Page 79 of Moon Tamed

“I wear an eleven.”

“You can make sure all that fits while I hunt for your new shoes.” I bounded off, determined to get him into a pair of sneakers, a pair of hiking boots, and a pair of comfortable sports sandals. After twenty minutes, I settled on three styles I liked and thought would look good on him, grabbed several packs of good socks, and headed back for the dressing rooms to make certain they fit. Once he emerged, carrying everything I’d picked out, I foisted the shoe boxes on him. “Make sure they fit and are comfortable. It’s no good if they hurt your feet.”

He chuckled, but he found a nearby bench and began the tedious process of testing the shoes. To my relief, he gave his approval for all the pairs.

“Now it’s your turn, Miss Patten.”

“I’m ready to be dressed up.”

True to his word, he demonstrated he had been browsing on the store’s website during office hours, as he beelined directly for the section he wanted to shop in, pointing at a rather strappy halter top that did cover everything while making it clear he wanted a view of some skin. Chuckling, I grabbed the shirt, which came in black, white, and red. After a moment of thought, I picked up one of each. “I will buy the other two for myself because this is cute and I like it.”

“I can’t say I was expecting that reaction, but I’m more than pleased to buy the other colors for you if you like the shirt and it fits.” He went to his next target, which was a long-sleeved blouse with an amusingly deep v-cut neck. “I’m not really sure how this is supposed to work to keep you warm, but your arms should be fine.” He lifted up the sleeve, which had a furry cuff attached. “I’ll admit, this amused me way too much earlier.”

“You’ve never shopped for women’s clothes before, have you?”

“I have zero idea what I’m doing,” he admitted. “The model looked cute in it, though.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic. I pointed at another shirt nearby, which would offer another layer without fully ruining the look of his plunging sweater choice. “I could wear one of those underneath this if it gets actually cold.”

“Which size?”

“The medium ones should work.”

To my amusement, he grabbed one of every color. “Your shoe size?”

“Seven and a half in sneakers, usually a seven in heels, seven and a half for most sandals, even if they have heels. Women’s shoes make zero sense.”

“I will do my best to get them the first try.” Calden pointed at a rack of black pants. “One pair of those.” He shifted his hand to gesture at a rack of jeans. “Two pairs of those.”

I did his bidding, selecting the appropriate sizes. “And for the underwear?”

“I may have abused house-sharing rights to steal the numbers off your clothes the other day. That is the only part of women’s apparel I understand.”

I cracked up laughing. “Okay. Surprise me on that part, then. I won’t peek until it’s time to change into them. If you got the numbers, they’ll fit. It’s pretty rare I don’t match those sizes, at least. Sometimes, it doesn’t look as nice as I hope, though.”

“Then you shall be surprised this weekend. I’ll bring the shoes to you in a moment. I already picked them out.”

I chuckled at his level of preparedness, wondering what had finally made the man snap enough he spent most of his day shopping for clothing rather than working. On second thought, I realized I knew the answer: his father.

I would need to keep Mr. Stephans occupied after the hunt to minimize Calden’s general level of frustration. I could think of a few ways to give the son some space from the father without the father feeling neglected or unloved.

Calden hurried off, and I waited for him, laughing and shaking my head over his antics. He had either called the store to get directions for where to find the shoes or had asked them to hold everything aside, as it took him less than ten minutes to return with his haul, which he handed over for me to try on.

I retreated to the changing room, giggling over his choice of strappy halter top, which did barely cover everything, while giving him quite the show of my stomach. The pants fit like a glove, which would make moving around a little challenging until I broke them in.

I suspected all the outfits would become my favorites by the time I returned to work, where I would be hunted by the faction whenever they weren’t taking out my brother.

I hoped Peter survived.

Once I confirmed everything fit, including the shoes, I changed back into my clothes, pleased I wouldn’t have to go hunt down anything of other sizes. Calden waited with a store basket loaded with items, including several stuffed animals. “They didn’t have rabbits or wolves, so we’re going to have to settle with tigers.”

I laughed. “We’ll probably survive, but it’ll be sketchy.”

“I’ll pay for everything, and you can check out the receipt later for splitting the bill.”

Sneaky man. “Is the receipt going to end up having an accident?”

“Very probably,” he replied with a grin.

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