With another reassuring nod and a little wink, Logan leaves me in the care of Lana while he goes with the even more serious-looking gentleman to be fitted for his clothes.
Lana smiles once he’s out of sight, but I feel my own anxiety rising which she’s quick to put to rest.
“You’re the luckiest woman alive,” she remarks casually, turning me to face a full-length mirror and draping some fabric across one of my shoulders.
“Logan Parker is never seen with a woman, and if he is, she’ll be his for life, trust me on that one,” she says, sighing to herself before busily measuring me and asking whether I like things a certain way.
Things I’ve never even considered when thinking about clothes.
“I usually just try to get things that fit,” I say, not intending to sound so stupid, but Lana’s a true professional.
“You have a beautiful figure, full and as a woman should look,” she says, a matter of fact.
I can see her memorizing measurements and I let her know a couple of the fabrics I like the feel and look of. She leads me to a smaller part of the boutique, with the most luxurious lingerie I’ve ever seen and orders me to pick out what I like and try it on in the private fitting room, which is a whole room in itself.
I get lost in trying on so many things and I decide I want them all but the stab of reality bites in my chest.
Nothing has a price tag. I can only imagine how much all this stuff costs, more than our house I’m sure.
There’s a robe I slip on over the one pair of undergarments I settle on and step out, finding the room empty but I can hear Logan’s deep and powerful voice from somewhere close by. There’s also Lana’s husky voice, blended with the soft sounds of the industry from a sewing machine and the hiss of a steam iron.
It’s dark outside by now, and I feel giddy from lack of food, my stomach groaning again when there’s some commotion out front and I peek around the corner, keeping myself hidden from view.
An armed security guard at the door, with another escorting a man with an armful of what looks like black briefcases all stacked up. He looks flushed, sweating, and I again hear Logan’s deep voice before a door closes.
I wonder if this is really just a day in the life of Logan Parker… and if I can keep up.
I sit timidly on the edge of a soft leather chair, waiting for what feels like an hour before Lana reappears at the same moment I hear doors opening and closing again, the sound of people leaving the boutique as the heavy front door is unbolted.
Holding an outfit on hangers as if it’s about to explode, she flips the edge of my robe open long enough to give an approving look at my choice of underwear.
“Put it on, put it on,” she urges me, ushering me back into the changing room.
I’ve never had an ugly duckling- Black Swan moment, but I figure this is as close as I’m gonna get in this life.
The outfit, like the underwear, fits as if made just for me… because it was.
Every part of my body I thought I hated looks like it belongs and the whole outfit makes me look and feel better than I have in my whole life.
I’m choking back tears by the time Logan appears, his own new suit making him look like a diamond freshly cooled from some hunk of smoldering, ancient coal.
His dark eyes on mine, and a velvet box in his hand as he eyes me up and down, making that low sound that makes me swoon on the spot. Feeling bad for making my new panties so damp so soon, but he only growls deeper, as if sensing his effect on me.
“You’re just perfect,” he croons. “Just perfect.”
I can only make a squeaking sound of my own, pressing my thighs together as he draws nearer, kissing me before lifting the lid on the box.
Chapter Sixteen
Logan
It’s too much. That’s the look my tailor, the jeweler, and even the security guard give as I point out the necklace while making my calls, putting the phone to my chest for a moment.
“That one!” I exclaim, and then motion for him to show me what else he brought along.
I don’t want Chrissy feeling anything less than a Queen from now on, I’ve decided. And if she wants a taste of luxury, then we can have plenty of that on the way.
The car’s already waiting, and so am I. I need my clothes and my woman ready so we can get out of here and go eat.
My call’s cut short anyway. Turns out the desperate seller of a certain hotel chain’s gone cold. Very cold on the idea, even though I offer him a premium deal.
“And if you’re not gonna pay for your room, I’d appreciate you letting someone who will pay stay there!” he shouts before hanging up.
Weird, a month ago he would’ve taken half what I was offering. Something must’ve changed for him… but what?
Shrugging and reminding myself the rest of today is supposed to be all about Chrissy and me, I nod with approval when the suit’s presented and quickly finish up a little other business with the jeweler, checking the time on my new watch.
“Thanks again for coming over, Hershel, at such short notice I mean,” The old man clicks his tongue and raises his eyes, but he knows it’s been worth it for him.
Be a midnight supper at this rate.
Once I see Chrissy though I forget everything else. I absently sign off on the jewelry and shoo everyone else away with a wave of my hand, offering it to her and kissing hers before I open the box.
The
