Page 54 of Parker

And there was certainly no entourage of people waiting on standby to do her makeup and hair. Or a team of fashionistas waiting in the wings to change her entire look.

That’s it. Parker knows I don’t fit in here, so he designed this entire day to change that. To change me.

But Quinn didn’t want to change who she was. Not for Parker. Not for anyone.

I can’t do this.

She dropped the half-eaten strawberry onto the square ceramic plate. Square with a sleek, curved design, eventhatwas too sophisticated for someone like her.

“I can’t do this.” She shook her head, uttering the words aloud that time.

“No worries.” One of the attentive ladies appeared. “If you’re not hungry, we can begin trying on clothes.” With a snap of her fingers, the nearest rack was immediately pushed across the room to where they stood.

“No, I meant—”

“Don’t worry, Miss Quinn.” The other woman cut her off. “All you have to do is try these on and say yay or nay. If you like it, it’s yours. If not, we’ll return it to the boutique once we leave.”

She removed the first garment off the rack. Slipping the gorgeous red pant suit off the hanger, she held it out for her with a smile. “You can just change here. Trust me, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.” When Quinn’s eyes slid to the four men in the room, the other woman added, “Oh, don’t worry about them. You’re not exactly their type.”

Gay. Right. Got it.

“I don’t want to try anything on.” Her breaths became shallow as full-blown anxiety fought to take over.

“Here.” The pushy woman shoved the red garment into Quinn’s hands. “I think this will look wonderful on you.”

Damn it, she’s not listening!

“I just said I don’t want to—”

“Trust me. With those eyes and that hair, red is definitely going to be your—”

“Stop!”The entire room stopped and stared as Quinn’s shouted voice echoed throughout the open space.

Taking a breath, she did her best to calm her racing heart and ease the discomfort building inside her. When she felt like she could speak without screaming, she tried getting her point across without sounding like a crazed woman.

“Please, just…” She raised her palms in front of her. “Stop.”

The woman before her blinked but quickly composed herself and smiled. “If the selection we have here isn’t to your liking, we have plenty more where this came from.”

“It’s not the clothes.” Quinn handed the pantsuit back to the confused woman. “I mean, it is, but that’s not the only—”

“Is there a problem?”

The deep, interrupting voice had all eyes turning to her right. Face twisted with concern, Parker assessed the room as he came to a stop beside her.

“Yes.” Quinn met his gaze. “This. This is the problem.”

The skin between his brows bunched together with a quick glance around. “Which part?”

“Allof it!” Her arms flew out to her sides, hands slapping loudly against her leggings-covered thighs as they fell.

Expression fixed, the man in charge kept his eyes on hers as he told the others, “Give us the room.” When the others began hastily packing up their things, he added a steely, “Leave it. I’ll arrange for it all to be delivered to you later today.” Parker looked away, but only long enough to offer the others a parting, “Thank you.”

Those intense eyes slid right back to hers.

Without another word, the small group vanished as quickly as they’d appeared. And suddenly, Quinn was very,veryaware that she and Parker were alone.

“What’s wrong, Quinn?” His gaze searched hers for an answer. “Did something happen?” The lines on his forehead vanished. “Was someone inappropriate with you? If that’s it, tell me who, and I’ll handle it.”

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