by Amelia Jade
“Please, eat some food. At the risk of sounding arrogant, the money is nothing to me. I wish to spend more time with you, and this seems like the best way.”
It was arrogant. But also upfront, which certainly diluted it. Then there was the question of why he wanted to spend more time with her. There was nothing interesting about Annalise. She knew that, because she worked hard to make it that way. The less interesting she was, the less attention she would attract. It was a formula that had worked well for her the past few years. It was how she’d remained free.
Her stomach rumbled again, reminding her that it was excited at the prospect of food.
“Okay, I’ll stay and eat,” she agreed, giving in to her bodily demands. “But I don’t have the money to pay you back. I want that known up front.”
Caine nodded. “I wasn’t expecting you to.”
“I hate charity.” She was hungry. Starving really, and he seemed so determined to feed her. It wasn’t a situation she liked to find herself in.
“Where are you staying?” he asked.
“A motel,” she said evasively, not wanting to give him an answer.
“Okay, I was just trying to figure out if it was near here or back toward Barton City.”
Annalise relaxed. He wasn’t after her exact location. That was good. “Near town. I was going to hitchhike back.”
Caine looked immediately unhappy at that idea. “Can you drive?”
“Yes…I don’t have a license, but I know how.”
“Fine. I’ll give you my car to get home. As payment for all that—if it’s acceptable with you—show up at Barton Heights Mall tomorrow at say, nine thirty in the morning.”
Annalise frowned. “Why?”
Caine smiled, though he kept his lips together, giving him a rather mischievous look. She wondered just what she was getting herself into.
“We’re going dress shopping.”
Chapter Five
Annalise
She paused at the entrance to the mall, fingers wrapped around the handle and ready to pull the door open.
Was she really going to go through with this? Letting Caine buy her a dress, so that she could show up to the wedding seemed like a great way to tie herself further to him. Dresses were not cheap, and Annalise was quite short on money. Was he trying to impress her by spending money on her? If he wasn’t a complete idiot he’d know that was a terrible idea, and the impression she’d gotten so far was that he had brains.
Maybe he just hides the dumb really well then.
She laughed silently, knowing full well that Caine was anything but stupid. He’d managed to get her this far, something nobody else had been able to say the past five years. Annalise made a habit of keeping everyone several arms’ lengths away. It made her feel safer when she wasn’t attached to anyone or anything. No place to call home, no friends to get emotional over leaving, and no enemies to betray her. It was just the way she liked it, even if it got lonely sometimes.
The muscles in her fingers twitched, reminding her she had a decision to make. Should she open the door and see just where it all was leading, or did she turn the keys in to lost and found and then hop on one of the city buses she’d seen and head elsewhere. A bus ticket would cost precious money, but Annalise knew she could hit up a street corner and make enough in a day for a train ticket out of Barton City. There might even be enough left over for a coffee or some food.
Sudden movement from the door sent her scurrying backward, until she realized someone had pushed the automatic opener.
“Sorry,” the person in the wheelchair mumbled as they wheeled in past her, the awkward moment thankfully only lasting a moment.
Annalise stared at the open door for a second, and then went inside. If she was being honest with herself, she’d made the decision the moment she’d decided to use his SUV to get home for the night instead of hitchhiking. The rest was just to make her feel better about herself by pretending she’d actually thought about leaving.
She walked to the food court. Caine was already there, standing at one of the stalls and frowning at the menu.
“Having trouble?’ she asked, trying to sound calm and at ease, despite the butterflies in her stomach just from talking to him.
Why did he have to be so gorgeous? The light from the diner hadn’t done him justice. His hair was perfectly mussed, as if he had someone style it into messy perfection every morning. The sparkle of his eyes didn’t depend on perfect lighting, and she shivered at the electricity shooting down her spine when he turned the look on her, smiling broadly.
“Annalise!” he boomed, the happy exclamation turning several heads their way.
She cringed at the attention. “Hi,” she replied, speaking in a much more normal voice. An “indoor” voice.
“It’s good to see you,” he continued at only a slightly lower volume. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to show up.” He pointed at the pimple-faced teenager behind the counter. “Would you like anything? I’m still trying to decide. I don’t know what half of these things are.”
“It’s a coffee chain,” she told him. “Like, the biggest in the world.”
“Coffee is a new thing to me. Also what is a fr…frap…” He frowned in concentration. “A frap-puke-sign-o?”
The kid behind the counter lost it, and Annalise wasn’t far behind, despite trying her absolute best.
Caine looked back and forth between the two of them, unimpressed at being the butt of the joke. He leaned over the counter and growled at the kid. “Something funny?”
Letting out an audible “meep!” the teenager stood up, shaking his head frantically from side to side. “No,” he said, his voice cracking, though from the fear or puberty she wasn’t sure. “Not at all.”
Annalise poked him in the side, taking pity on the kid as Caine continued to glare at him. “It’s called a Frappuccino,” she said, speaking slowly so he could pick up the proper pronunciation.
