Page 29 of Omega
“All I’m saying is, can you try on something that’s past the knee and that you can actually walk in?”
She let out a groaning sigh. “Fine.You pick something, then.”
I went over to the rack and flipped through it until I found something. I checked the size, and then handed it to her. “Try this one.”
Layla held it up and examined it suspiciously. “Okay, but I’ll hate it.”
It was totally unlike Layla’s usual style. Floor-length, bright yellow, cut straight across the chest, tucked in at the waist and flowing loose from the hips. Tasteful, but still sexy, especially if the skirt was as sheer as it looked. Layla ducked into the changing room, tossed the dress she’d chosen over the top of the door and tugged my choice down over her head. I heard her suck in her breath when she first saw it on herself.
“I hate you,” she mumbled, pushing the door open.
“Oh…my…god.Layla, you look—”
“Classy, for once?”
I shook my head. “Beautiful. Bitch, you’re gonna steal the spotlight.”
She really did look incredible. The skirt was nearly sheer from the waistline down, giving tantalizing glimpses of her long legs, hugging tight to her waist and bust. It wasn’t a low-cut bodice by any means, but with Layla’s build, she didn’t need it to be cut low to have banging cleavage. The bright yellow of the fabric highlighted the caramel shade of her skin, making her look that much more exotic.
I reached up and freed her hair from the elastic of the ponytail holder, feathered my fingers through the curls, spreading her hair out around her bare shoulders. “There. A couple flowers in your hair, and it’ll be perfect.”
“I hate it,” she declared, but her voice said she was lying.
“I’m so nice for buying you a bridesmaid-of-honor dress that you can and will wear again,” I said.
“Bridesmaid-of-honor?” Layla asked with a laugh.
“Yeah, you’re pulling double duty.”
“Do you think—” Layla started, but then cut herself off with a shake of her head.
“What? Do I think what?”
She shook her head again. “Nothing. I’m just being an idiot.” It was too hard to tell with her dark skin, but I was pretty sure she was blushing. I’d have bet money her cheeks would be red as apples if she had my fair skin.
“Layla, say it before I smack it out of you.”
Layla tossed her head again, swiveling to get a look at herself from the back. “Hooker, you hit me and you’ll be getting married in traction.”
“Layla.”
She rolled her eyes and turned back to face the mirror, adjusting her breasts and then fluffing her curls so they sat on her shoulders just so. “You really are a bitch, you know that? All I was going to ask was if you thought…” She trailed off, and then mumbled the rest under her breath in a rush—“…IfyouthoughtHarriswouldlikeit.”
“HA!” I laugh-shouted. “I KNEW IT!”
“Don’t make me regret saying anything, Kyrie. I swear to god I’ll never talk to you again if you make fun of me.”
“You used my actual name, which means you must be really serious.”
“Serious as taxes, babe.”
I stepped up behind her, hugged her hard. “Layla, I’d never make fun of you. Not for real. You look absolutely gorgeous, honey, and I think Harris is going to have trouble breathing when he gets a look at you. I want you to be happy. I don’t know if Harris is the man for that particular job, but as far as I’m concerned, you have my blessing to give it a shot. He’s an amazing man, he’s just…hard as diamonds, cold as ice, and a complete mystery.”
“When you say he’s cold as ice, what does that mean, exactly?”
I’d never really told her much about my desperate mission to rescue Roth from Gina’s clutches. Harris had been the one to get it done. I’d seen a side of Roth’s bodyguard, pilot, driver, personal assistant—and, I suspected, best and only friend—that I suspect few ever saw in action. Being an ex-Army Ranger, he was lethal, cunning, capable, without doubt and without mercy. I’d watched him calmly walk up to a man who’d been chasing me, trying to kill me, and I’d watched Harris put two bullets in the man’s skull from point-blank range. Harris had wiped the blood from his face without expression, and had driven us away.
I’d watched him kill again and again in the process of getting Roth back, and every time he’d done so coolly, confidently, and quickly, without any sign of remorse. Of course, every man he’d killed had been a ruthless criminal who had probably done more than his fair share of evil, knowing the kind of people Vitaly employed, but still. Watching someone gun people down without even flinching…it makes you wonder what goes on in his head, and then you think maybe you don’t really want to know.