Chapter 22 Lexie #3
Instead, Theo’s gaze drags slowly over me. The dress is beautiful. It fits me perfectly—hugging where the others pinched or sagged. “Do you want to grab a video of this one?” the woman asks.
“No.” The word snaps, sharp enough to make me flinch.
I gape at him, stunned. What in the actual hell? Who does he think he is, snapping at a woman who’s just trying to help, when I’m the one bending over backward so his fiancée can find a gown for their goddamn wedding?
He bolts up and storms away. The air tightens instantly, like he’s drained the room of everything good and left only misery behind.
Do not cry. Do not cry. I clamp my lip between my teeth and skulk back to the dressing room, my body dragging like it weighs a million pounds.
“Oh no…” the assistant says, following me into the fitting area. “I think the groom had enough for today. It’s a shame he didn’t like this one, but the right dress will come along. Why don’t you get undressed and we’ll call it an evening.”
I nod and slump onto the cushioned bench, the disappointment settling heavy in my chest that tonight wasn’t a success and we’ll have to try again.
I reach for the zipper when the velvet curtain rustles open.
“Theo?” I gasp, as he steps inside and pulls it shut behind him. “What are you doing? You can’t be in here.”
“I wanted to talk,” he starts. “I shouldn’t have stormed off like that. It’s a—”
His phone rings, cutting him off. He squeezes his eyes shut in frustration before pulling the phone out, glancing quickly at the screen and angling it away from me.
Not fast enough, though.
Olivia.
“Sorry, I have to take this,” he says. And then he’s gone.
It feels like a bucket of ice water has been dumped over me.
A brutal reminder that I’m just one of many—another woman he draws in, then discards.
Shame and embarrassment crash into me all at once.
How did I let myself get this blinded again?
An unwanted tear slips down my cheek as I curse my own foolishness.
“Lexie,” the woman calls softly from outside. “Are you okay in there? You’ve been a while.”
“I’m fine,” I answer, my voice unsteady. “I’ll be out in just a minute.”
I finish getting dressed, leaving the wedding gown behind in the fitting room, and step back out in the lobby.
“Theo?” I call out, but there’s no answer.
The store is silent minus the shuffling sounds of dresses being housed back in their zipped garment-bagged homes.
Through the storefront window, I see Theo pacing the sidewalk.
He pinches the bridge of his nose, moves his hand like he’s trying to calm someone in front of him, and paces some more.
He hangs up and takes a deep breath before coming into the store.
“Everything okay?” I ask, and yes, I’m prying.
“Oh yep, fine,” he says, softening. “It was just Anna.”
Liar! God, I knew it. I knew it. Of course, a phone call doesn’t prove anything.
But everything I’ve seen, every instinct screaming in my gut, tells me he’s hiding something.
As cliché as it is, sometimes the simplest conclusion is the right one.
And really, who am I to judge, when I’ve imagined him doing all kinds of sinful things to me? The difference is, I won’t act on it.
“You are so full of shit. Do you actually believe the things that come out of your mouth?” I snap.
“We both know that wasn’t Annabelle.” I have no right to ask him who Olivia is, or why he said it was Anna, or literally anything about his life, but my body is boiling with so much rage right now that I can’t stop myself.
“What exactly are you saying?” he seethes. “Be really fucking clear in your words so I don’t misunderstand.”
I shake my head. “It’s none of my business.”
“Oh no, you don’t get to do this. You just made it your fucking business. If you have something to say, now is the time.”
“Why would I say anything to you? Nothing I’ll say will ever change the type of person you are.”
He crosses his arm with an icy glare. “And exactly what type of person do you think I am?”
My eyes narrow, sharp, hot, and very fucking angry. “The type I can’t wait to never see again after your account is closed.”
A harsh, charged silence stretches when heels click from around the corner. “Ah, I want to thank you both so much for coming in today,” the woman says. “Do you want to set up another appointment?”
“No, I’m not sure either one of us could handle another session,” Theo says flatly, glaring at me and then dropping the heated look when he turns to the woman. “Truthfully, our wedding planner here has actually disappointed me with her lack of professionalism.”
All the color drains from my face before it turns beet red. How dare he?
“But I will take the dress before the last one that the planner tried on for my beautiful bride,” he says and the tone stabs me in the heart. “I’m sure my wife-to-be will be stunning in it.”
As he pulls out his credit card, my gut tightens, and my heart sinks. I storm out of the store before he can cut me anymore.