“Oh. Of course. I was just going for the laughs.”
She nodded, her eyes skeptical and letting him know full well she knew he was full of shit. “A Frappuccino is iced coffee made in a blender with whipped cream and other fancy stuff.”
“Yuck. Iced coffee? You people are weird.”
Annalise tried to process that statement as he ordered a plain coffee with nothing in it. He took his coffee pure black, and he had the nerve to call her weird? Right.
“Go on, order,” he urged, pointing her at the counter. “Then we’ll get going.”
Knowing full well he wasn’t going to be satisfied, she ordered a coffee for herself before following him through the mall.
“Do you even know where you’re going?” she asked.
“Oh sure. Finding a dress store was easy. The internet is great for that. Once we’re there though, I have no idea what to expect.”
“You do realize that you can’t just take someone like me to any old dress store, right?” She hated admitting it, but she would rather suffer humiliation with Caine than some snotty retail attendant who took pride in telling her that they only sold up to size six, and that maybe she should try another store.
“I’m well aware that someone as delightfully curvy as you needs dresses made to accent that stunning figure,” he said, firmly but politely correcting her tone and attitude. “Besides, I cheated and asked my brother’s mate. She’s got shape to her as well.”
Annalise was momentarily preoccupied with the way he described her fat, oversized body in such glowing terms to focus on the rest of what he’d said. Eventually she processed it, however, and shot him a confused glance. “Your brother’s what?”
He shrugged. “Mate. Wife. Lover. Is it not all the same?”
“I…guess?” She’d never really heard anyone refer to someone else as their mate. Soulmate, perhaps; that wasn’t unheard of. But straight up “mate,” like a wild animal, or an Australian friend? That seemed…unusual. Then again, he’d made several references now that were odd. Maybe it was
just his way of speaking.
“And here we are,” he announced after following a few twists and turns and going upstairs. “Dress store number one.”
Annalise stared, looking at the mannequins and racks inside. True to his word, it was a dress store that catered to plus-sized women. Or curvy, full-figured, whatever they wanted to call it. There were a million different terms, some she was okay with, others she wasn’t, and mostly a bunch that she didn’t care. It all boiled down to the fact that she was bigger than average.
“What about this one?” Caine asked, stepping forward and pointing at a prominently displayed black number that dipped precariously low on the plastic model, revealing a significant amount of cleavage.
“I don’t have the chest to pull that off,” she said. “Besides, it’s too revealing even if I did.”
Caine scoffed. “Don’t hide yourself away. You’re a gorgeous little thing, and the world needs to see you. Show off. Strut it, and let me deal with anyone who has a problem with it.”
She stared in open-mouthed astonishment as he spoke with a passion and conviction that made her feel pretty and yet also curious as to why he was so adamant.
“I don’t want to be a focal point,” she reiterated, trying to get that through to him. “Hell, I don’t even want to do this.”
“Then why are you here?”
There was no good answer to that question. Not an answer that she found acceptable at least.
“Exactly. But I’ll relent. If I stop trying to pick ones that I think are what you should wear, will you at least pick some to try on?”
For the seventeen-hundredth time that morning, Annalise questioned why she was there, and just what she was hoping to accomplish. She needed a reason to agree to all this. Something that would satisfy her. Why was she going to the wedding? That was the first question.
To meet Violet. That seemed like the proper answer. It made sense. Why not show up elsewhere and just talk to her though? Caine clearly knew her; he could introduce them. Why a wedding, of all places?
Because face it, you’re curious. You want to go and see why people would choose to get married.
There it was, the real reason. Annalise didn’t believe in love. Not true love, at least. A caring born from lust, perhaps, but as soon as sexual desire faded, so too did any attachment. It was a belief she held firm. Love didn’t exist. It was a fake construct that people chose so as to fit in with the rest of society. So why was she letting herself be dragged into contributing to it?
The thought rattled around in her mind as she listlessly tried on several dresses. It didn’t help that Caine wasn’t overly thrilled with them, his enthusiasm flagging, weighed down by the darkness in her mind. Everything changed however when she put on the black number.
It was short-sleeved and slightly off the shoulder, with a curved neckline that followed her smaller chest, stopping lower than she might normally be comfortable with, but not as sultry as it could be. The fabric was cinched just below her breasts with a thick band of leather-like black fabric, before draping down over her lower body in two layers. The upper layer of black lace swirled and danced with patterns, laid over a dark beige liner, giving the dress a two-tone color to it.
Caine’s jaw hit the floor. He rose from his seat, eyes glued to her body as she stood frozen, rooted to the spot by his reaction.
“Do you like it?” she asked nervously.
“Like it?” he breathed. “I love it. You look breathtaking. Absolutely breathtaking.” He stopped admiring her figure and pinned her down with a heavy gaze. “Please tell me you like it.”
Anxiety set in as she turned, regarding herself in the mirror. To her surprise she found she enjoyed it too. It fit her nicely, but wasn’t a complete showstopper either. Her gaze strayed back to Caine. Well, maybe it was a bit of a showstopper, but the big man seemed to have taken a liking to her beyond what most other people would.
