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Nancy stared at the dress, then at Ari, who looked pleased with herself.

She inhaled slowly. ‘I hate this.’

Ari shrugged and smiled. ‘I know.’

‘OK, that’s it.’

‘What’s it?’

‘I’m picking my own dress.’

Ari’s eyes flashed panic. ‘Oh, well…’

‘You said it won’t look good if I don’t like it, yes?’

‘Yes, but…’

‘Then you don’t get a say. Just let me choose.’

Ari moaned and rolled her eyes. ‘Tell you what. You’re going to need a few outfits. I’ll pick… I’llhelpyou pick what you want to wear to the wedding, and you can pick for the other days.’

‘No. As I told you, I’m not Chauffer Barbie. I will pick all my clothes, and you will pretend I look exactly like youwantme to look.’

Ari turned over the offer. ‘You drive a hard bargain.’

‘I drive a Mercedes,’ Nancy shot back. ‘That’s exactly why I’m putting down some boundaries on this. We’re way out of the bounds of my job here.’

‘Are you ever reallyinthem?’ Ari said playfully.

But Nancy was in no mood to play. ‘I have to have a line, Ari,’ she said curtly.

Ari’s eyes dropped. ‘I do know that,’ she said.

‘Then, please, for the sake of this working, respect the line. Go and sit in the car, and I’ll purchase outfits for both days and put them on your mother’s credit card. And when we are done, I’ll come here and return them. OK?’

‘Why would you return them?’ Ari asked, baffled.

‘Because I won’t need them after this. And I don’t like waste.’

Ari looked so thoroughly foxed at that comment that Nancy was sure she was going to argue. But then she shrugged. ‘Whatever you say,’ she said in a tone of obligingness that Nancy had never heard come out of her mouth before. ‘Don’t forget shoes,’ she said, and off she went.

With one last glance at the door Ari had disappeared through, Nancy strode toward the nearest rack, already calculating how to get through this with her dignity—and her sanity—intact.

Eleven

Ari was eager as they pulled up to the hotel. The last hotel had been perfectly nice, charming even, but this place? It was on another level entirely. She’d booked the extra night herself, choosing somewhere absurdly expensive—everything polished, gleaming, and dripping with opulence, the best Edinburgh had to offer. The kind of place that made the previous hotel look like a budget chain in comparison.

Ari wasn’t just after getting what she wanted. She wanted Nancy to feel the difference too, to see that she was putting in effort, that this wasn’t just about Ari’s desires but about smoothing over the tension. She wasn’t going to sour their working relationship over a weekend, not if she could help it. And if a bit of indulgence could get Nancy on board, so much the better.

The valet opened the door as they pulled up, and Ari swung out of the car, taking her time with the whole thing. As Nancy followed behind her, Ari could almost feel the scepticism radiating off her. She couldn’t blame her.

‘I’ve put you in the best suite they have,’ Ari said.

‘You’re going overboard with this,’ Nancy said, sounding like she didn’t quite know how to take it. ‘I don’t need to be in a grand a night room.’

‘Just think of it as… an investment in your mood,’ Ari replied, smiling brightly as they walked up to the front desk. ‘You need to be well-rested for tomorrow, right?’

Nancy just shot her a look. ‘I’m already doing this. You don’t need to sweeten the deal.’