He was serious. He hadn’t… “Shit.” I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling.
This man… I might kill him. Because I was actually considering this. He was helping me out with a place to stay, and he didn’t want to flat-out reject Thalia, his star employee. Pretending to date me would make it so he never had to. “How fancy is the party? You know I don’t own any clothes right now.”
He fist-pumped the air. “You don’t need anything. Tell me your dress and shoe size, and I’ll hook you up. Already got your bra size.” He tapped his temple.
I closed my eyes. “You looked at my bra size when I we shopped at Target?”
“Hell yes, I did. Fascinating stuff. Still thinking about those granny panties—”
“Stop while you’re ahead.”
He grinned. “I promise you won’t regret this. Keep whatever I buy you and add it to your new wardrobe.”
Free clothes? Good quality too. As casual as Jack came across, the guy had excellent taste. He’d pick out better stuff than I ever could.
I was a sad example of the female population. Until now, my fashion sense consisted of sweatshirts and jeans. But I was getting tired of my black pants and Sophia’s hand-me-downs. What would it be like to own something nice?
Getting a pretty dress out of the dealwasa perk. Though the idea of his buying me anything made me uncomfortable. “I don’t know.”
“Keep in mind,” he said, “you’d be doing me a favor, not the other way around. Think of the dress as a uniform, like the apron.”
Well, when he put it like that…
“Fine. I’ll do it. But this is the last time.”
ChapterTwelve
Jack
InvitingElise to the formal dinner party tonight was self-serving. I wanted to make it clear to Thalia that I was in a relationship (a fake one, but whatever), as I was a giant neon sign for the wrong women—an issue I was working on. Using Elise as a buffer worked in the interim, and she was good company.
Elise was the last person to get the wrong idea. She only wanted men who weren’t interested in anything serious. Something I was curious about, but there’d be time to investigate her rationale later. The last thing I needed was to give Thalia the wrong idea and muddy the waters with my star CEO. Been there, done that with the old roommate and any number of women. Elise was spirited but guileless. That woman didn’t want anything from me, which made me want to give her everything.
If there had been one ulterior motive to inviting Elise tonight, it was to get her out of those black pants she wore nearly every day. She’d agreed to keep whatever I bought her, so now was my opportunity to update her wardrobe.
Elise sat on her bed and lifted a long silk dress out of the shopping bag I’d handed her. “Oh my gosh, Jackson!” She clutched the cream dress to her chest. “When I save up more money, I’m going to hire you as my personal shopper. You have the best taste.”
There she went with the nickname. Sadly, it was growing on me. Mostly because it sounded like an endearment coming from Elise. “No to the personal shopping, but”—I reached for two more large bags full of clothes in the hallway—“this should tide you over for a while.”
She stared in confusion. “But I only needed a dress.”
“And pants and every other type of clothing.”
She sifted through the shopping bags, then looked at one of the price tags. “Holy shit, Jack. No.” She climbed off the bed and shoved the bags at me. “This is too much. The dress, sure, okay, because you need a date tonight. But not the other stuff.”
My vision grew hazy, and my teeth clamped shut. “I understand you’re independent, but I’m a friend, am I not?” She nodded, seemingly surprised by my frustration. “Then it should be okay for a friend to buy another friend something they need.”
She started to speak, and I held up my hand. “I’m done here. Be ready by six.”
I left the room and entered my own, with a shocked Elise staring after me.
I closed the door and sank onto the bed. She was right. It was unusual to buy her a wardrobe, but at this point, I didn’t care. She could return all of it for something else, but she couldn’t give me back the money. That I wouldn’t allow.
The way I saw it, I’d made her leave her clothes behind. I was responsible for why she had none.
Conscience cleared, I rose and went to take a shower.
* * *
