Page 180 of The Alpha

Pari’s eyes rounded to saucers. “He is?” Her last word came out a squeak.

Kitty nodded as she came alongside her. “You have no idea. He’s dressed Shona and Dallan before. And me.”

The sting of jealousy struck, and she quickly pushed it aside. “He… has?”

“For assignments,” Shona explained.

Melvale had several dresses in his hands at this point and had moved on to another rack. “But, I don’t need any clothes. I get mine from the bargain bins and…”

Shona shook her head. “Pari, let him do this. He’s not only good at it, but it makes him happy.”

Pari’s face fell. “Oh, okay.” She clutched her shopping bag to her chest and realized she had no control over the situation. Is that what was freaking her out? Hadn’t she and Dr. Merrill discussed this not a month ago? It was okay for her to buy things for others, but she freaked when they did the same for her.

She blew out a breath. “I’m so bad at this.”

Shona sighed. “I know what you mean. I had a hard time adjusting to things when Dallan and I first got together.”

“How long have you been married?” Pari asked.

“Technically, we’re still newlyweds. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track. But… a little over six months?”

Pari gave her a blank stare. “How long did you date?”

Shona laughed. “Well, our circumstances were much different. We only knew each other a… short time… before we wed.” She looked at Kitty with raised eyebrows, as if warning her not to say something.

Pari tried to ignore their silent exchange and looked for Melvale. He’d disappeared. She spotted Dallan not far off speaking with Archer, but where had Melvale gone? He couldn’t possibly be in the fitting rooms, could he?

“Oh, Pari!”

She couldn’t help but smile at his sing-song voice. Hewasin the fitting rooms! Pari headed that way. “What are you doing?”

He poked his head out of a room. “This one is yours. Have fun. I want to see you model everything!”

She stared at him numbly. “Um, why?”

He frowned and came out of the dressing room. “To admire you for one, but also to see what you like.”

Her heart skipped at his words. “I… just wear stuff.”

“I know,” he said ominously. “But you don’t have to just wear stuff,” he added making air quotes with his fingers. “You should discover what you look best in, create a style all your own.”

She looked at her attire. In truth, she could never afford to dress fashionably. “You’re doing too much…”

He put a hand to his heart. “On the contrary, I’m not doing enough. Now get in there and have some fun!”

Pari fought a sigh. She didn’t want to appear ungrateful, and the delighted look on his face was rather charming…

“Okay.” She handed him her shopping bag and entered the fitting room. Pari’s eyes rounded to saucers.

There were at least a dozen dresses, several tops, and a few pairs of jeans. “Is he kidding?”

“No, I’m not!” he sang from somewhere outside the rooms.

She laughed, unable to help herself. He was crazy! Well, not literally, but… he wassomething.How could he be such an adorable dork, but also such a fierce beast of a man? It was enough to make her head spin. And she still couldn’t figure out why he seemed to be, as Kitty put it, into her.

Pari sighed, grabbed a floral sun dress off the rack, and changed into it.

He didn’t like the way it hung on her body and said it wasn’t flattering enough; his mistake, he owed her another dress for a bad decision. She thought he was nuts!

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