Page 63 of Hunted Temptation
Lucille laughs as though she knows exactly where I’ve been. “Lunch, then dress shopping. Let’s go.”
And go we do.
Lunch and then shopping, which proves to be much more stressful than I imagined it would be, especially since this isn’t a big wedding, or really much of one at all. I try on a dozen dresses, but none of them are my style… or rather, Vaughn’s style, because I don’t even have a style.
Any clothes I’ve ever had, someone else has picked out for me… mostly my father, but Vaughn had a few outfits delivered to the condo. All of which have always felt like I was playing dress-up, even as beautiful as they are. I don’t know what my style is, and this venture makes it even more apparent.
“Maybe I am just too young,” I murmur as I stand in the slinky nightgown-looking white dress. It’s ridiculous on me.
Lucille snorts. “You’re not,” she states. “You just need something… cuter.”
“Cuter?” I ask.
I try to tamp down the shiver of disgust. Thoughts of my father, of the little girl outfits he would make me wear for men, come rushing back to my mind. As much as I try to push them down, they’re there, playing on a loop.
“Cuter,” Lucille confirms. “Nothing cutesy, but nothing overly sexy, either.”
I don’t respond to her words. I don’t know what to even think, let alone say. I try as hard as I can to shake the thoughts away. I wish I could just forget my past. That I could make it all go away. But I can’t, and I hate that it comes up at the most inconvenient times.
Like right now, when I’m supposed to be buying a dress for the most important day of my life.
“Elodie,” Colette’s voice calls out.
I’m shaken from my thoughts. Colette stays fairly quiet, so hearing her soft voice rattles me. Turning to her, I arch a brow, waiting for her to finish whatever it is she’s going to say. She has my full and undivided attention.
“You’re beautiful. You don’t have to wear a white dress. Is there another color you want to wear?”
God. This woman. She is so damn sweet. “I like yellow,” I say, feeling stupid, really damn stupid.
Colette smiles. Without another word, she and the rest of the girls stand and quietly disappear, leaving me alone and standing in the slinky, super-sexy gown. A few moments later, Colette, Lucille, and Nadine walk into the room carrying two yellow dresses each.
The moment I slip one on my body, I let out a sigh of relief. It’s as if just the color, or maybe the fabric, has a calming effecton me. I don’t even need to look in the mirror to know that this is the one.
When I do shift around to look in the mirror, I let out a gasp at the sight of my reflection. It’s a strapless corset-style top with an A-line skirt that skims the floor. It’s stunning and buttercream yellow.
This is it.
I don’t even have to show them. I know this is the dress. This is what I want to wear to marry the man I’m deeply in love with. This doesn’t make me look sexy, doesn’t make me look like I’m trying too hard.
This makes me feel beautiful.
I walk out into the room where the three women are waiting, step onto the little pedestal, and face the mirrors. These three mirrors solidify the fact that this is my dress. Nobody can tell me shit in this dress. It’s amazing and gorgeous, and I don’t look like I’m playing dress-up in my mom’s clothes.
This is me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
VAUGHN
The house isn’t justa house. It’s basically a mansion. I don’t spend a lot of time in the city, but the fact that a neighborhood with houses of this magnitude exists inside the city of Raleigh just shows how rapidly the city has grown around it.
Just a few years ago, it didn’t seem so congested. Now, it’s a nightmare to even drive within city limits, which is why I prefer Nights over the capital city.
When I pull up to the gated entrance of the home I’m scheduled to visit, I reach out and touch the keypad. There is a little speaker button, so I touch that and wait for someone to respond.
“May I help you?” the person on the other end of the box asks.
“I’m here from Securus to put together a bid for a security system.”
