Inhaling sharply, I lost my step. What did he see? A sugar mommy? An ex? A naive girl hiding her green T-shirt so he’d think she was pretty?
He was stupidly good-looking. Working here and scamming girls required a certain level of charm. But wasn’t he supposed to be grieving? He should have hollows under bloodshot eyes, acne from late-night snacks and drinking, and greasy hair from lack of bathing. But no. Karma had been kind to Mr. Zeezy. His skin glowed smooth under low lighting. His lip twitched, and he ran his thumb along the bottom of it. His stormy gaze raked me over as he lifted his chin. Cologne spread in my lungs, the infectious tangy, fir-laced fragrance wobbling my knees and hurting my chest.
Yeah, he wanted me. But unlike the guy in the ads, he didn’t treasure anything besides a designer label. That included my heart.
Zack tugged me into his side. He curled his hand protectively around my shoulder as he led me past the store. “Come on, Smizey. Let’s get you some better lighting.”
I fiddled with my straw and glanced over my shoulder. At least I’d found a better boyfriend, hypothetically speaking, and that was something to smile about for real.
24
The Right Fit
After a few seconds, Zack rubbed my shoulder. “So, where exactly are we headed?”
I blinked at him. This was a fake relationship. It wasn’t headed anywhere. Right?
He knitted his brows, glancing from me to the upcoming divergence in the walkway.
Ohhhh. Where in the mall were we heading? “I was planning to hit whatever caught my interest.” Not sexually hit, I almost clarified, but he had to know that. “I need new clothes if I want to rebrand.”
He glanced at my jacket and form-fitting slacks. “Why? Your clothes seem fine. Nice, even.” He scratched his ear, so had to be lying.
“You must be thinking of my sparkly New Year’s Eve romper, because this—” I peeled open my coat to reveal my tee. “—is repulsive.”
He chuckled. “What’s so bad about your uniform?”
“Everything. It’s bright green, high neck, and is generally unflattering.” It didn’t matter what body type it adorned, this thing was a monstrosity.
Zack narrowed his gaze. “It’s a work shirt. It’s not meant to be sexy.”
“Looking nice is key to sales. That’s not just a confidence thing. It’s branding.” I closed my coat flaps and sighed at a monochrome-themed professional womenswear store as we passed it. “We used to wear business casual, anything we wanted, with a silver name tag on top. We were actually fancy at Fancee’s.”
“Imagine that.” His lip ticked up, his eyes bright enough to unlock my rant.
“When we looked nice, people would say please and thank you, they’d ask our opinions, you know, generally respect our expertise. But now, because of ‘rebranding,’ I’m the bright green scourge of the sales floor. All people say is ‘gimme’ and ‘I need’ just because Fancee’s thought we needed to be more accessible or something.”
His guiding arm fell to my mid-back, most likely because I’d been gesturing so enthusiastically. “Isn’t that what you’re doing, slumming it with me?” he asked.
I pressed my elbow into his side. “What slumming? You could eat guys like Theo for breakfast.”
He snorted and shook his head. “You wanted a new audience. More casual.”
“Oh, I guess.” Guys like Zack and our customers weren’t exactly who I pictured liking my content. We never connected in-person. Or at least we hadn’t until my New Year’s social media flip.
I tugged his jacket and marched toward a store with cute, accessory-laden outfits in the window. “Let’s go here.”
He held his hands up and dragged his feet. “Hey, I’m not shopping. I’m escorting.”
“Escort me inside, then.”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and fully braced himself from moving. “You asked me to walk you past Theo’s store. That didn’t include errands.”
“You knew I was shopping.”
He rolled his eyes and leaned on one leg. “Not aimlessly. If you want me to walk you back, we have to be quick. I’m on my lunch break. When am I gonna eat?”
He had a good point. Dressing rooms often had a seat, but I wasn’t going to change in front of him or risk other people side-eyeing him as some creep munching on food and watching me strip like it was some kind of kink.
