“My butt!” she yelped, trying to pull her skirt lower, but he was already handling it. He’d bent over and grabbed her jacket and put it over her like a blanket.
“Do you have your keys?” he checked.
“Yep!” Her purse was hanging down his back.
Dodger locked her car and stood to his full height smoothly.
“Holy cow,” she said as he strode across the street toward the outdoor store. “Is this what it looks like for you? Do we all just look like little ants below you? How tall are you?”
He belted out a laugh and hopped up on the curb between two cars and then pushed the door to the store open. A pretty chime sounded and a lady came from a desk in the back, chewing on food. She greeted them.
“What time does this place close?” Dodger asked as he set Destiny down gingerly.
“Ten o’clock. You’ve got an hour.”
“Perfect. Dressing rooms are this way?” he asked, pointing to the back.
“Yep! I’m just finishing my dinner. Let me know if you need any other sizes,” she called, returning to her spot behind a desk in the back.
Dodger didn’t wait for Destiny to shop around, he looked around the women’s section and pulled items. Thermal underwear with pine tree patterns, a navy-blue sweater, and then an entire set of ski bibs.
“These are for snowy mountains,” she pointed out as he handed it to her. “We are just walking the streets of Coueu d’Alene.
“This is for the werewolf date we go on tomorrow. Tonight, you’re just breaking them in.”
“Oh.” She frowned at the thick material while he pulled wool socks in cute patterns from an endcap.
“What size shoes are you?”
“Seven,” she uttered as she headed toward the dressing room to see how accurate his sizes were.
Destiny made her way into the farthest dressing room and closed the fabric panel. This was kind of fun. She’d never had a man shop for her before. It was interesting to see what he thought would look okay on her, even if they were winter clothes.
He pushed the fabric curtain to the side, and she yelped, and covered herself with the navy sweater.
Unapologetically, Dodger glanced up and down her body, and then he handed her the socks and a pair of wool-lined snow boots.
“I have snow boots at home.”
“Snow boots like these?” he asked.
“Well…not this nice.”
“I’m buying them for you. Try them on.”
She checked the price tag. “Dodger, these are two hundred dollars!”
He came into the dressing room and eased her back, back, back. He reached over her and pulled the thermals off the bar she’d hung them on. “Don’t forget these.”
Clutching the sweater to her chest, she inhaled the scent of his cologne and dared a look up at him. His eyes were blue fire as he looked down at her, just inches from her face.
Slowly, he eased her back until her bare shoulder blades touched the cold wall. He rested his hand above them and leaned in. The barest brush of his fingertips touched her hip, and she gasped at how good it felt. She closed her eyes for a moment to gather her senses, and when she opened them again, Dodger was looking down at her lips.
“I thought we were just friends,” she whispered.
His powerful chest rose and fell with quickened breath as he dragged his fingertips up her bare arm. He cupped the side of her neck and stroked her cheek with his thumb, searching her eyes. This was the softest she had ever seen his face.
It had been so long since she’d been kissed. So long. Could she do this? Would she remember how?
