Page 10

Chapter 10

Mr. Fussy

Cooper

We’d set up a date, after Darcy and I convinced her that this was important. I knew she got it, empirically, but there was something inside that was refusing to listen to reason. My guess? Money. Especially when I heard she got that horror of a dress for the charity dinner from a consignment shop. And didn’t try it on before buying it.

I’d invited Darcy to join us on our expedition. He had good taste, at least enough to know that green dress was impossible, and he might make Callie more comfortable. But he was working the couple of nights I had free this week, and Callie needed something new for our next lesson.

I was tempted to pick her up in the Ferrari this time, just to see the expression on her face, but it had no storage room so I stuck to the Bentley. Another time.

We pulled up behind the main store of my sponsor and I turned off the car. Callie looked at me suspiciously.

“What?”

She looked at the back door. “Why aren’t we going in the front?”

The back door opened and the brand liaison woman I worked with poked her head out. Seeing us, she waved, inviting us in.

“Did you tell them we were coming?”

Duh. “Of course I did.”

“I don’t want a lot of attention.” She looked ready to crawl into herself.

“That’s why I called ahead.”

She stilled and blinked at me. I could see the gears moving in her head as she finally worked it out. Part-time genius, and part-time totally oblivious.

Her chest began to rise and fall, her breathing picking up. “I can do this on my own.”

“Callie, we talked about this. You want to fit in with these people, so you can’t go cheap and you can’t pick the wrong stuff.”

I wasn’t sure if she had no taste at all, or just was so freaked about spending money that she refused to think about what looked good. How could I calm her down?

“Let’s make a deal. We’ll go in there, check out what they have. You promise not to look at price tags, and we’ll see what you choose. If you can pick out something on your own that works, then you won’t need me the next time.”

The way she jerked in her seat told me she hadn’t thought there would be a next time.

“But if you can’t pick out the right things, then you need to listen to what I tell you looks good. I know what will work at the club. There’s no point in learning to play and learning what to do in the dining room if you don’t look the part, because these people will notice.”

She ran her teeth over her lip.

“Do you want this, or not?”

The brand woman had disappeared out of the doorway, obviously picking up that we would be a few minutes. Hopefully not too many.

Finally, a long, capitulating sigh. “Okay. But you have to be honest. No pretending my taste sucks just to prove your point.”

Didn’t think any pretending would be necessary, but I offered her my hand to shake. It was just a handshake. No big deal. But when our hands met, there was a spark. She felt it too, snatching her hand back like I’d shocked her.

I reminded myself that we weren’t going there. Callie would think I’d set this up to seduce her, and I wanted her with me at the wedding. I didn’t do relationships, so even if she was interested, sex would mess things up.

* * *

Callie

This was so over-the-top it was ridiculous. All I wanted was to walk in the store, look at some racks of clothes, reminding myself that I was spending money to make my future secure. Pick some things out that were my size, and if I absolutely had to, try them on for Mr. Fussy.

Of course, that was too simple for said Mr. Fussy.

Cooper introduced me to the woman who’d put this together.

“Valerie, this is Callie. She’s looking for something she can wear at Briarwood. She works for Anderson, Krys and Chan, and we’ve been practicing for their tournament this fall.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Callie. Did you like the things I sent over earlier?”

“Yes, they were lovely.”

“I’m so glad. Well, I’ve pulled a couple of racks of options that might work for you, Some of this isn’t available yet, but for our best sales ambassador we’re more than happy to share items from our new lines.”

Valerie led us through the back storage room to the retail space. In front of the dressing rooms were two racks of clothes, like I’d hired a personal shopper. I didn’t think the store was open, since there were no customers, but there were still a lot of people wearing the store polo shirt, folding clothes or swishing hangers. A lot of people. Like everyone who’d worked for the store, ever, was in there somewhere. All watching Cooper.

Some of them were watching me. I understood the surprised look on their faces. I didn’t get it either.

“Why don’t you see what you like?” Valerie suggested.

I smiled, like this was no big deal. Internally, I sighed. Legal issues were so much easier to figure out.

I wasn’t here to impress Cooper or pick things out that he liked. I was paying for this, so I would choose things that lasted. I knew what I liked. Basics. Neutrals. Classics. Clothes that would stand the test of time, wouldn’t come in and out of fashion, wouldn’t attract attention. Too many people talked to my bustline, so I did my best to minimize it.

I started flicking through the hangers, but what I was looking for wasn’t what was on offer. I wanted black and brown and maybe some navy blue. Instead, there were colors, everywhere. “I don’t see anything in neutrals.”

“Neutrals?” Valerie asked.

“Brown, black, navy…”

Valerie looked from me to Cooper. “Um, our golf line is more…varied in color. Our clients prefer bright shades, or pastels. Because it’s usually summer, sunny and hot.”

Right . If you were out for hours on those greens, black would swelter. “Of course. I was thinking about work clothes.”

I slowed down, checking the clothes more carefully. This was going to be a little more difficult than I’d hoped, but I could do it. No pinks or reds. That much had been drilled in over the years, so I skipped past those. I’d thought I was safe with green, but apparently not.

I paused on the greens. There were some really pretty shades. But that dress, the one that’d started this whole thing, was green. I headed to the blues. They should be safe, right? Despite the fact that so many of these pieces of clothing were bright, I didn’t want to attract a lot of attention. So I grabbed a powder blue top, with a skirt that mixed blues and yellows. I held them up together. Yeah, that should be good.

I turned around and refused to look at Cooper. Instead, I looked at Valerie. She was frowning.

Damn it. I’d gotten it wrong again? I flicked a glance at Cooper. He was smirking.

