12. Zeth #2
How nice to afford dreams. My scoff was light enough to be ignored, but I didn’t miss how Amby looked down, hands in his pockets. Maybe he was also annoyed by her lucky naivete.
“Perhaps I can gather you new clients at the institute, Em,” Hattie replied from nearby. “I’m sure there will be lavish dances and gatherings at school.”
Amby gave a tight smile, but he also made a visible eye roll as he turned. I only had one sister to annoy me, so I almost felt sorry for Amby’s role with three spoiled ones. Almost. He deserved some torture for his privileges.
Arthur touched Emiline’s elbow gently. “Go ahead and find Zeth a suit.” He nodded at me. “Let’s get beers sometime soon and catch up.”
“You’ll drink me under the table, but I’m in,” I agreed, forgiving the earlier embarrassment since he honestly sounded happy to see me again.
Arthur granted me mercy, even if he did yell it from the rooftops.
Such kindness was rare. Maybe I did have a friend in Everdeen.
A friend who wasn’t trying to destroy me.
Arthur turned to go back to the room he’d come out of before, while Emiline began pulling a couple of suits off the racks already in the store.
“Em, what about my dress?” Hattie pouted.
“That one’s just fine,” Emiline said firmly. “I have your adjustments to get it fitted. Now go on to the back and change.”
“Oh, alright.” Hattie tsked and held up her skirts as she headed for one of two curtained alcoves.
Emiline led me to the other room with an armful of clothes.
She held the curtain open and motioned for me to enter.
When we slipped in, I instantly liked the cozy little space.
She waved to a plush stool and I sat. I watched as she hung up three suit jackets and explained a few things about each that didn’t matter to me.
All I wanted to know was the price. She never mentioned that, like a skillful salesperson who knows how to gain my interest first. Or maybe cost wasn’t something she thought about.
When she left, I picked the jacket that looked the least expensive.
Its dark-brown color paired well with my other clothes, so I could get by with the same old shoes and cap.
I slipped it on and glanced in the little dressing mirror, but that barely showed my whole chest. After a moment of indecision and trying to see myself, I gave up and slipped out of the room’s curtain.
Amby stared right at me from the chair. He was more relaxed, with one elbow on the arm of the chair and the other holding his book in his lap.
I, on the other hand, might have frozen halfway through the curtained door…
or maybe I looked charming. I hoped for charming as I swallowed and sent a dashing grin to him.
Then I sent a grin around the rest of the room.
Millie was roaming the jacket rack, and Hattie was already standing dressed by the counter.
I moved to stand where Hattie had stood on a raised dais, a central spot for the shop with wide mirrors.
The chairs all around me made a viewing station.
I ignored the audience as I evaluated myself in the mirror, pleased at how well this jacket hung on my shoulders.
Extending my arms, I liked how long the sleeves were, needing no alterations. That would also save me money.
“Oh, this one is nice,” Emiline commented. “It fits perfectly, too.”
“It’s a little washed out,” Amby said dryly. When my eyes locked on him in the mirror, he was still reading his book. “It’s not a very rich color.”
Not very rich? As in poor? Oh, he was most certainly out to anger me.
Stepping off the dais, I made my way to the dressing room. I flicked the curtain back and tugged off the first jacket, tossing it over the stool. The next jacket had velvet lapels in a deep burgundy that appeared far more expensive. Let’s see what Amby had to say about this one.
I stepped out again and went right to the mirrors, not glancing at Amby at all. Yes, this jacket was even better. “Well, Mils, what do you think?”
When she didn’t reply, I looked around, finding everyone gone but Amby. “Millie?”
“I found something to try on,” she called from the second room.
“That one’s too tight,” Amby said from behind. I turned to see his nose still buried in his stupid book. “Looks like you’ve been saving it from your childhood wardrobe.”
I pinched my nose, successfully stopping a fuck you before asking, “Are you just going to sit there criticizing?”
Amby shrugged and slouched in his chair, hiking his ankle up over his other leg.
“I’m only pointing out the obvious.” He still wasn’t looking at me, and something in his voice dripped with ridicule.
“Then again, you seem to have bad luck with getting suits dirty. You should consider that while searching for the next person to con into marriage. Will they have a lake?”
