the topic.
This conversation started while he and Anna had some alone time in an enormous back room, where all the options that she and the tailor—he’d mostly chimed in with nods of agreement—had decided would look good on him had been gathered. They’d seemed like old hands at the task, gliding through the store without any of the hesitance that he felt whenever they’d added another linen button-down or blazer to the possibilities. The arrival of another customer had just called the tailor away, leaving him and Anna to discuss their current topic of conversation. Apparently, a contentious one.
“Don’t make me do to you what I did to Avril,” Liam said.
“I’m serious, Liam. This is my gift to you.”
“Christmas is three hundred and sixty-four days away, Anna.”
“It’s still the season of giving.”
Huh.Liam’s retort lingered on his tongue. He hadn’t been anticipating this level of stubbornness from Anna, of all people.
“Besides,” she said, continuing her assault, “I have a massive discount due to how often my family uses Mercer’s. So, please let me get you an outfit or two.”
He sighed and chose the path of peace. “Anoutfit.” That was as far as he’d willingly budge.
“Very well. A single outfit.”
“And don’t tell Avril.”
Anna dipped her chin. “I promise not to inform Avril.”
Less than an hour later, he now owned that outfit. He wasn’t taking it home yet, however, as the alterations had not yet been made. Instead, he’d been informed by the tailor after he’d changed back into his original clothes that he could return for a final fitting in two days. While he was doing that, Anna and the tailor had seemingly discussed the price out in the central area of the store, which kept him from hearing just how much everything cost or how much Anna’s proclaimed discount was worth. He knew she’d done it intentionally, though he elected not to belabor the point as they regrouped and began to depart.
