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“That came out wrong,” he corrected himself. “You’re gorgeous, and I want you to be wearing a dress worthy of you.”
I wasn’t comfortable with this. “I’m not your prize pony, you know.” The objection escaped before I had a chance to play it in my head and hear how bitchy it sounded.
He locked eyes with me. “The party is my treat, and that includes the dress.”
Some little birdie had been singing.
I’d confided in Cindy that the dress was going to be a problem. I hadn’t meant it to pressure him. “You don’t have to do that.”
A saleslady started toward us.
He shrugged. “But I want to. You’ll be representing the company, and we need to make the best impression possible.”
That was almost a rational reason.
I only had a second to object before the saleslady glommed on to us. “But—”
He raised a finger to silence me the way he sometimes did. “Please, this is important to me.”
The perceptive saleslady backed away to give us privacy.
I blew out a breath. “Okay. Because you asked nicely.”
This was surreal. I was arguing with a guy who wanted to shower me with gifts. Why? Anybody else and I would have been falling all over myself to agree. But I’d trained myself that whatever Dennis wanted, I wanted the opposite.
“And shoes?” I asked.
“Shoes, handbag, the whole enchilada.”
I was such an idiot. This was every girl’s dream come true. A fully paid shopping trip to Rodeo Drive, and here I was arguing because it was him, and everything he wanted I seemed to end up resisting on principle. I should’ve been happy spending his money, the more the better.
The saleslady judged that it was finally safe to approach. “And what can I help you find today?”
Dennis took charge. “The lady is going to the museum gala this weekend, and we’d like to find a nice dress for the occasion.”
Her smile moved up a few notches as she turned to me. “The gala. How nice. I’m sure we can find something you’ll like.” She motioned toward the rear of the store. “Let’s see what we can find for you. My name’s Kayla, by the way.” She started off.
I followed her. “Jennifer.”
“Lovely. Now, are we thinking a special color? I think a black would be particularly striking on you, and very appropriate for a function like that.”
I looked back. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been.”
Dennis had taken a seat.
She walked on. “Neither have I, but we can always hope.”
Kayla showed me several things, and one by one I tried them on.
A few didn’t work well enough for me in the mirror, but two did, and I walked out to show Dennis.
It was my own little fashion show, walking and turning, but neither of them earned the glint in his eye I was looking for.
If I had volunteered for this as a way to make his life miserable by pissing off Melissa, I was going to do it right. The dress was going to be mouth-wateringly sexy. If it got Dennis’s eyes to pop out, it would elicit the reaction I was aiming for from his ex: full-on, red-faced, homicidal anger.
I’d seen it in her eyes at the office. She’d stared daggers of jealousy at me. Turning my back on the crazy lady at the party would be dangerous.
Kayla wasn’t happy when we decided to go a few doors down to the next store, but I wasn’t settling for anything less than Dennis’s eyes bulging when I came out of the dressing room.
