When I looked back up, Dane was watching me, as if he’d noticed something shift but wasn’t forcing it into shape yet.
I opened my mouth to say something normal, something that would reset whatever this moment was becoming.
But thankfully, he moved first. “Come on.”
I frowned. “Where?”
“We’re getting you actual clothes.”
“What’s wrong with these?” I glanced back at the sofa, at the mess I’d been fighting with for the past hour.
Dane didn’t hesitate. “Everything.”
The moment we stepped inside the rental shop, it became painfully obvious why Dane had insisted on coming. The space was orderly in a way that felt almost intimidating.
Rows of suits lined neatly along one wall, crisp dress shirts arranged by shade on another, and mannequins positioned throughout the floor wearing combinations I never would have thought to put together on my own.
Soft music played overhead, something slow and instrumental that made even the air feel more expensive than necessary.
“Okay,” I said after a moment. “Glen said beachy nautical.”
I started pulling a couple of shirts from different racks. When I looked up, I caught Dane watching me with a raised brow.
“Why do you need all those?” he asked.
“We’re there for a whole weekend,” I said, shifting the shirts in my arms. “We’ll need more than one outfit.”
He looked at me for a moment before stepping in closer without saying anything.
Close enough that I caught the faint scent of him, something clean and slightly woody, like soap with something sharper underneath it I couldn’t quite place.
For a ridiculous second, my brain short-circuited and the thought that followed wasn’t remotely helpful.
He’s going to kiss me.
Except he didn’t. Instead, he reached past me for a shirt on the rack beside my shoulder.
His arm brushed mine as he moved, brief but deliberate in a way that didn’t feel entirely accidental. My pulse did something annoying.
“We should get a few matching pieces,” he said.
“Matching pieces?” I repeated.
“It would make sense,” he added simply.
“Right,” I said, a little too quickly. It came out flatter than I meant it to, like my brain was still a step behind the rest of me.
“Trust me,” he said, handing me the shirt.
I huffed a small laugh. “Should I?”
“Absolutely not.”
That earned him a sharper laugh from me, and the tension that had crept in without me noticing loosened as we moved deeper into the shop.
After that, it stopped feeling like shopping and started feeling like being guided through something I didn’t fully understand but didn’t entirely hate either.
Dane didn’t just pick things at random.
