Page 113 of Borrowing My Bestie's Brothers

Beautiful, came Brock’s reply. If you like it, buy it.

Or…?

I could take up Hunter’s offer. Suits could look amazing on women, just as some men could rock a dress, but not in my mother’s world. I think she was still trying to get her head around that pants were one of the most common items of clothing women wore.

Come and get me and then you can decide if I buy it, I texted back, tossing my phone down on the chair before stripping down.

The dress wasn’t even that bad. I’d seen some hideous ones where it felt like the bride was doing her best to humiliate her attendants, but this had an uneven skirt that flared out as the fabric settled, the band at the waist fitting perfectly. A cross bodice emphasised my curves, each piece of fabric separating and emphasising my breasts, though in a classy way. The sleeves were these tiny fluttery things that just covered the points of my shoulders, so the muscles of my arms felt like they contrasted starkly against such little scraps of fabric.

“How’d you go?”

“Lucky I’m dressed, Mum,” I snapped as the curtain was wrenched open, but my harsh tone went straight over her head. Just as Nadia’s family all gasped over her dress, my mother did the same. Her eyes shone, the assistant even giving me a grudging nod of approval.

“And what a dress…” She held out the skirt and gestured for me to twirl around. I shuffled uncomfortably, feeling like a performing monkey, not a greasy one now. “Oh, you have to get it.”

“You do.” Nadia and her mother had approached, now that she was dressed back in her street clothes. “Damn, girl, those boys of yours are gonna swallow their tongues when they see you in that.”

“Boys?” Deidre asked in a neutral tone, but Mum instantly bristled.

“Jamie thinks she’s still got time to play the field,” my mother grumbled. “Stringing three men along when, at her age, she should be glad for one that’s serious about her.”

“That fella with the tattoos looked terribly serious,” Deidre said. “Giving her a blank cheque to buy a dress.” With an impish, grin she grabbed a wedding dress off a returns rack and then held it against me. “You’ll be next, mark my words.”

No, I thought, shaking my head. No, no…

Of course, that was the moment the bell on the door jingled. Brock walked in, blinking at the sea of femininity, but finding me in seconds. I was standing in a bloody bridal shop with a wedding dress pressed against me, which should’ve been strike number one, but rather than run away screaming, Brock’s focus intensified. He took in the wedding dress and the blue one without making a comment.

“Oops! Can’t let the groom-to-be see you in your wedding gown,” Deidre said with a wink, whisking the white dress away.

“Mum!” Nadia shot her mother a sharp look, but Deidre paid her no mind, hanging the dress back up.

“You look…”

Brock shook his head, frowning as he searched for words, and Mum’s smile grew smug; but I didn’t wait to hear the end of his sentence, diving back into the dressing room and pulling the dress off before putting my work clothes back on. The dress was returned to the hanger and I made sure the seams were straight and it was hanging correctly, wasting time before sucking in a breath and pulling the curtain back.

“Thanks—” I started to say to the assistant with a smile.

“We’ll take it.” Brock cut through my polite response and that had the assistant smiling. She plucked the dress from my limp fingers, then went to ring it up at the cash register. “Babe, have you still got my card?”

A simple question and an important one, so I pulled it out of my pocket, slapping it down on the counter far too hard. The assistant’s eyebrow jerked up, but she put through the purchase before bagging the dress up and handing it to me. I didn’t want to take it, but social expectations dictated I must, so I picked up the bag, only for Brock to take it from me.

“Just in case,” he murmured. “You look beautiful in it, but you look beautiful in everything to me.”

“So it’d be cool for me to go to the engagement party in my work gear?” I snorted.

“Whatever you want.”

His eyes bore into mine, time feeling like it stopped ticking. My eyes dropped down, taking in the full curve of his lips, the bristle of his beard until I was forced to drag my focus back up again. The noise of the shop filtered back in abruptly, making me conscious of the way my heart was beating.

“I’ve got to go.” I turned to face Nadia and she answered me with a hug.

“Thanks for coming. I know work is insane for you right now and I totally appreciate it. Wrangling my family? That was brilliant.” She held me at arm’s length then. “They can be seriously intense, y’know?” Amber had been quite bitchy about Nadia when she was first introduced to the family, dismissing her as a dumb blonde, but I had no idea where my sister-in-law got that idea. There was a shrewd intelligence burning in Nadia’s eyes right now. “So if you ever need me to return the favour…?”

“You want to pick out my wedding dress?” I joked.

“I want you to be happy, Jamie, and so does Frankie.”

“So that’s why he cut the hair off all my Barbies,” I said, tapping my finger to my lips.

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