I blinked. “Findingdeals.”
He fingered through the rack and picked up a particularly ugly polka-dot spotted shirt. “Gems like this, youmean?”
“Well, I wasn’t going to buythatone,” Imumbled.
He chuckled and gently took me by the arm. “Come on. I’m not letting you walk around in clearance rack disasters. We’re going to get you some realclothes.”
I almost protested but Flint had already dragged me to the front of the store, where the prices made my mind boggle. But I had to admit the clotheswerequite nice; nicer than anything I’d ever worn. I was so used to shopping at either the clearance rack or the thrift store back at Scarlet Ridge that this was a whole new experience forme.
“Pick out anything you like,” Flint toldme.
Casey was flipping through the clothes on the rack as if they were TV channels. “This one,daddy!”
She pointed to a green plaid flannel shirt, similar to the one Flint had given me to wear the other day. I wondered if she did that on purpose or if it was just her mind associating that style of shirt with menow.
“That does look nice on you,” Flint agreed. “Try iton.”
I put it on over my shirt - another one that Flint let me - and found that it was a tighter fit than Flint’s plaid shirt. It fit nicely around the shoulders andarms.
“It looks good,” Flint said, nodding. “Throw it in thebasket.”
Casey tossed it excitedly into the shopping basket. It was her job to hold it and she took the task veryseriously.
“We should look at jackets and pants, too, since mine are all too big for you,” Flint said, then paused. “I mean, I don’tmindif you wear my clothes, but I’m sure you’d like yourown.”
“I get you, don’t worry,” I said with a smile. I couldn’t believe howkindFlint was. He was nothing like the alphas back home at ScarletRidge.
No, notback home.Scarlet Ridge wasn’t my home anymore - Indigo Mountain was my homenow.
Flint pulled me from my thoughts by calling for me across the store. “Hey, Charlie. Come look at these and tell me if you likethem.”
He held out a pair of nice black trousers, and a pair of casual bluejeans.
“I do like them,” Isaid.
He nodded towards the fitting room. “Go try them on. No use buying pants before you know thefit.”
I tried on the jeans first. They were casual and comfortable, like I’d been wearing them my whole life. But they were brand new and didn’t have any rips or holes like any of my old pairs. The denim felt taut and clean against mylegs.
“The jeans are good,” I called over thedoor.
“Let me see,” Flint saidgruffly.
A blush crept onto my face. Hewaspaying for the clothes, so I guess he wanted to make sure they were a good fit, too. The door creaked open and I stood there, feeling like an awkward model. Flint’s brows raised and he noddedslowly.
“Wow,” he said. “They look amazing onyou.”
My blush deepened. “Thanks.”
I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination, or if his eyes really did linger a moment too long on my ass. Finally he wrenched his gaze away. “Try the trousers,too.”
I folded the jeans and set them aside before slipping into the sleek black pants. In the mirror, my legs seemed longer. I looked like I was ready for a fancy job interview. I opened the door again for Flint to see. Beside him, Casey wasclapping.
“Daddy is snazzy!” shecried.
“She’s right,” Flint said, looking me up and down. I tried not to show how embarrassed I was on my face, but I’m sure I failed. Thankfully, even if he did notice, Flint didn’t say anything about the flush on my cheeks. “Well, that’s settled. Put those both in thebasket.”
After about an hour had passed, the basket filled up with all sorts of clothes - plus a few pairs of brand new underwear that I picked out without any help from Flint, mostly because I was already tooembarrassed.
