by Lola Kidd
“Well, I could drop off the girls at the mall,” Connor suggested. “While I do that, you can shampoo the rugs. Then, when I get back, we can head out.”
“And we already have a ride home, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Mel said.
Mary racked her brain for an excuse that didn’t involve her telling her boss that she didn’t have the money to go shopping. He wouldn’t understand, and she really didn’t feel like explaining the nuances of budgeting one’s money to a man like him, a man who could have anything or anyone he wanted. There was no way he’d understand what she talking about.
“I know you’re going to say you already have a dress, but I’m going to ask you for another favor,” he told her. “It isn’t a discount, like I said. He’s going to give me the dress flat-out.”
“No way. I’m not taking a dress that’s supposed to be payment for you. Get something for yourself.”
“They only sell women’s clothes.”
Mary could see where this was going. “So, get something for your mother.”
He shook his head. “She doesn’t like the clothes they sell. Not her style.”
“What makes you think I would, then?”
She knew what he meant. Anything that would look good on a beautiful woman like Stephanie would look awful on someone like her. She was short and fat, while his mother, like all the women he dated, was tall and slim. Even if she had wanted to dress like they did, she’d have a hard time finding things in her size and budget. The nice clothes her size always cost more than the same clothes in straight sizes. It was already hard enough to find plus size clothes, to have them cost more added insult to injury.
“I have a feeling. Come on, just come with me. If you hate the place, we can leave. If not, you can get something free of charge, and then the owner will stop bothering me.”
“Win-win-win.” Hilary clapped her hands at each word. “Mary, you can’t say no to this. A free dress? Heck, we’ll take it if you don’t want it.”
“Can I drive your car?” Mel asked Connor.
“Do you have a license?” he asked, unfazed by the question. As if he’d ever let a teenager drive his expensive car.
“Yup.” She pulled her wallet from her purse and flipped it open. “I haven’t had an accident or anything.”
“Sure. Why not?” He looked at Mary for confirmation.
She shrugged. “Fine. But you girls call me when you get to the mall. But if they break it, you’ve already bought it. I’m not paying for any repairs.”
“Thanks!” Hilary squealed. “You’re the best.”
She and Melody hugged Mary and were out the door before Connor could give them the keys or even react to Mary’s proclamation.
“They’ve never gotten to ride in a Range Rover before,” Mary explained. “They’re getting too excited.”
“There aren’t many around here. And none that color.” He put his hands in his pockets and walked around the living room. “Is it rude if I say I’m surprised that this place is a mess?”
She laughed. “You try keeping anything clean with two teenage girls in the house. They had friends over last night, and I haven’t had a chance to deep-clean this week yet.”
“There’s no way they can go to the mall without cleaning up after themselves. My mom would never let that slide.” He went to the door and called the girls back in.
“What?” Hil asked. “Did you change your mind?”
“You guys need to clean up the living room before we can go.” He pointed to the empty soda cans and pizza boxes. “Your sister cleans up for her job. She doesn’t need to clean up after you two.”
Mel rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know you could throw your voice, Mary.”
Hil loaded all the soda cans she could fit into her arms. “Hurry up. Just throw the pizza box in the trash. I’ll wipe the table, and you sweep the floor.”
Mel grumbled a bit more before taking the pizza box to the kitchen.
Mary could scarcely believe her eyes. “What’s going on? Am I in some kind of bizarro world, or is this a dream?”
“Why? Do they normally not clean?” Connor asked.
“They do, but not before they complain a little more.”
“Probably because they don’t know me. I threw them off. I’m a wild card.” He lowered his voice. “I’m glad they caved so fast, though. I had no idea what to do if they refused.”
Mary laughed. “I don’t expect you have much experience with teenagers.”
“Nope. I guess you’ll have to give me some pointers.”
“Done.” Mel picked up the dust pan and took it to the kitchen. “Now, can we get out of here, Mr. Moneybags?”
“Hey!” Mary chastised her. “That’s not very nice.”
“Why not?” Mel asked. “Isn’t he a rich guy?”
“He’s more than just a rich guy,” Mary replied. “Also, he’s my boss. Show a little respect.”
“What about Richie Rich? Or Daddy Warbucks?”
Hil hit her sister in the shoulder. “Come on. No more making fun of him, or he won’t let you drive his awesome car.”
Mel groaned and held out her hand. “Okay, okay. Please, Mr. Hansen, sir, can I have the keys now?”
He tossed the keys at her. “No worries. I’m sitting shotgun, too. Sorry, Hilary.”
“Don’t forget to call me when you get there and when you leave,” Mary called after them.
“So, we’re good to go once I get back, right?” Connor asked once they were alone.
“Why are you here?”
“I told you...”
“Yes, but I mean, really, why are you here? How did you even know where I live?”
He took a step closer and got near her ear. “I have a very special skill set. Did you forget what my job is?”
