Page 7 of A Marriage of Anything But Convenience

This was why Derek had fallen in love with Nara. She was quirky. An outside the box thinker. He’d never wondered where Splenda came from. He shook his head at her. “Your brain never shuts off.”

“My brain gets me into trouble,” she muttered. Then she brightened. “Hey, how’s Brielle?”

The mention of his younger sister sent a shiver of pride through him. Brielle was ten years younger, and he’d been her guardian ever since his parents’ car accident when he was seventeen. His parents had both died instantly. He fought hard for emancipation, and then for guardianship. It had been hard, raising her at such a young age himself, but he was so proud of all she’d accomplished. “She’s fine. In her first year of college, if you can believe it.”

Nara gasped. “No, way. Little Brielle? She can’t be that old.”

“I know. Seems like yesterday she was tagging along after us, wanting to do whatever we were doing.”

“She hated to be left out.” Nara smiled at some unknown memory. “What’s she studying?”

“English. She wants to be a writer.”

“Doesn’t surprise me. She’s been crafting stories ever since she was tiny.” Nara suddenly stood up. “You done?”

He looked down at the mess on his plate. He wasn’t going to eat it. “Yeah.”

“Okay, time to get some vacation clothes. You can’t go around looking like you’re closing a business deal.” She tugged his arm and he stood.

“Where should we go?”

“I don’t know. Let’s ask Kay. She’s bound to know the good spots.”

Twenty minutes later he found himself in the middle of a shopping center. Nara dragged him into a shop that looked like it had eaten Magnum P.I.’s wardrobe. Loud was a mild word for every shirt hanging on the wall. Derek thought he might get dizzy just looking at the bold colors and wild patterns.

“Here, try this on.” Nara grabbed a shirt off a rack and handed it to him.

He looked down at the floral vomit and tried to think of a nice way to say he was never, in this lifetime, going to wear a shirt like that. He finally settled on, “This really isn’t my style.”

Nara grinned. “I know. It’s a va-ca-tion.” She sounded out each syllable. “We get to wear funky clothes and play on the beach. Try it on.” She shoved him toward the dressing rooms.

Derek didn’t have the heart to argue with her. She seemed excited to be shopping for him. Maybe the shirt wouldn’t fit, and he’d have a good excuse not to buy it. He took the garment from her and locked himself in the stall.

“Come out after you try it on. I want to see it,” Nara called.

He loosened his tie and then unbuttoned his dress shirt. If this wasn’t humiliating, he didn’t know what was. He slipped into the offensive piece of clothing. Oh, heavens. It fit just fine. And now he had to go out into the store looking like an idiot. He steeled himself and exited the dressing room.

Nara’s hands flew to her mouth when she saw him. “Oh. My. Word. Is that really you, Emperor Derek?”

Her words stung. He knew she called him that because she didn’t like him. He stiffened and tried not to let it bother him. “Is it too much?”

“Nope. It’s just right. In fact, it’s more than just right. We should buy several in different patterns.” She shoved a pair of shorts into his hands. “Now, try this on with it.”

At least the shorts were khaki and looked somewhat normal. He wasn’t used to wearing anything but dress pants, though, so when he walked out of the dressing room with them on, he felt odd. And his extremely white legs were embarrassing.

“Yes. They look great on you. Do they fit?”

Unfortunately, they fit just fine. “You have a knack for selecting the right size of clothing.”

The smile that lit up Nara’s face was bright. “Maybe it comes from working in the fashion industry.”

“I’m sure of it.”

That statement seemed to please her. She pulled several other shirts from racks as well as some more shorts for him. He tried them all on while she kept pulling more. After he was done, he joined her at the checkout counter. He stared at her piles of clothes. “You look like you’re getting ready for an apocalypse of the islands or something.”

Nara grinned. “We need some vacation clothes. I barely brought anything. These aren’t all yours, you know.”

“Okay, good, because I got a little worried when I saw this.” He pulled on a piece of hot pink fabric in the pile, and out shot a bikini top. His face heated as he stared at the two pink cups dangling from the strap he held.

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