Page 200 of The Black Trilogy

For a second, I wasn’t sure whether he was serious. “I thought you said you didn’t joke.”

“It’s a new thing for me.”

He cracked a tiny smile. Progress?

Hmm. Where did I start in this fancy shop? The only time I’d bought dresses before, I was more concerned with the ease of getting out of them while cavorting around a pole than what they actually looked like. I shuffled through the rails, trying to look as though I knew what I was doing, but it was hopeless. I didn’t understand the sizing, and I couldn’t work out how to get into half of the outfits with all their hidden zips and twiddly buttons. I was drowning in a sea of silk and chiffon.

“How about this one?” Black asked, holding up a purple knee-length thing with sequins on the bodice. “It matches your eyes.”

I snatched it off him. “Yeah, okay.”

“Do you want some help?”

“No.” I sighed. “Yes.”

One snap of his fingers, and the nearest salesgirl started piling frocks into my arms. I caught sight of a price tag and dropped the lot.

“What’s wrong?” Black hissed as I backed away.

“That dress costs three thousand dollars.”

“And?”

“That’s more than I earned last year.”

The sales girl eavesdropped on our conversation, head going back and forth like she was at a tennis match. It took all my self-control not to slap her.

Black steered me back to the rail and bent to pick up the items I’d dropped. “My investments earned three thousand dollars while we were eating brunch. Just buy some dresses, would you?”

Trying to absorb that new piece of information, I plucked the top two dresses from him and hurried into the changing room. They fitted well enough, and I hauled my jeans back on.

“You want those ones?” he asked.

“Not really.”

He turned to the cretinous woman still hovering at his elbow and handed her his credit card. “Could you wrap these up?”

She beamed up at him and scuttled off as I folded my arms and stared out the window.

“Now what?” he asked.

“I don’t deserve those. I haven’t even done any work yet.”

He slung an arm around my shoulders and grasped my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “You will soon enough. I’ll get my money’s worth out of you, don’t worry.”

Why did my knees want to buckle when he said that?

“And we’re having dinner with Nate later,” he continued as the woman presented him with two bags.

“Who’s Nate?”

He held the door open, allowing me to escape. “Nathaniel Wood. He’s my business partner.”

“Do I need to wear a dress?”

“Jeans will be fine. He’s coming over to the house.”

Super. Another person to be nice to.

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