Mary shivered and took a step back, crossing her arms in front of her. “All I see you do is send emails all day. I don’t know what you actually do.”
“I was a private investigator for almost two years.” There was pride in voice.
“I thought that was just a rumor.”
“Nope. I wanted to know how it all worked before I made any commitments to the family business.”
“So, you used your connections to look me up. That’s a little creepy.”
“It is. But I had to find you, and you weren’t answering the business number.”
She made a mental note to talk to Gina about that. She was the one in charge of the business line on the weekends. If this was a regular occurrence, it could be costing them business.
“So, you’re coming with me, right?”
“Yes. I’d love to get a new dress.”
It wasn’t like she could say no to her best client when he’d come all this way to find her—and she could use a new dress. She had no idea what people wore to a ball, but she had a feeling that her old prom dress would leave her underdressed. She didn’t want to embarrass herself or him. It wouldn’t help her make any new business connections if she looked like a bum.
“Please be careful with the girls.”
They were standing there awkwardly. She wasn’t sure how to end the conversation. Should she hug him? Shake his hand?
“No problem,” he said. “Anything to make this go quicker.”
“I’ll be ready when you get back.”
“Great.” He nodded at her and left.
Mary put her hands on her hips and shook her head. This was going to be a very strange day. What had she gotten herself into by agreeing to go to the ball with him? It was starting to look like he wanted more than a working relationship.
He was very attractive. It was crazy that he’d be into someone like her. He was easily the sexiest shifter in the city, and as far as she knew, he only dated models. Not anyone who looked like her.
She was probably imagining all this, but she was going to have to be careful. He might just think she was a charity case. In that case, she’d take all the business help she could get and enjoy the
fun. There was no harm in doing him one more favor.
Chapter Ten
“Don’t be afraid to tell me if you hate this,” Connor told her. “I’m not the best judge of a woman’s style, but I do think this store is right up your alley.”
He kept a close eye on Mary as she studied the boutique storefront. His mother’s style was flashy, but Mary struck him as the kind of woman who liked classic and understated pieces. He knew this kind of thing that would suit her body perfectly. He could only imagine how great she’d look in a low-cut and tight-fitting dress. It didn’t seem like something she’d wear, but he could imagine.
This place had both the form-fitting styles he’d love to see her in and the more classic pieces he thought she’d prefer. He’d spent some time browsing the boutique’s website and imagining what she’d look like in all the pieces. He couldn’t wait to see her in some of them.
“So far, so good,” she told him. “Thanks again for taking the girls to the mall, too.”
“Oh, yeah. I should probably tell you, I saw their friends,” he told her. “They were meeting some guys that looked a little sketchy. Have you met those two before?”
“Yeah,” Mary said. “They have a lot of friends. I don’t remember those guys exactly, but they’re cool.”
She was studying the dresses through the window. Connor didn’t want to push things by talking about the girls any more. He’d warned them about the two boys when he dropped them off. The boys didn’t look overly sinister; it was just that something about them had rubbed him the wrong way. They weren’t the kind of boys he’d want his daughters hanging out with. He wouldn’t have let the girls get out of the Range Rover if he’d thought they were going to go somewhere alone with the boys, but they weren’t the ones who were going to drive the girls home. It was a girlfriend’s mom who was going to take them.
He trusted the girls. It had been a fun ride over with them, and he could see why Mary worked so hard. They were great kids, and they deserved to have fun without being forced to grow up so fast. He knew that had happened to Mary, and he wished it hadn’t. He wished she didn’t have to worry about the girls and money so much, either.
“Would you like to go inside, or are we going to stare all day?”
“I’d like to go in,” she said with a smile. “Sorry, I’m nervous. I haven’t gone shopping in a very long time.”
“No worries. I’m just getting impatient. I can’t wait to get my little fashion show.”
He offered her his arm and they walked into the boutique together. He liked watching their reflection in the door as they approached. He could get used to walking around with her like this.
“Connor,” the boutique’s owner, Raj, greeted him. “Have you finally come to take me up on my offer?”
“I have.” He shook Raj’s hand. “This is my friend Mary, and she needs a dress for our ball.”
“I have just the thing for you,” Raj told her. “I’ll pull a few pieces and meet you in the back?”
“Sounds good,” Connor said.
He led Mary to the back of the boutique, where there were private fitting rooms. The rooms were pretty spacious, and each had a bench, a small table, and a mirror in front of a raised platform. She could get dressed in the small curtained area while he waited in the room, so she’d have some privacy.
He pointed to the chairs outside the fitting rooms. “I’ll wait here if you’d like,” he said.
“It looks like there’s a place to sit inside the room,” she said. “You can wait inside if you’d like. Then I wouldn’t have to leave the room to show you my dresses.”
He was flattered. He hadn’t thought she’d let him be this close to her while she was changing. This was stepping all the way over the line that he liked to keep between himself and his employees, but it was different. The minute he’d invited her to the ball, he’d known he was venturing into new territory.