Obviously I didn’t have an eye for color. I knew some colors clashed, and avoided putting them together. But the other side, finding whatever color was supposed to make you look better? I’d never really tried. I’d been aiming for professional, respectable, maybe even trustworthy. Background clothes. Nothing here was that.

I put the top and skirt back. “Okay. I give up. You win.”

I waited for Cooper to gloat and tell me I wasn’t good enough to do this on my own. I’d had a lot of people tell me I wasn’t good enough, so I was braced and ready.

He dropped the smirk. But he didn’t say I told you so . Instead, he headed to the racks and started pulling things out, holding them up to me. Sometimes he’d frown, or purse his lips. Other times he nodded and passed the item to Valerie. Most of the time there was a light in his eyes, his lips tilted up into a half smile. He liked this. Maybe he should have had a Barbie doll as a kid. Hell, maybe he had.

“What do you think, Val? Is this going to work better with her complexion, or this?” He was holding up two tops, in different shades of yellow. He didn’t say freckles , which was considerate. He waved me over and held them up against my face, and one top went into the reject pile.

I was sent into the dressing room with the clothing they’d settled on. I hated trying on clothes, but no way were they letting me go without seeing what this looked like on. I read the price on one of the tags and swallowed hard. Okay, I couldn’t afford to make a mistake with anything that cost that much.

I pulled on the first sleeveless collared shirt and a skirt/short combo. My hands smoothed over the fabric before I realized I was petting myself. The fabric was soft, with a thickness to it that wouldn’t stretch out or fade. I turned to check the fit in the mirror and stopped in surprise.

Was that me? My hair had always been a bright red, almost orange, and unlike Anne of Green Gables, it had never faded to auburn. But instead of glowing like a beacon, now it looked—kind of pretty. And my freckles didn’t overwhelm my face.

“You ready in there?” Valerie asked, and I realized I’d been staring at my reflection.

I never did that, unless I was checking for makeup smears. I didn’t like looking at myself. And yet…

I came out and stood in front of them. Cooper twirled a finger, so I did a 360 so they could see the whole effect.

“That’s pretty good, flatters her figure without being too much.”

Slutty . That was what they meant. When you had big boobs, that was always a problem. He paused, and I waited anxiously. I liked this. I wanted it. I wanted him to like it.

“I think the skirt is verging on too short. Can you try the next one, Callie? We don’t want to push the rules.”

Something inside me warmed. What he’d brought for that first lesson hadn’t been an outlier, as I’d suspected. I’d been worried he would pick tops with deep cleavage, too-tight skirts. Guys I’d dated in the past had always skewed that way. But he didn’t. Maybe the difference was that we weren’t dating. This wasn’t a sex thing. And I was not disappointed about that.

I could trust him. For this , I reminded myself. I could trust him to pick out clothes that would look good, so that I fit in. It was a hell of a lot more than I’d trust Benson.

* * *

They finally settled on three things to wear while golfing, and two more for the dining room. Only one was a sample item that had no price tag. They’d rejected things I’d have taken just because of the way they felt and how they made me look like someone different. But the final selections? I couldn’t argue with them. They did look and feel good. I didn’t want to get back into my old clothes.

The colors they chose made a huge difference. It was some kind of voodoo, and I didn’t understand it.

I left the store with things I loved. I wouldn’t waste this lesson. I’d use these clothes as a guide and buy more things in those shades. I might not have the perfect eye they did to pick colors out, but I could use the information they’d given me to my advantage in the future.

It would take some time to get used to the fit though. I’d learned that the looser the clothes, especially around my chest, the fewer the comments. I was trying to succeed in a competitive world as a woman with big breasts, and I didn’t want to accentuate them. I didn’t want anyone to credit my boobs for my success. Or to decide my IQ diminished as my cup size grew. My neutral colors and loose clothes did that. People noticed my work, not me.

I didn’t dare look at the receipt, just passed my credit card over. I’d open a bottle of wine back home to fortify myself for the ridiculous amount I was sure I’d spent. No, I’d invested . This was an investment in my career. And Benson would not be able to criticize anything.

After my purchases were bagged up and Cooper had done the kissy face with Valerie, we went back through the storeroom and then into Cooper’s car. He carried out the bags for me, ignoring my rolled eyes, and stored them in his trunk after holding the passenger door for me. Despite my wine plan, I mentally added up my purchases. I didn’t remember how much that one skirt was, so I doubled the amount of the other one. Then add tax… When I turned, he was staring at me, the car quiet. Was there a problem with his expensive car?

“Are you okay? Did we push too hard?”

That was…sweet. “No. I actually enjoyed that more than any other shopping trip I’ve been on.”

“Really?”

I nodded.

“I know it was a lot of money for you.”

“It was. But you’re right. My stuff wouldn’t have fit. And this is…actually, really nice.”

His smile lit up his face, both dimples out. He was handsome, maybe even beautiful, all the time, but this… This was relaxed and open. None of the tension I’d noticed when he was on for hockey fans.

I wanted to make him smile like that again. It felt good to have that power. No one except Darcy smiled to see me. Well, Darcy and my clients when I had good news for them relating to their tax situation. “So, are we done?”

His smile dropped. “Yeah. Won’t need to take up more of your valuable time.”

My time was valuable. I knew my billing rate. But his? His was much higher than mine. “Thank you.”

“No trouble. I enjoy that.”

“I could tell. But still, thank you for being patient, and kind. You’re not like I expected, in a good way.”

“I can say the same, Callie. It’s nice to be surprised.”

I wanted to preen—I had beautiful clothes, and I’d surprised this man, in a good way. He was letting me in, underneath the famous hockey player exterior.

It gave me a contented, warm feeling. Another surprise.

This arrangement might be one of the best decisions I’d ever made.