“I like it,” she said softly, watching for the approval in his eyes. They were such a bright shade of ice blue it was hard not to look at them, like the beautiful tundra of the far north, majestic in its chilly beauty.
Caine’s features blossomed with joy, and he looked over his shoulder at the attendant who had been helping them, pointing at the dress and giving her a thumbs up. “We have a winner.” He winked at her. “And we’ll take the dress too.”
Annalise blushed. His blatant flirtation was intoxicating, it made her want to respond, to tease him back. It made her comfortable.
And comfort was danger.
Her eyes flicked over the store as she realized she’d lost track of her surroundings, focused exclusively on Caine, and ignoring what else might be going on. Backing away nervously, she sought out the imagined safety of the changing room. Resting her hands on the wall, she forced herself to take slow, deep breaths, trying to calm her system before it overloaded itself.
Fear gripped a hold of her, spurring her fingers on as they stripped the dress from her body.
“Annalise?”
She paused as Caine approached the door.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, forcing herself to sound cheery. “Just wanted to change back.”
“All right.” He didn’t believe her. “Pass the dress over when you’re done, so I can pay for it and have it wrapped up. Do you want to go for an early lunch after?”
“Yeah, sure, okay.” She hurriedly tied up her shoes and checked that she had everything. Then she passed the black dress and the other three she’d tried on over the top of the door.
“Oh.” Caine sounded surprised to receive them all, but that had been her plan.
Annalise waited until he started walking away, then she opened the door and bolted for the exit, arms churning as she ran. Behind her Caine shouted in surprise.
“I’m sorry!”
She was. But the realization that she was coming to enjoy his company, and that she liked making him smile was too much. Leaving would be best. That way she wouldn’t allow herself to feel any more attached to Caine, and she could also make it clear that he didn’t own her. She wasn’t going to be at his beck and call, going where he wanted and dressing how he liked. Annalise did her own thing, on her own schedule, and that’s the way it had to stay. Nobody would ever dictate something to her again. Not even Caine.
Once was enough.
Chapter Six
Caine
The wedding went off without a hitch.
Everyone was happy. Cowl and Andria made a lovely couple and everyone commented on it, drawing big smiles from his youngest brother and his mate. Caine couldn’t have been happier for the pair. The change in his brother since being with Andria was immense. Gone was the self-absorbed and reckless youngster that he and Ivore had attempted to guide for so many years, and in his place was a seasoned warrior, a thoughtful mate, and now a loving husband. In a moment of weakness he might even admit to his brother that he was impressed. Right before he started giving him a hard time about something else.
There were smiles all around. Except for him. Caine put on a good show, plastering a fake smile on his face as he made the rounds, slapped backs, and exchanged hugs. But his brothers could tell he was unhappy, and he hated himself for ruining their evening. It was the course of their brotherly bond that they knew when he was being genuine and when he was faking it.
He scanned the assembled crowd at the reception once again. Most of the faces were unfamiliar, extended family and friends of Andria. A knot of dragon shifters occupied two tables in the back corner, away from the majority of the guests. There were nine of them all told. Nine awakened dragons who were coming together more out of a desire to be amongst their own than any need for more friends. Generally dragons didn’t do well when large groups of them came together. Caine chalked that up to the mates, who kept the group grounded and focused with feminine charms instead of masculine bravado.
There was a face missing in the crowd, however, a face he desperately wished
to see. When Annalise had run off in the mall, he’d thought about following her, about running her down like he had in the woods. He’d even dumped the dresses in the arms of the store worker, ready to rush off. But a kind word of advice from her had stopped him.
“She’s afraid you’re not for real.”
Caine had paused, instantly furious at the woman for judging his mate and their relationship. As the words sank home, however, the icy calm that was his trademark took over.
“What do you mean?” he’d asked, wanting to know more.
The attendant, a young woman who barely qualified to wear most of the outfits in the store, had given him a patronizing glare. “Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot just because I’m young,” she’d told him. “You know you’re attractive. Being humble is great and everything, but there are times where you have to acknowledge it, because otherwise people begin to doubt your true intentions.”
“Very well,” he’d grumbled. “What do my looks have to do with anything? She is just as gorgeous as I am. Do you not see her curves and the perfect softness of her body? I could not have designed a better woman to wrap my arms around.”
“I’m aware. But it’s those arms that are the problem. That’s what she sees. Your muscles and general good looks. Great looks even. You’re a model, and in the real world, models aren’t interested in women like her.”
“I am,” he’d snarled, offended that someone would question his interest in Annalise.
“She needs time to accept that, though. To come around to believing that men like you do exist, that you aren’t just in it for another reason. She wants you to chase her, but she needs a moment to breathe first. It’s too much for her.”
Caine had stared at the attendant. “You are a wise woman despite your years. Thank you.”
She’d giggled. “You’re welcome. I take introductions to your friends as payment, you know.”