It's then his eyes move to my shoulders where I've got several nasty ones. He lifts my hair up to start inspecting them as well. The heat from his breath caresses the skin of my neck, making me squirm. Uh-oh. No. I refuse to be turned on by this asshole. Not happening. No way.
I hold the corset to me as I step out of his grasp, and he lets his hands fall to his sides.
"They said you didn't get hurt," he murmurs, showing humanity flicker in his eyes for the first time.
"I didn't suffer anything major," I say while shrugging. "But when a roof collapses on you, it still tends to leave a mark. Thanks for the help, but I need to get redressed."
He hesitates to move at first, and his eyes fall to my chest. Fortunately, I have it very covered up.
"How much longer will you be?" he asks, letting his eyes come back up to meet mine.
"I'm done. I don't want this thing, and I don't really need the dresses. I don't go anywhere that I would need to wear something like that. Just the regular clothes for me."
"And the swimsuits," he adds, pointing toward the rack.
"No. I don't feel like swimming. Not my thing. Besides, I'd look like a punching bag with all these," I say, motioning to some of the bruises around my shoulders.
He frowns again, but walks out. I opt to go ahead and put on some of the jeans. It's hot as hell today, but there are too many bruises on my legs to wear shorts.
I slip into a shirt with quarter-length sleeves as I walk out holding a few of the items and the underwear I picked out. This will be enough. It's a week's worth of clothes. Once I get paid, I can go buy some more things from the cheaper stores.
Kade is leaned over the counter talking to the girl who showed me in. She's giggling and nodding, which forces me to roll my eyes. I plop down some of the stuff, carefully keeping the panties and bras tucked under the clothes.
"Is that all you're getting?" Kade asks, seeming confused.
"Yeah. And what I'm wearing," I say, motioning to the t-shirt and jeans I've got on.
The girl frowns when she sees the small selection, and Kade disappears. "Hurry up and ring out the underwear before he gets back," I whisper, causing her eyebrow to lift.
"Kade said his father gave you his card to get all you needed."
"This is all I need. More than I need. Please hurry."
She turns her nose up in disappointment as she rings it up, seeming to sigh every two seconds. "Add this to it," Kade says as he and two other girls put mounds of clothes on the top.
The girl behind the register gleams as she starts adding it in.
"What are you doing?" I whisper, scolding him with my eyes more than my voice.
He shrugs, seeming bored again. "I know my father better than you. He'd make me bring you back, and I've got shit to do today."
And he's back to being a dickhead. Great.
"I don't want all this."
"Too bad."
My mouth tries to fall to the floor when the giddy girl announces the ungodly price, but Kade pulls the credit card from my back pocket and hands it to her, acting as though she didn't ring out two new vehicles instead of some clothes.
"It's his store, Raya. It's not like he's not getting it all back," Kade chuckles out.
Why even pay at all?
He pushes my jaw back into place with his finger, and then he leans over me to take the card back from the girl.
"Let's go," he says, scooping up all my bags.
Some of the girls help carry out the bags, too, and Kade loads down the small trunk area. I reach in and grab some sunglasses from one of the bags. I don't know who put them in there, but I'm thankful because the sun is blinding me.