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“There you go. You take a peek.” He tapped the cover of the heavy-duty black binder and blasted Albion with a blinding smile. “Cloth swatches for the winter season. Now, over here, sweetheart,” he said to me, bustling toward the raised podium in front of the mirrors again. He looked at me expectantly, and when I checked Albion was glaring, so I rushed to Indy’s side.
“Mr. Guidry sends his regards, Indy,” Albion drawled, and for the first time I heard a little bit of the south in his words. He had a city accent, but apparently this morning he was relaxing and being more himself. Part of me was jealous that he and Indy must be well enough acquainted for that informality.
Indy laughed and waved his hand in Albion’s direction. “Oh, isn’t he just the sweetest? Come on, honeybee,” he said and grabbed my arm to move it.
I finally got what he wanted me to do and raised my arms.
He snapped open a measuring tape and cocked a hip. “Let’s get you squared away. This won’t take long at all. It’s the easiest part of everything.” He winked at me. “The key to a good suit is good measurements. Sloppy at this stage means failure in the rest.” He shook his head and huffed with his lips pursed, as if someone had suggested he should do a worse job. I got stuck staring at the gloss on his mouth. Would I look okay in something like that? Embarrassment warmed my cheeks all over again.
“Uh, okay,” I mumbled.
He winked again, and I went into another full-body meltdown, apparently starting with my brain. It was awful. I caught sight of myself in the mirrors, and after the pink faded from my face, I looked pale, the way I did sometimes when I hadn’t been sleeping and eating right. I sighed, then let my attention drift back to Albion as Indy hummed and walked around me, using his measuring tape against my body, then pausing to scribble down numbers in a tiny notepad.
Oh, Jesus Christ.Albion studied me, brown eyes serious and heavy lidded. His jaw was tense and he licked his lips, as if I was a tasty meal he wanted to eat. I shivered, and Indy glanced up at me, then caught sight of Albion in the mirror. He scrunched his nose, which was cute, and sent me a secret smile from his spot on the floor near my right leg.
“How is this fine Thursday treating you?” Indy asked, and I let out a grunt as I lifted my foot. He grinned and popped my shoe off. I had no idea why he was measuring my insole, but he seemed very intent about it. Indy was speedy as he moved around to my other side to do the same thing, and I was a tad jealous. He was on fire, and his outfit clung to his body in all the right ways—put together to attract attention. He also carried himself with confidence. He could do anything in the entire world. I never felt that way and I wished I did.
He glanced up at me, and I remembered he’d asked me a question too late to save my reply from being awkward.
“Um. All right,” I said.
Indy grinned as he hopped up and began to measure across my chest for the second time in a slightly different direction. “A man of few words. Lovely. Stoicism has its uses.” He winked at Albion, and I had no idea what was going on there because by the time I glanced at Albion in the mirror, he was looking down into the binder he had spread open on his lap.
“Wade is shy,” Albion said, paging through the choices. His legs were in a sexy sprawl, and with the way he looked, he could be paid to sit on that tan leather couch all day. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry.
Indy caught my eye and gave me another one of those intriguing secret smirks, as if we were sharing some joke. He darted his gaze over to Albion, which only made me look at him again. I wanted to go over to him and sink to my knees at his side, ask him if this was what he’d wanted, if I’d done a good job, and beg him for a nice reward.
Part of me wanted him to tell me I was doing terribly and that he hated me and wished he’d left me at home. Tell me he wouldn’t buy me anything because I didn’t deserve it. A bizarrely wonderful, uncomfortable squirm slithered through my body. It felt right that he should say those terrible things to me. I didn’t necessarily enjoy it, but it matched the way I felt inside. People were never honest enough to tell you when they really hated you, and there were things I wished I could change about myself.
Indy moved around to my back, and I bit my lip as he softly measured low around my hips to the curve of my behind. There was the most featherlight pressure, and it twinged the bruises that were still on my ass. The reminder of what Albion and I had done made my face hot enough to melt butter, and I cleared my throat.
“Sorry, sweetie. I know a lot of people aren’t used to someone being in their space this long. I won’t linger.” He gave me a soft smile, and I nodded back.
Albion’s head shot up, and our gazes clashed in the mirror. His mouth opened, but he didn’t say anything. The expression on his face was clearly asking me if I was all right, even though the words never left his mouth. I gave him a short nod, and he went back to browsing through the binder in his lap.
“With your eyes and complexion, I’m inclined to steer you toward a gray palette, especially for the winter season. Maybe even some pastels if you feel like going buck wild.” Indy flashed me a toothy grin and let his measuring tape fly out in his exuberance. “What do you think?”
“I’ll choose. I’m paying,” Albion said, cutting into our conversation without a hint of guilt.
My shoulders shot back as I stared at him. He certainly didn’t mind letting anyone know how our relationship—or whatever this happened to be—was going to work.
Indy raised his eyebrows and sent Albion a less than pleased look that quickly smoothed away. He smiled. “Leibling, you do have a great eye, but Wade has to wear the ensemble.” Indy quirked a smile in Albion’s direction when he glanced up at us.
He shrugged. “And I have to look at it.”
Indy hummed, but some of his playfulness melted away as he bounced on his feet and ran his finger along the small sheet of paper where he’d been scribbling numbers. Indy sniffed, then glanced up into my face. We were about the same height, but I had a slight advantage over him. “Are you certain you have no preferences?”
A shiver racked me and I rubbed the back of my neck before forcing out a smile. “No, I want him to pick. It will... make me happy.”
Indy studied my face, and I had no idea what he was thinking, but after a few intense seconds he snickered and nodded. “Wonderful.” He tucked his notepad into his pocket and the pencil behind his ear. “Let’s get you moving so you can get on with your day. Have you made your choices, Albion?” Indy whirled around.
After they began bickering—purely in an amused way—over color choices, it felt like I was caught up in a whirlwind. I took the opportunity to put my shoes on. When I shuffled over close enough to Albion to peek at the binder and see what they were talking about, he snagged me around the waist and dragged me down onto his lap. I gulped and sat there stiffly, but Albion and Indy talked and laughed together as if nothing unusual were going on. I didn’t internalize a thing they said, and before I knew it the binder was snatched away, Indy was off to enter our choices in his computer system, and Albion was guiding me firmly out the front door.
I could barely breathe. My days weren’t usually this full of activity.
Once again, Albion had my elbow in a tight grip and was guiding me toward his vehicle. The light mist that was coming down felt refreshing as it cooled my face and grounded me a little in the moment.
“We’re not going to the office today.” He opened my door.
