Page 24 of Bitter Desire
“Like what? We’re out in the middle of nowhere and-”
He’d reached for me then, hands sliding under the covers and over my body. “Plenty to do inside.”
“But-” I’d made to argue, might have even made a good argument, but Law’s hand between my legs silenced me, and I’d been treated to just what Law thought was a more suitable indoor activity.
I still wanted to go on the hike though, just maybe not today.
“Where are we going?” I asked, drinking the coffee he was giving a longing look to.
“A show.”
I raised an eyebrow and sidestepped his hand when he reached for the coffee. “What do you mean a show? What kind?”
He shrugged and walked forward, looking at the dresses hanging in the closet. “Dunno. Addie booked it, but she said you’d love it.”
“What show is there in the Catskills...is it nearby? It has to be fancy if these are the dresses she bought me. How do I know which one to wear?”
Law looked away from the dresses and to me. “Princess, you wear whatever dress you like the most. It doesn’t matter.”
“But what if it’s not nice enough.”
He chuckled and glanced back at the collection of dresses. Each one was lovely, the cut, color and material of them screamed money. I could tell that even from where I was standing and I’d only glanced at them. “These are plenty nice enough, trust me,” he said, but then looked back at me with a reassuring smile, “and even if they aren’t, no one is going to tell you shit with me there. You do what you want when you’re with me.”
It was true. Law never shied away from sending a glare someone’s direction when they even came close to disapproving where I was concerned, though that mostly came down to what I was wearing. I hadn’t let him fill my closet with clothing like he’d offered or accepted the black card he’d tried to slip into my coat. I knew he wasn’t offering to buy me clothing because he wanted to buy me. This wasn’t about him not liking what I wore. He never failed to make me feel beautiful, but it was about Law wanting to know I had what I wanted to wear.
“So long as you want to wear it. Then you wear it. End of Story.”
Law wasn’t like the men I’d watched buy my mother off with gifts. Presents meant to distract her from the empty words and hollow promises she swore would change her life. It was far easier for a man to buy a woman a dress than it was to give her forever. I’d learned that from her.
So far Law was giving me both.
That still didn’t mean I was comfortable accepting his money, but the dresses were gorgeous. I bit my lip and came forward, reaching out to touch the red dress at the center. It was long, strapless with a sweetheart neckline that was simple but under the flawless execution of the dressmaker, ethereal. The deep red material had a faint sheen to it in the light, the skirts would no doubt become nothing short of magical when worn.
“You like this one the most?” Law asked, and his voice was soft. There was a hint of searching in it and I looked at him, surprised to hear it. Law was a lot of things with me, but never unsure. He sounded that way now and I saw he was watching me closely as I considered the dress selection. This man commanded a multi-billion dollar corporation, he had hundreds if not thousands of people in his employ, wherever he went people noticed, wanted, and welcomed his presence.
And he truly wanted to know what I thought about this dress. This one dress.
“I love this dress. It’s perfect,” I told him, leaning in to kiss him. “Thank you for getting this dress for me.” I kissed him again.
He smiled; I could feel the upturn of his lips against my mouth. God. I was falling head over heels for this man. “Does that mean I can get my coffee back?” he asked when I pulled away.
I laughed and shook my head, darting from the closet with the coffee cup held out in front of me. “No, this is mine. Fair and square.”
He laughed, the sound of it doing what it always did to me. Put me right back in the spot where I’d been weeks ago and he’d laughed for the first time. I was in awe of him every time I heard his laugh. I knew I was the only one he gave it to, and that made me love it more.
Chapter Ten
LAW
“This isn’t really a show, so much as a ball,” Honey whispered, coming to stand close to my elbow.
“A what?” I asked, glancing around the place that looked way too uptight to be any fun, but Honey was excited to be here, so that meant I was happy. From what I could see there was a dance here, an orchestra warming up in the next room, it sounded classical. Fancy shit that you heard at the MOMA or some gala at the MET.
“A ball!” She smacked my arm. “You know, like in one of those BBC period dramas. Everyone is so dressed up, do you think my dress is okay?”
“The what?” I asked again because no, I didn’t fucking know what a period drama was, or what the hell the BBC had to do with it. I watched that for the news and caught a quick stock update when I was up at the worst times. The red ticker at the bottom of the news channel was always handy, and the news they went on about was all right. But what was she talking about now?
“Pride and Prejudice, Law. Comeonnnnn. It looks exactly like that, don’t you think?”
