Page 60 of Kidnapping Their Third

“Don’t need,” Kimble grumbled as Cora handed him another shirt.

“We’re meeting Pike’s parents tomorrow. Don’t you want to make a good impression?” she asked.

“He’s already met them,” Pike pointed out.

Cora’s mouth tilted in a stubborn line. “Then we should be making an effort to make a good second impression because I’ll be there too.”

It had been a week since the disastrous evening with her family. She’d spoken to Caleb but blocked everyone else's number. It was the first time she’d ever done that, and she thought it would be painful and upsetting. It was surprisingly satisfying and everything had been a lot calmer.

She hadn’t realized until then how much chaos her family added her to life on a daily basis.

Trevor had tried to visit. When she ignored his knocking, he’d let himself in with a copy of her key she didn’t know he had. Kimble had picked him up and pitched him out onto the quiet neighborhood street. The next day, she’d changed all her locks because everyone probably had a key.

Turns out she didn’t need to bother. There weren’t any more visits. She was relieved. She didn’t plan to go no contact with her family forever, but she needed some time off.

“Yellow?” Kimble grumbled, staring at the shirt.

“It’s off white, not yellow,” Cora corrected and urged him toward the fitting room. “Go try it on. You can’t keep wearing the same two shirts and pants forever anyway. They don’t even fit you. We might as well get you some new items now.”

Kimble handed the shirt back. “Blue.”

Now they were getting somewhere. “You could’ve said that earlier when I asked what color you liked.” She put the off-white shirt back and pulled out one in navy blue and held it out to him. “Here, how about this one?”

Giving in, Kimble accepted the shirt and headed into the fitting room. The door was closing when Cora tossed several pairs of jeans at him. “Try these too!”

She heard a grumble as the door snicked shut. Pike smiled at her as they waited for Kimble to show them how the clothing fit.

“This is great,” he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. It was the default position both men assumed the moment they were still for more than a few seconds at a time. The one who didn’t get the position behind her would take one of her hands. Other people gave them looks but no one said anything. This was Southern California. They were more likely to get offers for sex parties than condemnation from a passerby.

“You like shopping?” Cora asked.

“I’m not big into shopping, but it’s great that we’re getting Kimble new clothes. He really needed them,” Pike answered, leaning over to nuzzle his face into her hair. “You smell good.”

She relaxed into his embrace. “You always say that.”

“That’s because it’s always true.”

The door to the fitting room swung open revealing a scowling vampire wearing clothing that didn’t look like it was going to disintegrate at any moment.

Cora pulled away from Pike to get a closer look at the fit of the jeans. “You look great. Does it feel good?”

Kimble grunted and shrugged. That was probably the best she was going to get. Noting the size on the jeans and shirt, she stepped back. “Go ahead and change back.”

Kimble looked relieved but didn’t close the door. “Done?”

“We’re done with clothes shopping, but there's one more store I want to visit.” She bit her lip to keep from smiling at the look of disappointment on Kimble’s face. The vampire wasdefinitely a homebody and wasn’t fond of going out in public. He absolutely hated places crowded with people.

His favorite curse to mutter when he was annoyed at the humans around them waspeasant. Sometimes it wasfoolish peasant.Thankfully, he hadn’t started any fights yet, probably because Pike was with them. They needed to work on Kimble’s lack of public politeness, or he’d have to stay home on the evenings when Cora and Pike went out.

“One more stop, then home?” he asked.

“Yes, one more stop and then we’ll go home,” she agreed and heard Pike chuckle behind her when Kimble slammed the door shut.

After buying six of the same shirts in shades of blue and three pairs of jeans, they all piled back into Pike’s car. She really needed to take Pike car shopping because the Caddy had been reluctant to start for the last few days. Pike promised he’d service the carburetor that weekend and it would run like new, but Cora had doubts.

Judging by the way the Caddy shuddered and clunked every time Pike put it in drive, it was clear the car also had doubts.

It didn’t take long to arrive at their next destination, and Cora was delighted by the look of absolute joy on Kimble’s face.

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