‘Shit! I didn’t mean you look ridiculous. I meant you look embarrassed, self-conscious, like you’re trying to make yourself invisible. Your shoulders are up around your ears and you haven’t stopped fidgeting for one second.’
‘Well, that’s because you’re both staring at me.’
‘Exactly. You can’t go out in a dress like that if you don’t want people looking at you. That’s a dress for a woman who wants to be noticed.’
‘Well, what wouldyousuggest?’ Yvonne asked him, speaking as if Claire wasn’t there. ‘This is what she was thinking of wearing,’ she said, picking up the dress Claire had first chosen and waving it at him. Claire thought it was very nice – a classic LBD, simple, understated… a bit boring maybe, but she had felt good in it: comfortable, safe.
‘Okay.’ Luca eyed the dress with distaste. ‘So what we need is a compromise – something in between hooker and nun.’
‘That is not a hooker dress,’ Yvonne fumed, pointing at Claire.
‘And that’s not a nun dress,’ Claire mumbled sulkily.
‘What’s the occasion anyway?’ Luca asked.
‘Dinner. She’s got a date!’ Yvonne told him, sounding more like a pushy mother by the second. Claire prayed she wouldn’t go into details.
‘Good for you,’ Luca said softly. ‘And you’re letting Yvonne dress you? Seriously?’
‘I thought you were going to help, Luca. If you’re just going to criticise?—’
‘Okay.’ He jumped off the sofa, holding up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. ‘Leave it to me. Take that thing off,’ he told Claire, snatching the black dress from Yvonne and marching away.
Claire went back to the changing room, hung the red dress on its hanger and waited. She was beginning to think Luca was never coming back when his arm appeared through the curtain.
‘Here, try this,’ he said, thrusting a hanger at her.
Claire examined the dress before unzipping it to try it on. It was the palest shade of green, the bodice a soft velour, while the neckline and long sleeves were sheer chiffon. She pulled it on, loving the feel of it. She had wanted a dress with sleeves like this ever since she had first seen Grace Kelly in that blue dress inHigh Society. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed it – but then she remembered she’d been zeroing in on black. She felt like hugging Luca when she looked in the mirror. It was perfect – sexy but classy.The bodice was fitted, clinging to her curves, but the skirt was full, layers of chiffon that swished when she moved, and fell to just above the knee. And the colour really suited her.
‘Well?’ Yvonne asked, from the other side of the curtain.
‘Yeah, it’s, um…’ Claire pulled the curtain back and stepped into the shop, where Yvonne and Luca were waiting expectantly. She stood in front of them for inspection, not minding their scrutiny now. She even did a little twirl.
‘Wow!’ Yvonne said, grinning with delight.
‘Perfect.’ Luca smiled. ‘My work here is done.’
‘Thanks, Luca,’ Claire said. ‘I really love it.’
‘You’ve earned yourself a big lunch, mister,’ Yvonne said.
‘I can’t make lunch,’ he said, with a grimace. ‘I’m meeting someone.’
‘Well, I’ll owe you.’
‘I’ll hold you to it. Enjoy your date, Claire,’ he called, as he left.
9
Luca sat up in bed munching an apple as the afternoon sun slanted in through the blinds, warming him and creating strips of honey-coloured light on the polished wooden floor of Aisling’s bedroom.
‘Well, that was a long time coming,’ she said, with a triumphant smile.
He looked at her stretched out naked beside him on the rumpled sheet, her long blonde hair tousled. Damp tendrils clung to her forehead and the sides of her face. ‘Youwere a long time coming,’ he said.
She made a sleepy, satisfied noise and nestled deeper into the pillow.
‘Give me a bite.’ She nodded at the apple.
