Page 34 of Come A Little Closer

I chuckled, tightening my robe as I eyed the mountain of garments on the mattress. “What’s lucky is that I ran into you when I did.”

Seriously.

I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if not for the fact that Sayra had come to the plantation this afternoon to drop off some supplies she needed for the tours this weekend. After procrastinating all week putting together an outfit for tonight, I’d realized too late that I’d run out of time.

Intent on making do with whatever was clean and in my closet, I’d been racing back to the guest house when I’d bumped into my new friend. Immediately upon learning that I was going to the party in the Garden District and that I didn’t have an outfit, she’d run home to rifle through her own closet.

I wouldn’t deny that the sheer amount of clothes she’d brought was intimidating, though. “Have you even worn all of these?”

She laughed, shrugging a shoulder. Then she picked up a bright pink dress and tossed it my way. “Of course, I have. I have a bit of a shopping problem, though. Try that on. I think it might work.”

I held up the so-called dress, immediately folding it up and setting it back into one of the bags when I saw how short it was. “I don’t think this is that kind of party. Niall said most of his neighbors are old. I doubt they’d appreciate seeing my ass hanging out of my dress.”

“Hey, they might’ve enjoyed the view, but I get what you mean. We’re going for classy tonight. Not slutty.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Any ideas?”

“A few,” she replied, searching through the heap and discarding a few more options as she came upon them. “What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just go shopping. The Garden District Street Fair is a big deal, and only the actual residents and those who are closest to them get invitations to the private party after.”

I sighed, scrunching up my nose. It was admission time again. “Honestly? I’ve never been to a party like this before. I didn’t realize I was supposed to go shopping for it.”

She frowned, straightened up, and faced me without handing over another dress to try just yet. “I’m not sure I’m following you. You get invited to an exclusive party and you didn’t know you were supposed to wear clothes to it?”

I chuckled. “No, I mean, obviously, I knew I had to wear clothes. Like I said, I’ve never been to a party like this before or really any party. Ever.”

She stared at me for a long, silent beat. Her eyes widened more with every second until she finally blinked hard. “You’re serious?”

I nodded. “Unfortunately.”

“How?” she asked, stumbling back until she collapsed into the armchair in the corner of my bedroom, her eyes never leaving mine. “How long have you been in New Orleans?”

“A couple years, but I’ve spent most of my nights working. I’ve been out with my friends and the roommates I lived with before, but never to a fancy party.”

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “Okay, I guess I get that, but what about before you came here? College? High school? Early adult life when you just started working?”

I swiped my tongue across my lips. “My parents didn’t let me go to parties in high school. Or in college, for that matter. My boyfriend at the time wasn’t really big into socializing, so he and I never went to parties either.”

“I have so many questions,” she mumbled, her eyes practically crossed until she shook her head and looked at me again. “For now, let’s just focus on the basics. Even if you’ve never been to a party before, what were you planning on wearing tonight? Surely, you thought about it?”

“I did, but I’m still learning how to be alone and how to take care of myself. Buying clothes and stuff isn’t really something I ever had to do before, so it just kind of slips my mind sometimes. I figured I’d wear whatever I had.”

She blinked hard, obviously still confused, but I also saw concern creeping into her eyes when she looked at me again, mumbling under her breath like she didn’t really mean for me to hear. “Soooo many questions right now.”

Drawing in a deep breath, she shoved some of the clothes away to make space for herself on the bed and sat down before she patted the open spot beside her. “Come on. I think we need to talk a little bit. I’ll be honest, you’re not making much sense to me right now. How have you not had to buy your own clothes before?”

“Uh, my mom liked choosing them for me. She took me shopping with her a couple times, but she refused to buy any of the stuff I picked out. So eventually, she just started going by herself, and when I got home, there’d be some new clothes in my closet when the other stuff didn’t fit anymore.”

“That sounds ridiculously controlling,” she said, frowning at me. “Am I reading that right?”

I shrugged. “Pretty much.”

She searched my eyes, genuine worry now mingling with the mild concern from before. “What about when you became an adult? You said your boyfriend didn’t like socializing, but did he also choose your clothes for you?”

I flushed, my heart beating harder this time, and I nodded. “Carter and my parents were close. He didn’t like my sense of style either, and I wasn’t working, so I didn’t have any money of my own. He said that if he was going to be paying for my clothes, he would decide what I wore.”

“Why weren’t you working?” she asked, her voice so quiet now that it was almost a whisper. Like she was afraid of the answer she was going to get.

My gaze hit the floor, but I didn’t want to hide things from her. It really hadn’t been so terrible at the time that she had to be afraid of it. “Well, uh, Carter didn’t like the thought of that either.”