Page 166 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“Uh…” I thought about my dumpy little house, its contents. Nothing worth stealing, especially for a guy like Deacon, who had in the past made his opinions of my ancient television known. And I trusted him. He wasn’t the type to steal. And even if he was, well, I’d know right away who was to blame and Maggie would kick his ass six ways from Sunday. “No, I don’t mind. You can watch TV or help yourself to a soda from the fridge, if you want.”

“Cool,” Deacon said.

“Megyn and I will bring back a pizza like we promised. So, it’d behoove you to stick around.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Deacon agreed, waving his hand at Maggie to brush her aside. “I got a book in the car I can read. Just, what’s so important you suddenly have to leave?”

“None of your business,” Maggie said.

I smiled a little and decided to make this whole thing a bit more fun forme,since I had been dragged into it against my will. “We’re going to look for costumes so Maggie can go to this party and see a guy she has a crush on.”

Deacon’s wide lips curved in a huge grin. Now he had ammunition against his sister, who always did her best to seem invincible.

Maggie flushed and snatched my hand, yanking me through the doorway. “Deadbolt’s on the back of the couch,” she yelled over her shoulder.

Deacon’s laughter followed us all the way to Maggie’s car.

Maggie stepped on the gas, scowling at me from out of the corner of her eye. “I can’t believe you! Now he won’t stop until Christmas.”

“Why Christmas?”

“Family dinners give him a lot more people to focus on. He usually finds the most drunk relative and digs into them.” Maggie shook her head and kept driving, taking us from Staten Island to Brooklyn by way of a massive suspension bridge, the Verrazzano-Narrows.

I didn’t say much else on the ride, thinking about family dinners and holidays. My dad and Crystal had come back home for a single visit in the time since they had been gone, for Thanksgiving a few years ago. I had done my best to make a good meal and furnished the house in handmade decorations. Crystal had spent the entire time complaining about how much better the food was back at home, prepared by their personal chef, and called my decorations tacky.

Needless to say, I now spent all my holidays alone, usually eating leftovers from prior meals.

Maggie parked in front of a Goodwill and hopped out of the car. We went in and browsed the cluttered shelves, looking through the disorganized merchandise. There were always plenty of clothes at stores like this and we spent the better part of an hour going through the piles. Nothing really caught my eye, unfortunately. I didn’t exactly want to go to the party dressed as a hobo. That would be a bit too on the nose.

Maggie turned to me and held up a pink dress. “What if you were a princess?”

“Maggie, be serious.”

“Iamserious, Megyn.” She held the dress in front of me, laying the bodice against my abdomen. Too small. “It would be easy. And cheap. A nice dress, maybe with some modifications. We can get you some gloves to wear. I’m pretty sure I saw some in a pile awhile back. Put your hair up, wear a tiara…”

She made it sound so simple I actually agreed with her. All of these dresses, hung so carelessly on clothing racks at the rear of the Goodwill, did seem to have seen better days, but I had plenty of sewing skills I could put to use.

Maybe having something to work on between shifts will make me feel better.

Unfortunately, my options were a little more limited than I had expected them to be. The only dress that actually fit me was one in a soft blue color, very old and faded.

“We can look somewhere else,” Maggie suggested. “No one will come along and steal this one in the meantime, I’m sure.”

I stroked the long skirt of the dress and suddenly knew it was meant for me. I could already envision the changes I’d make to it. “No. It’s this one.”

“Okay! Let’s look for accessories.”

We picked up a few accessories and I paid for all of it on my own, despite Maggie’s offer to help. Everything was just cheap enough not to break the bank.

We picked up a pizza to take back to Deacon and we all had a nice, if somewhat awkward time eating. Deacon and Maggie departed soon after, driving off one after the other, leaving me alone with the two bags full of my purchases.

I got up and lifted the dress from the plastic grocery bag the clerk had shoved it in, studying it, reaffirming my plans. I took it to the spare bedroom, the one that used to belong to my parents, where I always did my sewing, and got to work.

CHAPTER5

CARTER

Ilounged on a rather uncomfortable gold couch in the tailor’s shop, awaiting the tailor himself. Both walls were lined with shelves filled with fabrics of all sorts. What should have been a nice, almost peaceful place nevertheless failed to unsettle me. This was the shop of a very wealthy tailor, who did only work for rich clients, and the expense showed. The room was both modern and stuffy, narrow, with many square features that must have pleased a designer but which seemed clumsy to me.

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