Page 15 of Accidental Proposal

“No can do. Liam talked to me and said I can only let you get ‘fancy’ clothing. His words, not mine.”

I guess I couldn’t say I hated shopping, since I’d never done it extensively, but the sound of going to thousands of stores to try on stuff didn’t seem fun to me.

“Come on, Jenna, doesn’t shopping for hours sound like a blast?” Garrett asked in a high-pitched voice again as he looked at me in the review mirror.

“Very fun,” I replied sarcastically.

“It’s going to be fun, don’t worry,” Lennon said.Yeah, right.We pulled up to the entrance of the mall, and Lennon got out.

“Do you want to tag along, or do you want me to call you when we are finished?” I offered to Garrett.

“Shopping with two girls…I’ll come and pick you guys up later. I have to keep my masculinity intact, but have fun,” he said, shaking his head.

“I’ll try. Call you later.” With that, I got out of the car and shut the door before following Lennon inside the huge mall.

For the next couple of hours, we went to a ton of different stores, trying on practically everything they had. I stopped counting how many times I had been inside a dressing room.

I was carrying about six bags that were full of clothes, and Lennon said we still had a few more stores to go to. So far shopping hadn’t been too bad, actually. Lennon was fun to hang out with, and there were a few times where I was almost on the floor laughing from her stories.

I learned about a little bit of her childhood with Liam and another guy named Blake. Apparently they all met when they were in seventh grade. Lennon had moved here from New Hampshire in the middle of the school year. Liam and Blake were already best friends, since their parents were friends, so when Lennon was getting picked on by some kids, they came to her rescue and they had been friends ever since, along with Liam’s sister, Julie.

When I asked about Blake, I watched as her eyes glazed over when she described him. He was apparently tall, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He was also muscular and apparently went to the gym on a regular basis.Blake worked at his father’s construction company. They built everything from hotels to apartment buildings, even most of Liam's hotels.As Lennon described him, I knew she had a crush on her best friend. I hadn’t met the guy, but I already knew I would like him.

I also learned that Lennon was a professional stylist/makeup artist. She had done everything from makeup for actors and actresses to Victoria’s Secret models. Right now she had a small vacation, so she’d agreed to be my stylist for a while. As we walked into “one last store,” which were Lennon’s words even though she’d said that the last three stores, she turned to me.

“I don’t want to intrude on your personal life or anything, but what made you take that deal of Liam’s? I still can’t believe he’s stooped so low to take over his father’s business,” she asked, leafing through the rack of clothes.

“Well, I…I have some money issues, and I know it wasn’t that best decision I have ever made, but the deal sounded good at the time. I never really thought of what I would have to do or what would be expected of me. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time, agreeing to be his wife,” I admitted. “It has only been five or six days, and I already regret it.”

“What do your parents think of all this? Do they even know you’re going to be marrying a stranger?”

I thought of my mother and sighed inwardly. I didn’t know what she would say if she were here. I bet she wouldn’t be proud of what I was doing, but I didn’t really have a choice. I had no money, I’d been working two low-end jobs, and I’d been living in a shitty apartment in the shitty part of town.

“They aren’t here anymore,” I said, not wanting to get into it. I knew the moment I told her that my mom left me, she would pity me, and I hated when people did that. “I don’t really like talking about it.”

“Oh, I am so sorry,” she immediately apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. Most don’t know.”

“Does Liam?” I thought about it and shook my head. I didn’t think he did, honestly. He probably still thought I was some rich spoiled girl that needed money since her dad wouldn’t give her any.

“So does anyone else know about Liam and my deal?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Um, well, there’s me, Liam, Blake doesn’t know…yet. I don’t think anybody else,” she said.

“I told Garrett and my one friend at my old job, but that’s it.”

“You know no one else can know, right? If Liam’s parents find out, then Liam is going to be super pissed. I know I don’t know much about this deal between you guys, and I only just met you, but I don’t want you getting hurt. This deal is bound to hurt someone, and that may be you. I know Liam is my best friend, but when it comes to women, he is not the greatest.” She looked at me sadly.

I already knew I couldn’t tell anyone about Liam and me and that we would have to come up with a story about how we met. And I figured Liam was a womanizer when he’d brought that random girl home. The more I thought about this, the more I realized I was a fucking idiot. Nothing good was going to come out of this whole ordeal.

“Jenna, don’t worry. I mean, things could turn out different than what we think. Plus, I will be here to help you along the way, with Liam and everything else.” She sent me a smile, and I smiled back at her. Well, at least I would have someone.

Two stores later, Lennon said we were done, and I almost kissed her right then and there. I called Garrett to pick us up and followed her outside, my arms heavy with bags. It was three in the afternoon, and we’d started at nine that morning. I was more than ready to be done. I had gotten seven dresses, all fancy ones for events, and matching high heels for all of them. Lennon wouldn’t let me get anything lower than four inches. I got a lot of new tops and even some new jeans that Lennon said “were in style.” Most of the stuff I was carrying was picked by her. I only got a few things I really wanted, like the jeans since they fit me perfectly. Lennon even made me buy a shitload of makeup so she wouldn’t have to use her own on me.

As we piled everything into the trunk of the car, I only felt slightly bad for how much we had spent on everything. When I saw the price tag of the first dress, I almost fainted and told Lennon there was no way I was going to get it. All she did was pull out a black card and wave off my protests, saying Liam had given her permission to buy whatever I needed at no expense. Spending some of Liam’s money didn’t make me feel so bad. This was his whole idea anyways.

“Have fun shopping, you two?” Garrett asked as he drove away from the mall.

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