Page 48 of Three's a Crowd
Outside, he walked straight to a car that was waiting for them by the doors and motioned for her to get in.
As she clambered inside, she could hear people start to shout Zach’s name and he hurriedly shut the door on them and directed the driver to move away quickly. The windows were tinted so they could see out, but no-one could see in, and Daisy was unnerved to see a crowd of people trying to peer into the car, feeling grateful for the privacy the blacked-out windows afforded.
‘How are you feeling today?’ Zach asked. ‘Not too tired from our adventure last night, I hope?’
‘I’m fine, thanks,’ she replied. ‘I slept like a log. I’ve only just woken up as a matter of fact.’
‘Lucky you,’ he said, with a raised eyebrow. ‘I’ve been up since six, giving interviews.’ He yawned after he said this and she noticed now that he had dark circles around his eyes.
‘I had no idea you had to get up that early this morning. We shouldn’t have stayed out so late.’
Guilt trickled through her. He was here working after all. In her excitement last night, she’d forgotten that.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said, brushing her apology away. ‘I’m used to it. It was a great night. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’ He looked over and smiled his devastating smile at her. Daisy felt her insides melt. She suddenly longed to be able to pull him to her and hug him, but she knew that would be a terrible idea. He’d been very careful not to be too tactile with hersince they’d met again this time and she didn’t want to risk their newly re-founded friendship by letting her heart rule her head.
And she had Adam’s feelings to consider.
‘So, I’ve arranged for one of the designer shops to close for an hour for us,’ Zach said, breaking into her thoughts. ‘I asked my PA to find somewhere that might suit your style. Elegant, but not overly fussy and a little bit quirky.’
‘Great,’ she replied, taken aback by his perceptiveness. ‘Sounds wonderful.’
Zach nodded in appreciation of her pleasure.
They soon pulled up outside one of the designer stores on the main shopping street and the driver walked round to speak to Zach before going into the shop to announce their arrival.
After a minute, the manager of the store came out and introduced herself, shaking first Zach’s hand, then hers, warmly and inviting them both into the shop.
All the customers had been ushered out and Daisy experienced a moment of embarrassment at causing them trouble, before shrugging the feeling off. It was about time she let go of her neuroses. She’d worked damned hard recently, without a proper break, and deserved some fun.
The shop was one of those ones that seemed to have hardly any clothes on the rails.
Daisy walked tentatively over to the nearest rack and started looking through them, feeling like an interloper. This was so different to shopping in the high street chain stores she was used to. The materials the clothes were made from were obviously top quality and she delighted in the feel of them against her fingers.Examining a silky, halter-neck dress, she looked at the price tag and nearly swallowed her tongue.
Good grief.
This was another world she’d walked into.
Feeling a bit nervous now, she turned to locate Zach, who was watching her with an intent look in his eye. The intensity of it made her involuntarily shiver as all the nerves under her skin tingled.
She smiled at him then quickly looked away.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him walk over to a seated area near the changing cubicles and sit down, taking out his phone.
She continued to sift through the clothes. There were some beautiful things here. Zach had been spot-on; they were elegant but slightly unusual in design, exactly right for her. The rich colours delighted her and she began to take pieces off the rails to try on. She found a pair of black trousers made from a very soft, heavy material and added them to the pile that was growing in her arms.
One of the shop assistants came over then and gently took the clothes away from her and went to hang them in the changing room, ready for her to try them on. This left her free to grab more things that she liked the look of. There was no way she was going to be able to afford them all, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy trying them all on.
There was a delicate pink cashmere jumper with a turtle neck that felt to her like the softest thing she’d ever touched, its subtle colour drawing her to it like a magnet, and she added it to her choices, not daring to check the price tags any more.
When she’d collected a good number of things to try on, she retired to the changing room. Zach was now speaking quietly into his phone and gave her an acknowledging nod as she passed him.
She pulled the curtain across and started to undress, choosing the soft, black trousers and pink jumper to try on first. Once dressed, she admired herself in the mirror. The colour of the jumper looked great against her skin and she luxuriated in the feel of the delicate wool. The trousers fitted her well around the waist and hips too and fell in a gentle line to her knees where they then flared out, lengthening the look of her legs and showing off her curves. She pulled back the curtain to show Zach, who was waiting on the other side.
The look on his face told her that he approved.
‘You look great,’ he said, nodding at her.
She smiled back appreciatively, then turned and went back into the cubicle to try on the next outfit. The next couple of things she tried on really suited her too, fitting her beautifully.This is what you’re paying for, she thought to herself, finally checking the price tags and groaning in shock at the amounts they were asking.
