Chapter 23
LUCY
“What’s this?”
I take a huge box from Tyler, and that sensation of dread that has been haunting me so much dials up to warp speed.
He’s gotten me a gift. A goddamn gift.
From the size of the box and the fact that it says Saks Fifth Avenue on it, I’m pretty sure it’s something fancy to wear. Expensive, too. There is a Saks downtown on Union Square, which I have been inside of exactly once in my life, to use the ladies’ room. Not shop.
This is… weird.
Is it possible to both like and dislike something at the same time? I don’t even know what’s in the box and yet I love that Tyler’s gotten me a gift. But, I also hate it. He’s not supposed to do nice things for me.
And yet he won’t goddamn stop, as if he’s trying to prove me wrong.
He’s ruining everything.
He drums his fingers on the arm of the sofa. Is he nervous? Afraid I won’t like whatever he’s giving me?
Don’t guys like him manipulate women all the time by throwing money at them? Sure, this gift, whatever it cost, is just a small drop in the bucket that is Tyler’s huge, pro-athlete bank account.
“You know, um, well, I don’t know much about women’s clothes. So I had Ruby come shopping with me. She helped me pick this out.”
Holy shit. He went through that much effort? For me?
Yes, I’m sleeping with him and all, but that sort of thing is just par for the course for guys like him.
Right?
“Ruby helped you? You went together?” I ask quietly.
I can picture him in the women’s department of Saks Fifth Avenue. He’s walking through it in massive discomfort, maybe even on the brink of an anxiety attack. He knows and everyone around him knows he’s pretty much helpless as a baby, lost in acres of women’s clothing, just wanting to make a purchase and get the hell out.
But Ruby, feisty little thing that she is, drags him around, touching and studying everything on offer until she finds something that’s ‘just perfect’ for me. He looks at her final recommendation skeptically and asks ‘Are you sure, Rubes? You think this is her jam?’
She gives him a dirty look and tells him if he doesn’t buy whatever she chose for me, he’s a freaking idiot.
In this sort of situation, there’s no doubt who’s the boss.
Wow. They braved downtown traffic and shitty parking together for me.
I can’t do this. I can’t. I need to leave right now.
I even glance at the door.
But I’m not going anywhere.
Tyler’s hopeful smile and nervousness at having bought me something to wear is squeezing my heart, wringing out every last drop of blood, and I’m glad. I hope I keel over from lack of oxygen. It would serve me right.
“Yeah, Rubes and I went together. She’s a pain in my ass but she has pretty good taste. Better than mine anyway.”
I gulp and nod, and thank God he has no idea what’s running through my brain right now, the sense of unworthiness and the knowledge I’m committing a betrayal, that I really am a shitty human being, and that my ambition knows no bounds.
I lift the lid and beyond the waves of delicate tissue paper that line the box lies something cream-colored. I don’t know what it is yet, because I can see only a sliver of it, but I have a feeling I’m going to like it.
A lot.
Tyler’s now leaning forward, elbows on knees, waiting for my reaction.
I take a deep breath and push the paper aside so I can get to the treasure within because now I’m curious as well as greedy. There’s something nice in this box, I know it, and I want it. Now.
I find the straps of a dress and as I lift it and it falls into shape, the box and paper tumbling to the floor, I am so blown away I gasp.
“Oh my gosh, Tyler.”
He’s gotten me the most beautiful, incredible cream-colored dress. It has straps and a fitted bodice, flaring into a full skirt that looks like it will hit just above the knee. It has a wide belt around the waist and reminds me of something Audrey Hepburn would have worn in the 1950s in one of her romantic movies. The silk is thick and sumptuous and lined with more silk, giving it body so it holds its shape for the lucky lady who gets to wear it.
I don’t know anything about high-end clothing, but I know this is the good stuff.
I turn the dress around, and back, and then around again. I can’t stop touching it. Or looking at it. It’s too pretty to wear. It belongs behind glass where no one can touch it or even breathe on it. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I even want anyone looking at it for fear of defiling it. I want to encase it in crystal and use it as the centerpiece for… everything.
“You… you got this for me?” My voice cracks. How could it not, in the face of such beauty?
Tyler nods, grinning ear to ear, like he knows he did good.
“We have that party coming up for the team, and I thought you might like something new to wear. No pressure. If you have something else you like better, go for it. Or you can always exchange this one. Whatever.”
I take a minute to catch my breath. “Are you kidding? I may wear this and never take it off.”
He nods. “Cool. I’ll have to tell Ruby you really like it.”
I do like it. I really, really like it.
And that’s not a good thing.