Della and Melinda took off, Melinda smiling and chattering away. Della seemed much more subdued, and I found myself wondering once more what was up with her and her odd attitude.
Cade looked at me, his smile hesitant now that we were alone. “Shall we?”
I was going to be alone with Cade again. I didn’t know if this elated me or terrified me. Either way, my heart was racing.
“Yes,” I said, and I followed him into the shop.
11
Cade
To say my spirits had deflated when I realized that my mother and Della planned to attend my fitting would be an understatement. I’d tried to think of excuses so that I could go alone, but nothing had come to mind. I was sure that Della would have let me go alone if I’d asked, but I couldn’t ask her without also asking Mom, and she would want to know why. Telling her I want to spend more time alone with our wedding planner was not going to fly with her.
That was the thing. I really wanted to spend time alone with Laura, not have everyone else tagging along. Even though I couldn’t give in to my desire for her the way I had yesterday, I still wanted to spend some quality time with her. I didn’t want everyone else butting in.
And holy shit, did she look amazing today. My jaw nearly dropped when I saw her and I’d tried to cover it with a smile, but my entire body heated up with a primal desire. It was a good thing that Mom and Della had left, because I didn’t want to have to worry about concealing my desire and arousal around them. I wanted Laura so badly that my teeth ached with clenching them so hard to stem my arousal.
Thank God that Della hadn’t picked out a dress yet, which had confused Laura. Laura must have been wondering why Della hadn’t thought about a dress with only a few months left for the wedding. In her experience, most women would plan their wedding years before the event and had strong opinions, but I couldn’t blame Della.
I would’ve been surprised too if I hadn’t spoken to Della last night. This was just as much like a weird dream to her as it was for me—until she had come to the lake house. Now, both of us were facing the fact that this wedding was real and were having to play catch up, as a result.
And thank God, they were gone.
“You just performed a minor miracle,” I told Laura, my mood having improved ten times now that Della and Mom were gone.
Laura blushed. “It’s just that your mother is famous, I was able to name drop her to get the appointment. I’m sure that I could’ve gotten them in somewhere, but didn’t know that it would be the most exclusive atelier in the city.”
“Trust me, my mom loves dropping her name, so you did the right thing. As long as it gets Della the dress she needs, who cares how you went about it? It’s not like you were lying. Melinda James really is going to the dress appointment. Those dressmakers are having the time of their lives right now being regaled with Mom’s stories from set.”
I hoped that my bitterness didn’t show too much. Laura nodded thoughtfully, and then led me inside, the conversation apparently over.
She spoke to the clerk and explained that we had an appointment but weren’t sure about the style I wanted and wanted to look around. The clerk eyed me like I had personally disappointed him for not having a style picked out, but then he led us to the back and allowed us to browse on our own.
I was glad for that. I didn’t want to deal with anyone else when I was getting as much time with Laura as I could.
“Do you have any idea what sort of styles Della likes and would possibly go with?” Laura asked. “Any idea of the style of dresses she normally wears?”
“Not really, I don’t pay attention to that much.”
Laura gave me an odd look. “Funny, you always paid plenty of attention to my outfits.”
That’s because I was in love with you. I’m not in love with Della. “That’s because I needed to figure out how to get them off you,” I joked.
Laura rolled her eyes, but I could see her trying to bite back a smile. “All right. Well, do you know what sorts of styles you like?”
I looked around, then picked out a bright orange tux. I wasn’t sure why a bright orange suit even existed, but here we were. I held it up like I was completely serious.
Laura looked like she wanted to stuff her hand into her mouth to keep herself from laughing. “You’re joking. Take this seriously.”
“Oh, I’m taking it very seriously,” I replied, deadpan. “In fact, I think you’re the one who’d stand to take this all more seriously, Miss Loomis. Ar
e you mocking the tastes of your client?”
Laura arched an eyebrow. “Oh, that’s your style then? Well, of course, Mr. Kirkpatrick….”
She went through the racks and found a suit that looked like it had been stuck in the ‘70s, with the big ruffles down the front and everything. Laura held it out to me, a challenging look in her eyes, and I took the suit without a single chuckle. I was in this to win this now, damn it, and I loved seeing Laura get playful and into the spirit of a teasing game. I wanted her to keep doing that. I wanted to see more of her behaving this way—the Laura that I’d known was peeking out from underneath the professional, distant demeanor she’d adopted after meeting me now.
We kept finding more ridiculous suits in crazy colors, piling them into my arms until I couldn’t carry anymore, and I gave up and was laughing under the weight of the clothes. “I can barely see over the top!”