He understood now why Beckett had pushed so hard to get Lenni. His brother had been the same way and had kept people out, but when the right girl came along, he’d changed his rules. Connor’s lion felt so strongly about Mary that he knew she was worth doing the same thing.
If he took think things slowly, he had a feeling this was going to go far, but it was going to be hard to take things slowly. The minute they were alone inside the dressing room waiting for the dresses, he wanted nothing more than to maul Mary.
He wanted to slip his hand down the front of her pants. What he wouldn’t give to see her back arching in pleasure. But there was no time for that now. Raj was coming in with an armful of dresses before the fantasy in his head could finish playing out.
“I’ve picked out a few pieces for you to start with.” Raj hung up the dresses in his arms. “I picked classic shapes and colors I thought would look good on you. Let me know if you like these colors and fits, and we can narrow it down from there. I have so many dresses I’d love to put you in.”
“I’m only here for one,” she said with wide eyes.
Connor laughed. “If you see something you like, it’s my treat.”
She shook her head. “This is already too much. I can’t take any more from you.”
It wasn’t taking anything, since he wasn’t buying this dress, but he wasn’t going to argue with her now. Any dresses she liked, he’d ask Raj to set aside. One day, she’d let him buy her everything. These dresses were just the start.
“I think that that one would look really great on you,” he said, pointing to a deep green dress. “I think the color would look gorgeous with your hair and those pretty eyes.”
Mary blushed, color spreading across her lovely cheeks and down her throat. He could see it peeking over the tops of her luscious breasts and wondered if it went all the way down. One day, he’d have to find out.
“I guess we’ll try that one on first,” she said.
She took the dress and disappeared into the private fitting area. While she was getting dressed, Connor slipped out to tell Raj about putting aside the dresses.
When he got back, she hadn’t come out yet. He had to wait a few minutes, fiddling on his phone, until the curtain was pushed aside and she came out.
“I’m not sure if this is the one, but I really like it,” she said. “You were right—this is a good look on me.”
“You look amazing.”
That word wasn’t strong enough. The dress brought out all of her gorgeous features. He watched her watch herself in the mirror. She was loving it.
“Try the purple one next,” he told her.
“Will you tell Raj that I might want a green dress that looks like this? I think this fit is nice.”
He nodded and went out to relay the message while she changed. When he got back this time, she was already standing in front of the mirror. The back of the dress was unzipped. She looked over her shoulder at him.
“Could you do me up?”
“My pleasure.”
He took three quick steps toward her and put the eyehook together at the top of the zipper. He ran his hand down the zipper, brushing her back lightly in the process. She shivered, but she didn’t tell him to stop. He grabbed the zipper firmly and pulled it up slowly.
She blushed again but didn’t say anything. This time, he could see that the color did go farther down her body. Her pale skin was flushed a lovely color. He wondered what else he could do to get her to flush like that all over.
“This one looks great on you,” he said, locking eyes with her in the mirror. “I don’t want to say this is the one, because I want to see you put on more dresses. But, man, this one is really perfect.”
“I think this is the one, too.”
The dress was strapless and hugged every curve of her body. Purple was the perfect color for her, and this dress fit her perfectly.
“I’ll have Raj pack it up,” Connor said.
A few minutes later, they were out in the parking lot, putting her dress in the trunk of his car.
“I can’t believe tha
t was so easy,” she said. “I thought it would take me forever to find something in my size.”
“Maybe you’re shopping at the wrong stores. With a body like that, you should be able to find something anywhere you go.”
Mary laughed. “Most clothes aren’t made to fit a sack of potatoes.”
Connor laughed, but he stopped when he saw the sad look in her eyes. “Wait, are you serious?”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You don’t have to mess around with me. I know what I look like. And it’s fine—I love my body. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to dress me.”
“I thought you meant it’s hard to find something in your size because you’re big on top. I know it’s hard to find something to fit a gorgeous chest like yours. Is that going too far?”
She smiled. “It might be, but I like hearing you say I have a nice body. I know that’s too far, but I don’t want it to stop.”
“I don’t think that’s far enough,” Connor said. “If you’d like to hear me talk about what a wonderful body you have, trust me, I can do this all the way back to your house.”
“I’m not stopping you,” Mary said, biting her lip.
The air between them was charged. He could feel it: something was going to happen. This was his moment.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Mary’s. She hesitated at first, but then her lips moved against his. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and nipped at his lower lip.
When he pulled back, she was smiling. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“I hope it’s feelings for me,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you ever since you walked into my office for the first interview. I’ve been trying to deny it this whole time, but it’s no use. I want you.”
“I don’t think we should.” She bit her tantalizing lower lip. “I work for you, after all, and we’re going on that date to the ball. I think we’re going to complicate things too much.”
“What if I don’t care if we do?” he asked. “Because I think we could have something special here. I think you could be very special to both my lion and me.”
“You mean like… You couldn’t mean…?” She searched his face. “Mate?”
