Chapter 55
55
A s usual, Melvale entered the huge department store like he owned it. Dallan sighed the minute he spotted him. “Here we go.”
Shona slapped him on the bicep. “Be nice. Let him do what he does best.”
“Dress people?” Dallan scoffed good naturedly.
“He wants to impress, Pari. Didn’t you want to impress me?”
“I was fighting for my life, if ye’ll recall,” he shot back. He came away from the counter he’d been leaning against. They were next to a display of lady’s handbags. Shona had been eyeing them since they took up their post to watch for Melvale and the others. “Are ye sure ye dinna want one, Flower?”
Her eyes lit up. “Why Dallan, are you offering to buy me something?”
“I haven’t the coin on me but yes. I can get some money from Melvale.” He gave her a hooded look. “Ye ken he probably has these same ones in that huge wardrobe department of the library.”
“Oh, but Dallan, sweetheart,” she said and ran her hands up his chest. “It’s not the same as buying one here.” She drew closer, standing on tiptoe to kiss him. “You know you want to…”
“Now lass, we had enough of that in the taxi.” He glanced over his shoulder as if their driver might be waiting for them. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Besides, the poor man got enough of their canoodling to last a lifetime. But it did keep his mind off the closed space he’d been in.
She walked her fingers up his chest. “Well, get me a new handbag and who knows, you might get lucky tonight.” She smiled at him and batted her eyelashes.
“What is that supposed to mean? Lucky?”
She sighed as her shoulders slumped. “You know, sometimes you take the fun out of flirting.”
“I like flirting, when I ken what yer talking about,” he said with half a scowl.
“Shona!” Kitty called. She grabbed Archer by the hand and pulled him along. When she reached them, she dropped his hand, bounced on the balls of her feet a few times then squealed, “I can’t believe we’re here!”
Archer cringed and put a finger in his ear. “Ow.”
Dallan laughed at his discomfort then eyed Melvale. The dandy stood, eyes wide, a silly smile on his face as he took in their surroundings. “Weel, let’s get this over with, shall we?”
“Dallan,” Shona snapped. “Behave.”
He sighed and looked at Archer, but he was now as mesmerized as Melvale. Great.
“Look at all this stuff,” Archer commented to no one in particular. “I haven’t the slightest idea what most of it is.”
“This,” Shona said holding up a pink handbag. “Is fashion.”
Kitty’s eyes became riveted on the bag. “Wow, that’s gorgeous!” She looked at the price tag. “Then again, maybe not.”
Shona frowned at her.
Kitty’s eyes darted to Dallan and back. He tried not to cringe. Here it comes…
“Well, actually,” Kitty drawled. “That’s a very good price for that.” She turned to Dallan. “You really ought to buy that for your wife.” She winked at Shona before she grabbed Archer’s hand again and gave it a yank. He almost fell over as she dragged him off to another section in the sea of handbags they were in.
Dallan chuckled. “Poor Archer. He hasna any idea what he’s getting into.”
Shona smacked him again. “Oh, let Kitty have her fun.” She glanced at Kitty and Archer’s joined hands. “You don’t think…”
“Absolutely not,” Dallan said. “He’s no her type as yer so fond of saying.” He kept his eyes on Melvale and Pari as they made their way toward them. They were holding hands too. Good.
“Time Master Dallan,” Melvale said in a low voice. “Isn’t this wonderful? I want to go to Sak’s and Bloomingdale’s and… ”
“Nay, this is dangerous enough. Ye dinna want to put yer lass at risk.”
Melvale’s face fell. “No, of course not.”
“Then let me do my job while we’re here and watch over ye,” Dallan said. “Enjoy yerselves, buy her some things, have fun. But dinna draw attention to yerself.” His eyes scanned the passersby. They were all staring at Melvale, not to mention him, like they were celebrities. “Okay, try not to draw any more attention to yerself than ye already are.”
Melvale smiled. “I’ll do my best.” He glanced at Pari who had stepped a couple of feet away, her eyes glued to a handbag.
“What is it with women and these bags?” Dallan groused in a low voice.
Melvale smiled again. “Oh, Time Master. You have so much to learn.” He let go of Pari. “Go on, Kitten. Shop.” He waved her away with both hands.
She blushed a deep red, smiled, and slowly gravitated to the bag she had her eye on.
Dallan sighed. “Weel, there’s no help for it. I need some cash.”
Melvale laughed. “Very well.” He reached for the wallet in his back pocket. “How are my eyes?”
“Gray. Normal. Let us hope they stay that way.” Dallan scanned their surroundings again as Melvale handed him the money.
“You’ll be surprised how fast that goes,” Melvale said.
Dallan looked at it. “How much is this?”
“Two thousand.”
Dallan’s eyes widened. “How much did ye bring, man?”
“Ten.”
His jaw dropped. “Och, are ye mad?”
“No, I’m in Manhattan.” He gave Dallan a slight bow, turned to Pari, and joined her.
Dallan stuffed the money into his pocket and let out a breath. This world was a far cry from the Muiraran’s—that didn’t use money that he knew of—or the one he’d left behind. He turned, spied Shona and Kitty laughing about something as Archer slung a handbag across one arm and began prancing about like a woman.