Something coiled in my chest as I narrowed my eyes at him from the dais. “If you’re tossing out insults, at least have the courage to say them to my face.”
“Did you know pods of orca are led by a female? Interesting.” Amby tilted his head at his book and turned the page.
I stepped off the dais and forced my lungs to inhale as I slowly approached him, until my thighs hit his crossed knee. Then I snatched his book straight out of his lap and turned it to see the title, Whales .
What the fuck?
I tossed the book to the floor, watching Amby turn to glance at it in surprise as if he couldn’t believe what I had done.
Leaning over, I grabbed both arms of his chair, trapping him under me as I stared at his petulant face with the same faint freckles I wanted to kiss a few days ago.
The same pouty lips, strong jaw, and pretty glasses.
Amby glanced up at me with wide, daring eyes through those lenses, and my breath caught again. Why couldn’t I resist him? He was nothing but trouble. He deserved some kind of punishment.
“Amby, dear,” I said as smoothly as I could without closing the few inches between us to use my mouth to quiet him. “Since you’re the expert on everything, including orcas, why don’t you pick out the perfect suit for me? Look around. I’ll wait.”
Amby raised his chin and glared at me with flushed cheeks. “You going to make me do it? You’ll have to lift this chair and take me over there. Like a servant carrying his prince.”
“Oh, you little—”
“What do you think?” Millie called out, and I flung myself from Amby’s chair. I barely had time to leap back onto the dais before the curtain to Millie’s dressing room swung open and Emiline held it back.
Oblivious to my agitation, Millie exited with a big grin to show off a straight-hanging skirt with a men’s black jacket on top.
The lapels gaped open from her well-endowed bust in a pleated white blouse, and the jacket buttons nipped in cleverly to create a waist. The mix of men’s and women’s apparel was outrageously appealing. My sister never looked so beautiful.
“Damn, Mils,” I swore without caring because she deserved it. “Are you trying to tip your cap for someone?”
“Maybe.” Millie lifted her skirt to step onto the dais with me. I made room so she could use the full mirror, while I wondered the whole time who she meant.
“It looks amazing on you.” Amby stood from his chair. He grabbed his book from the floor and dusted it off before setting it on a nearby table. “The blacks are rich and suit you well.”
Amby’s total flip from vexing to friendly didn’t even bother me because my sister glowed like a candle from his compliment.
When he stepped onto the dais, she gave him a big bear hug.
Amby smiled at her the way he used to smile at me, with a dimple, and patted her shoulder gently. She was the one to let him go.
“Now, let’s find your lost brother something,” Amby said unexpectedly. He pursed his lips, as if deep in thought, and the playful Amby returned, promising my comeuppance.
What was he planning? To pick out the worst jacket?
I glanced around and cringed at the slimy green atrocity hanging in the corner.
Or even worse, that one with flower-embroidered sleeves.
Only the worst sort of dandy would wear such ostentatious embroidery.
Amby would just love to see me suffer in it.
Emiline helped Millie off the dais while Amby headed right for the flowery waste of cloth, of course. He touched the hanger, pausing, and a shiver passed through me.
I crossed my arms and glared at him, but he ignored me and moved to another rack.
He rummaged around, no doubt searching for something even more horrendous, if such a thing existed, when Emiline joined him.
Their hands bumped into each other over the same suit.
Emiline stepped back with an approving nod while Amby pulled it out and faced it toward me.
The sleek black jacket appeared out of my price range with glimmering lapels and gold buttons.
I barely dared touch the thing until Amby offered it to me by sliding his arm under the lower half to drape it properly, like a devoted servant.
His slight bow and dropped gaze hinted at offering me more than a jacket.
“Will this do?” Amby asked, eyes on the floor.
When I didn’t answer—because I wished we were alone so I could push him down on his knees—Amby raised his head to toss me a questioning eyebrow.
His dare was unspoken. I demanded he pick out a jacket, and he did.
Now it was my turn to try on his choice, even if it cost more than I could afford.
I couldn’t back away from that raised eyebrow.
I liked meeting Amby head-on in this odd game of wills we somehow entered.
It wasn’t about fighting over a woman or our past. It was just about us.