discovered.
After I pay, instead of turning left to go back to the parking lot, I lead Madison to the right, down another block. “Where are we going now?” she asks, laughing.
I stop in front of a shop, pulling her close, my voice serious. “I’m about to do something I’ve never done with a woman before in my life. Let’s go inside.”
“Why are we here?” Madison asks, looking through the window of the dress shop. “You already bought me a dress, Scott. I don’t even have room in my closet for another.”
“We’re here to let you try on evening gowns,” I explain, watching the shock drop over her face. “As for space in your closet, well, if you insist, I’ll keep it in my mine, and you can come visit it anytime. Fuck, you can live in my closet with the dress if you want to. You’ll just have to put up with my swinging dick every morning when I come in to get dressed,” I say, my grin growing larger. The thought of her being in my place, not my closet but in my bed, every morning sounds pretty fucking stellar to me.
My joke makes Madison smile enough to let me lead her inside, where we’re immediately approached by a saleswoman. She’s about to protest, and considering our attire, I don’t blame her, but when she sees the bag I’m carrying, her scowl turns into a smile. “Well, now, what a lovely couple. Welcome. How can I help you today?”
Madison is beside herself and doesn’t know where to start. “We’re looking for an evening gown, classic but youthful,” I reply, running down my mental checklist. “Something that will go well with a chocolate diamond.”
Madison whispers to herself as the manager leads us toward the gown section. I can’t understand what she’s saying, but by the look on her face, she likes what she sees. “I feel like this is the part where I argue? And you make me forget how crazy this is by growling in my ear with your sexy voice until I agree to go along with whatever mad trip you’re on? I’m wasting my time protesting, aren’t I?”
She’s smiling now. That’s my girl. I lean in closer. “I can still growl for you if you’d like, but you’re a quick learner. You’re gonna thank me when you see how you look in a few minutes,” I reply. “You’ll fit right in.”
“Right in with who? What’s that supposed to mean?”
I smile, holding my secret for a little longer. “Nothing. Look around, see what you like.”
Madison walks with the saleswoman and starts picking out gowns, each one more beautiful than the last. Quickly overwhelmed, I take a seat by the dressing room and watch as they carry in about a half-dozen gowns.
The first three look amazing on her, and I know Madison would turn heads anywhere we went . . . but there’s nothing in her expression that quite says, ‘I love this!’
“Okay, what about this?” Madison asks as she steps out in a Valentino dress. It’s . . . perfect. The pale coffee-colored velvet with black lace accents hugs her body like a glove and is just different enough from her new necklace that it’ll stand out. The train isn’t long, but it makes her look like she’s floating as she approaches me in the borrowed high heels.
“I fucking love that one.” Between the coffee coloring of the dress, her warm skin tone, whiskey eyes, and honey-blonde hair, she’s like a smorgasbord of caramel waiting for me to devour every inch of her. I can’t help but lick my lips, wanting a taste.
Madison grins, and I know it’s her favorite too. “It’s so beautiful.”
She walks toward me, my eyes fixed on her, mesmerized by each step. “Okay, honesty time,” she says. “There’s a reason you’re taking me to all these fancy-schmancy places and playing dress-up with me like I’m a paper doll. Time to fess up.”
Damn . . . just another reason I can’t get enough of her. She could just roll with the indulgences, but not Madison. She knows something’s up, knows I’ve always got a method to my madness. “Because I want you to wear that gown for me in a few days, be my date, and spend the night on my arm, making an evening full of work-related douchebaggery bearable.”
Her pretty face twists in confusion, making me want to burst out laughing. “Huh?”
I laugh, getting up and approaching her. “I want you to meet my