Dallan shook his head. There were far worse things he could be tasked with. Melvale was holding together well, all things considered. Pari was warming up to him slowly, but at least warming up. And there had been no other signs of danger. Nothing showed up in the news or papers about bodies turning up in Pari’s neighborhood either. Unfortunately, Melvale still couldn’t remember the details of that night, but they would come to him soon enough according to Kwaku. There was no reconciling the fact that his Alpha side would do what was necessary to protect Pari and eventually the rest of them. Melvale just had to wrap his head around it.
“What about this one?” Shona held up a black handbag.
Dallan looked at it until something drew his attention. Kitty was several feet behind Shona giving him the thumbs up sign.
“Er, it’s… nice, Flower.” He narrowed his eyes slightly at Kitty, who stuck her tongue out at him.
“You really think so?” She went to the pink bag she’d been looking at earlier.
Dallan stood in the middle of the handbags and crossed his arms over his broad chest. A group of women walked by and ogled him. Then another group, and a few men! Dallan backed deeper into the displays of goods and found Shona. He put his arm around her. “Kiss me.”
“What? Now you’re getting amorous? Are you hungry?”
“Just do it, Flower.”
Shona rolled her eyes. “You’re getting looked at again, aren’t you?” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
His shoulders slumped in relief. “That ought to do it.” His eyes flicked here and there, catching more than a few disappointed looks. He smiled at Shona and noticed the pink bag in her hand. “Ye like that one, Flower?”
“I do,” she said with a sigh.
“Then I’ll buy it for ye.”
She gasped in delight, wrapped an arm around him, and kissed him again.
Melvale gave him a satisfied smirk before returning his attention to Pari. With any luck, Dallan thought, he’d get a kiss too.
Melvale hadn’t been this nervous since he outfitted the queen for the first time. “Black is a neutral color,” he advised.
Pari was holding a red and black plaid handbag. “Oh,” she said, disappointment in her voice.
Melvale blanched. “But if you like that one, then by all means, get it.”
She looked at him with wide eyes. “I don’t know, it’s awful expensive.”
Melvale made a scoffing sound and looked at the price tag. “It’s fine. Do you want it?”
She stared at him, and he heard her heartbeat pick up. She stood perfectly still, like a frightened doe in a meadow about to take flight into the nearby forest.
“You can get whatever your heart desires,” he said gently. “You don’t have to feel guilty; you don’t owe me anything. I want you to get things you would never get for yourself.”
She sucked in a breath. “I… I don’t…”
“You deserve it,” he said, looking her in the eyes.
Melvale watched the pain flash across her face. “Oh, stab me,” he said softly. “Pari, why do you not think you deserve such things?”
She shook her head, her mouth moving but no sound coming out.
He put his arm around her as she tried to put the bag back. He took it from her and handed it off to Archer. “You deserve so much, little one.” He stopped and faced her. “You are a beautiful young woman deserving of only the finest.” He drew closer. “Say it.”
She gasped again. “I…I can’t.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“Then why did you ask me to repeat it?”
“Because I wanted you to admit that you can’t say it.” He winked at her. “Yet.” Melvale smiled, straightened, then surveyed the wares around them.
A saleswoman approached; her eyes glued to him. “May I help you find something?”
He flashed her a brilliant smile. “Why yes, my girlfriend needs a wallet to go with her bag.” He reached over and took the bag from Archer who was starting to look like a handbag display. Kitty and Shona were hanging bags off his other arm and had another slung over his shoulder. Dallan stood off to one side, chuckling in amusement.
Pari ignored it all and stared at the saleswoman. “I’m not his… I mean…”
The woman’s eyes darted between them before she took the bag from Melvale. “We do have matching wallets for this. They’re right over here.” She headed for a glass display case.
“It makes you uncomfortable when I call you, my girlfriend?” he asked.
Pari blushed a deep red. “Yes. This is technically only our second date, remember?”
“Ah, yes. Forgive me.” He gave her a heartfelt look. “It won’t happen again. Now get your wallet.” He shooed her toward the saleswoman.
Dallan joined him. “Ye best hope she starts referring to ye as her boyfriend.”
“I’m trying,” he sang in a low voice “She’s scared. So scared.”
“Aye. This might prove tougher than any of us thought.”
“I’d give her the world if I could, Time Master.”
Dallan sighed. “Melvale, from what I understand about this Alpha business, ye well could.”
Melvale looked at him and realized it was true. “Oh, stab me. And here I was fretting over providing her with a halfway decent wardrobe.”
Dallan smiled. “One step at a time. Ye might start with that bag she fancies.”
“Yes, and what about you?”
He glanced at Shona and smiled. “I’d give her the world as well. But I’m no the one equipped to do it. The sooner ye can win Pari’s heart the better, man. Remember that.” He patted Melvale on the back, then went to join his wife and if Melvale’s guess was right, rescue poor Archer.
He rejoined Pari who appeared to be deciding between two different wallets. A red one and a black one. “The black,” Melvale said.
She gave him a shy smile. “Because it goes with everything?”
“Precisely. This means you can get another bag.”
The saleswoman grinned. “Anything you have in mind?”
Melvale glanced around then smiled at Pari. “Whatever my friend wants.”
Pari smiled back. “Thank you.”
Melvale’s eyes raked over her. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Now all he had to do was convince her of that. “It’s my pleasure.”