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"Just try it on. If it makes you feel better, I’ll turn around, too."
He was serious. I ducked between him and the rack, hoping it and Klinn’s wide shoulders were enough to keep anyone from seeing my wardrobe change. Little beads of sweat broke out on my brow as I rushed to take one item off and put another on. I squirmed to unzip my dress in the back.
"Need help?" Klinn sounded a little too eager to come to my aid.
"I think I got it." I implemented a quirky method to keep myself modest, putting the black shirt on over my head and then shimmying the dress down to my hips. The shirt was one of those cropped things. I held the dress over my hips while I kicked my leggings off and got my left foot into the tight pants that came with the outfit. What was with the people in this galaxy and their love of fitted clothing?
"What’s taking so long?" Klinn didn’t have to turn his head for me to see he was impatient. I heard it all in his voice.
"It’s not my fault women’s clothes come with so many zippers and buttons."
"I offered to help."
"I got the last one." I closed the button of my shirt that stopped two inches above my navel. "Space is too cold for this."
"That’s what the vest is for."
I finally got everything on. I wiped my brow. "How do I look?"
Klinn turned to view me. He took in everything I tugged on, pulled down, and shimmied into. "It’s a definite improvement over your old clothes."
I saw a darker blue creep up his cheeks. "Klinn, are you, um, blushing?"
"What? No. Ventivores don’t blush."
"Mm, must be a trick of the light."
"Stay here while I haggle with the shop owner." He started walking towards the counter.
I thought I caught onto his scent again. I inhaled it, trying to figure out what notes were in it. First, I smelled woodsy notes, then clean skin. A pleasant tingle danced up my spine. Whatever he had on was making my olfactory nerves come alive.
The tingle cha-cha'ed from my spine down past my hips. My breath stopped in mid-inhale as the sensation went from a sweet ballet to dirty dancing.
If the men of Earth all smelled like him, many of us human women would be doomed.
No one else appeared to notice his scent. Maybe it was just me and my weird nose.
Klinn strode back to me. "He wants your old clothes to sell. Let’s go before he changes his mind."
"Old clothes in exchange for new ones?" I asked as he ushered me out the door.
"I told him they’re imported from Kajal."
"You’re making it sound like they’re designer or something. That’s not exactly true."
"I never said they were fancy. Wasn’t Kajal where you bought them and where you were last? So it is true."
I said nothing while my eyes spoke volumes.
"Hey, don’t give me that look. He agreed to it."
“Fine. Old habits die hard.”
“It wasn’t a con. It was a bargain.” Klinn changed the subject once we were outside. "If you don’t mind, Faye, that outfit on you looks positively criminal."
I tried to get used to the feel of the new fabric on my skin. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
"Of course, it is. I mean, you blend in perfectly now, in the best possible way."
