“Sawyer, you sound like a caveman,” Tori whispers, then her lips land on my cheek. “I kinda like it.”
My lips twitch up as we follow the older woman to the changerooms. She hands Tori the dress and gestures to a stool for me. “You can wait here.”
The message is clear, no funny business. I give her my most winning smile and sit down like a good boy. “Thank you,” I say cheerfully as Tori fights back a laugh. She’s no doubt thinking about the last store, where I most definitely did not sit on a stool outside.
How was I meant to hold back when she opened the door wearing a scrap of fabric that had me instantly getting hard? I pushed her into the stall and kissed her silly until the sound of the salesperson clearing their throat had me stepping back. Tori’s face was flaming, but I just walked out of there and told them the dress didn’t fit.
It did…but the only person who gets to see that much of my woman’s skin is me.
Tori mouths the wordstayand disappears into the room. When she finally opens the door again, the fucking world stops turning.
“Holy shit, angel.” I stand up slowly. I can hear my pulse pounding in my ears as I take in the vision in front of me. The deep red fabric hugs every curve as one side goes up high to cross over her shoulder in a wide swath, but when she turns, I see that it splits into two skinny straps that drape across her back. It hits her just below the knees, and let me say, I never realized how fucking sexy that length of a dress could be. I always figured the shorter, the better, but this? This dress with a small slit up one thigh? Fuck, yes.
“Do you like it?” she murmurs.
“It’ll be hard to keep my hands off you all night,” I answer hoarsely. “You’re the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen.”
She slowly walks over to me, resting one hand lightly on my chest as she lifts up to kiss my lips. My hands are fisted at my sides so that I don’t embarrass her again by pushing her into the changeroom and show her just how much Ilike this dress.
Lowering back down, she peeks over my shoulder. “I’ll take it, thank you.”
Yeah, that’s how oblivious I am in the presence of my woman wearing this dress. I didn’t even realize the salesperson was standing right behind us. Tori heads back into the dressing room, and I sink back down on the stool, hoping my hard-on isn’t too obvious.
“There’s a reason we call that dress the showstopper,” the salesperson says, and I can hear the amusement in her tone. “Your partner is a lucky woman to have a man look at her the way you do. That’s true love.”
I don’t even bother correcting her as she walks away. Hell, I’m not so sure she isn’t right. I could love Tori. Pretty damn easily, if I’m being honest.
The woman who’s stealing my heart emerges from the changeroom, completely unaware of the transformation she’s evoking inside of me. I guess I’m still staring at her with something akin to awe on my face because she looks confused as she walks over to me.
“Everything okay?”
I nod, taking the dress from her hands. “Absolutely amazing, actually.”
I ignore her protests as I pay for the dress, winking at the salesperson, then taking Tori’s hand to lead her out of the store.
“Sawyer Donnelly, just because we’re dating now doesn’t mean you get to pay for everything.”
I pull her over to an alcove just outside the store. “Listen to me, angel. That dress? That’s a gift forme.You wearing it to the fundraiser while there as my girlfriend. That’s all I ask in return. Because being with you is an honour. A privilege I don’t take for granted. So let me do this. Please.”
Her hand cups my face. “You’re a charmer, Sawyer. An irresistible charmer.”
I cover her hand with mine. “As long as you know I mean every word. No games. This is me and you.”
She nods. I lean down and kiss her, taking my time without a care about the fact we’re in the middle of a mall with people walking past. I need her to know I’m in this for real now. We break apart, and I take her hand in mine again, lifting it up to press a kiss to her knuckles. Then we walk through the mall, desire sparking between us so strong, I swear it’s like a live current of electricity.
We pass by a gourmet candy store, and I see Tori look inside as she makes a small sound. I stop walking and she looks back at me.
“What?”
I gesture to the store. “You wanna go in there?”
She laughs lightly. “We don’t have to, we came here for a dress.”
“And now we’re at a candy store. I happen to love candy, and I know you’ve got a massive sweet tooth. So let’s go in.”
Her eyes light up. “Really? Okay.”
This place is incredible. The walls are lined with giant clear bins of every candy imaginable. There’s a rack of weird candies from around the world; random stuff I’ve never heard of. Tori slowly wanders around the whole place, her eyes big with wonder. I chuckle to myself, loving her excitement over something as simple as a candy store.
