“I’ll need shoes too.”
I didn’t flinch. “Done.”
She sipped her Hugo spritz while I drank an Old-Fashioned. Thank God the conversation shifted to lighter topics. If you think a pair of shoes is going to set me over the edge—think again.
She picked up her phone and read through her text messages.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“Well, it looks like Kylie and Luc will be going public with their relationship. They’re waiting until Kelsey and Sam return from their honeymoon.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t notice this before. You’re all K names.”
“Yeah. My dad loves baseball and wanted a son badly. We were all strikes—Kelsey was the strikeout.”
“How does that make you feel?”
“You’d have to know my dad to understand him. He was the best girl dad, and I don’t think he resented that we weren’t boys; more so, he resented that he couldn’t afford to have a bigger family. They were tapped out with the three of us. We aren’t all swimming with school debt because we were on athletic scholarships.”
By the time our meals arrived, we had both finished two drinks, and Kendra was working on a good little buzz. Perfect. Maybe our day-drinking and shopping excursion would lead to a few extras.
By the time we finished eating and were in the car, the snow had begun to accumulate.
“Are you still sure you want to go shopping?” Kendra asked.
“Yup. If for no other reason, I will see you try on a gown or two.”
I had already messaged my shopper, and she was putting aside several dresses for Kendra to try on. She’d also put together a selection of shoes and taken strict instructionsto hide the prices. Had I thought of everything? Hopefully. Kendra’s best qualities were her stubbornness and independence; any hint I had taken that away from her would be met with resistance.
“Huh.”
“What?” I asked.
She giggled, a side effect of the excessive alcohol we both drank at brunch.
“Oh, I’m imagining what we could do in a dressing room.”
I gave her a side-eye, purposely not biting on her suggestion.
Her mirth turned to frustration. “What gives?”
I slid toward her in the Suburban and cupped her face in my hand. “Don’t take my restraint for lack of interest, Kendra. I’m going to take you, but none of our firsts are going to happen when we’re drunk.”
“Not even a kiss?” She asked with a petulant pout.
Yeah, I had seen strong, confident Kendra. But this side of her was downright adorable.
“We’ll see. If you earn it.”
She sat back with a victorious grin. When the SUV pulled up in front, she waited for me to come around and open her door.
Twenty minutes later, Kendra was on her fifth gown, each one looking more amazing than the last. The shyness she had shown when she emerged from the dressing room with the first gown had disappeared.
Eventually, she stopped looking at labels and was having a blast modeling the dresses. When she came out ofthe room in the Givenchy, I was stunned silent, and her shyness returned.
“This is the one, Kendra.”
