Page 17 of Your Coffin or Mine
A wave of humiliation washes through me. Vlad, who has been silent this entire time, looks at me with his jaw tight, hands balled into fists, and I freeze.
“Aubrey. Go change.” He turns to Clarissa, dismissing me. “We will take the dress. I’m assuming you can gauge her size by now?”
Clarissa nods.
He snaps his fingers at me, glaring. “Did I not tell you to go change?”
My stomach flips at his tone and I grit my teeth. All I want is to grab some clothes and find somewhere with Wi-Fi. I do not have dealing with a hot bully or a cuntasaurus on my to-do list for today.
Before I can tell him how I really feel, his eyes soften. “It looks stunning on you.”
Don’t fall for it. He just snapped his fingers at you like a dog.“Compliments don’t give you a free pass to be a dick.”
His brows arch and his eyes bore into mine like he’s trying to see into my soul. “Get everything in her size she needs for a week’s stay.”
Clarissa, the lucky bitch, flees the scene while I stand there sputtering over how controlling he’s being. “You are not buying me clothes. I can buy my own things. I don’t need you to?—”
“Silence. You’re my guest, and I won’t have you gallivanting around in men’s sweatpants. Since you obviously have issues with dressing yourself, I will do it for you. Starting with this.”
He gestures at the dress and pointedly looks down at the girls trying to make their great escape.
“You cannot be serious. Holy déjà vu. I’m pretty sure the last time we were in this situation, you told me to put my nipples away.”
At the word nipples, his mouth curls into a smirk. “I think I could become accustomed to those.”
“To nipples?”
He nods and his eyes heat, traveling to my hips. “Among other things. Now get dressed. Or do you need me to assist you with that as well?”
“As if.”
I glance around at the women obviously eavesdropping but trying really hard to look busy.You aren’t fooling anyone, ladies.
I gasp at the contact of his hand wrapping around my arm, and it sends shivers down my spine.
Holy mixed signals.
His words hold me in place. “I do find it interesting how you would choosethisdress.”
His fingers brush through the air in front of my exposed cleavage, the movement so light it is a mere whisper of sensation.Oh my god.One minute I’m about to melt into a puddle like that witch from Oz, and the next I blink and he’s across the room.What the shit?!
I start to call out something completely inappropriate, like come back and kiss me, or list the ways he’s an asshole, but decide against it.
Heisan asshole, and after my ex, I’m done with those. Huffing to myself, I shut the dressing room door behind me and wiggle out of Jessica Rabbit’s body glove.
Five minutes later, I’m back in Doyle’s sweats and my bunny slippers, and feeling slightly better. Wanting to get back to my room and away from Vlad, I hastily pick up my pace to zoom past the racks of dresses.
“I’ll be sure to handle this slight immediately, and I apologize for any issues mystaffmay have caused you today,” a man’s angry voice says from the speakerphone on the counter at the front of the store.
“See that you do, Frank,” Vlad replies coldly, leaning his elbow on the counter while speaking down into the phone.
He watches me walk over, and the closer I get, the faster my heartbeat thuds in my chest.
God, it is fucking criminal how good-looking he is.His brow arches and my stomach clenches in response. What a dick.
My eyes widen as the shop girls bring forward bags of clothes, one right after the other, while passing sly glances. It’s obvious they’re wondering what the hell I am doing with him. Honestly, I wish I knew myself at this point because there is no way he is buying me all of this.
“How many of these are yours?” I ask, rubbing my hands on my pants nervously.
