Page 11 of Taming the Elusive Billionaire

I looked at her. “Then it is probably best that you come to do the choosing yourself because I have no idea what your idea of what the perfect outfit is.”

“Good.” She replied as she stood and clapped excitedly. “Finally, you have let wise counsel lead.” She hurried toward me, held my hand, and returned to the floor, which looked like a closed factory for exotic clothes.

I watched her check through the clothes with a frown, and each time I walked past her and saw the clothes with their price tags, my mouth always went dry.

I followed her around the store, but each time I felt the price tags kept increasing as we passed different sections, it made me nervous. “Girl, aren’t these numbers changing as we walk past each.”

“And?” She muttered without looking at me or surprised by my worry.

“We have passed like a ton of other clothes that I am sure will be the perfect fit.”

“Didn’t love any of them.” She replied abruptly as she stopped close to a yellow sleeveless gown designed with flowers and some traces of pearls across its neck.

I didn’t have to see the tag to know the price would definitely be up the roof, “No way am I going to wear that.”

“Oh, come on, Lucy, this is the perfect one. God, I could imagine us walking into the party with you wearing this. All eyes would be on us.”

“I don’t care. You need to put that down.” I pointed back at its rails where she had taken it from.

“But it’s beautiful.”

“I know it’s beautiful, but it is way too much money, and I definitely cannot afford to that.”

“What? Pay? This is one of my family's clothing lines, and I can assure you some of these clothes are here for years before they are released to the public.”

“More reason I do not want anything to do with it.”

“Lucy, please, for Chrissake, let me do something nice for you, for once.”

“No, Ella, and that’s final,” I said and turned to leave, but Ella was quicker. She stopped before me while waving the clothes at me. “We need to leave.”

“Lucy, stop! Please, let’s just go try it on. If you hate it, then we will leave. Promise. Say yes, yes, yes, yes.” She chanted as she continued to dance and show the dress to me. “Yes, yes, yes, yes.” She chanted, and each time I tried to walk past her, she blocked my view and continued her chant.

“Okay, okay, okay,” I groaned while raising my hand in surrender, “I will try it on, but I am not taking it after the party.”

“Of course, Lucy, of course.” Ella nodded as she reached beside me, grabbed my shoulders, and began to direct me back to the dressing room.

Once I got into the exquisite dress, I barely recognized myself as I looked at my image in the mirror.

“Oh, my God.” Ella cried, “It seems this dress was designed perfectly for you,” she said as she began to walk around me, her mouth agape.

I didn’t blame her. She had every right to think that. The dress clung neatly to my body, brought out my curves, and held my breasts firmly, but enough to draw people’s eyes.

My gaze darted to the tag, and my heartbeat increased. A quarter of a million, almost my life’s income, all in just one dress. I bit my lips so hard I feared I might draw blood. “I really should not be wearing this, Ella. I feel like an imposter.”

“You are everything, Lucy, but imposter is definitely not one of them to me,” She said, holding my hands gently, “You are like the sister I never had, the person who kept me sane in around my family’s madness, and it will be ridiculous of me not to appreciate or show you love for it.” She nodded, looking worried. “I know this is costly, but trust me, it’s not rewarding enough for everything you have done for me.”

I chuckled and wiped the tears gathering in my eyes. “That was something, girl,” I muttered, clearing my throat, “I haven’t seen you speak this way before. I don’t really know what to say. Does ‘thank you’ cut it?” I replied, laughing.

“What would make me happy is for you never to have second thoughts while I try to have my own way of appreciating you for what you are doing for me.”

“Now, now, girl, you know that’s not possible. You do so much that it makes me nervous and worried sometimes.”

“All right, I will back off, but just a little.” She said while making a tiny circle with her hand. “But first, you gotta wear that and make sure you join me to make sure we steal my brother’s event.”

“He will be really, really mad.”

Ella chuckled and hit my arm gently. “Oh, my friend, I live for that.”

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