Page 210 of Bridesmaid Undercover
“Not necessary,” I say.
“Well, I have no problem checking her out and making sure the dresses fit correctly on her. Now, do you want something revealing? No back? Maybe a deep V in the front?”
“God, you’re annoying,” I say as I walk over to the dresses.
“Whatever she’s comfortable in,” Polly says.
“Then that will be a turtleneck dress,” I shout over to her.
“That’s fine with me. Thanks for doing this.”
“Anything for the bride,” I say and then she takes off, leaving me alone with Hardy and Darla who arrives just in time to bring out water.
“Oh, where is the bride?” Darla asks.
“Came down with a migraine,” I say. “Luckily, the best man is here to help. See how that worked out?”
“Oh, wonderful,” Darla says, missing my sarcasm completely. “Would you like me to start pulling dresses?”
“Actually,” Hardy cuts in. “I think we can pull some, but we’ll let you know if we need any help.”
“Oh, okay,” Darla says, looking slightly confused. Technically, it’s her job to pull dresses but from the command in Hardy’s voice, I can see she has no intent to challenge him. “Well, do you know how long this will take? I have a meeting in half an hour.”
“I can lock up for you,” I say to Darla. “I remember the routine from when I helped out last summer.”
“You don’t mind?” she asks, twisting her hands together.
“Not at all. You know I’m just grateful you’re letting me look around on such short notice.”
“Oh, you know I would do anything for you and Maggie—you’ve brought me so much business.”
I smile kindly at her. “We are happy to help. If you want to lock up the front and I can use the pin pad in the back, then we will be good to go.”
“Great. Thank you,” Darla says. “And if you do need help with anything, just text me, I’ll have my phone. Leave the name and style of the dress on the notepad for me, and I’ll process it in the morning.”
“Not a problem,” I say.
Darla hurries off and leaves me and Hardy in the store, alone. I’m sure this is more than ideal for him.
“So,” he says, after Darla has locked up and clearly taken off, “crazy you’re going to be in the wedding, huh?”
“Yeah, insane how that worked out. Here I thought I wouldn’t have to see your face again, and lo and behold, I’ll be spending the weekend with you.”
“Very coincidental,” he says.
I roll my eyes dramatically and head over to the black dress section. Luckily, Darla has made it incredibly easy to find dresses in her store. She has them sorted by color, then by length. Since I’m going for something elegant, I head over to the floor-length black dresses and start looking through them. Darla has a large assortment, and lucky for me I’m sample size, so anything I might like that fits well, I’ll easily be able to rent.
“Want me to pick some dresses out?” he asks as he comes up behind me, his large body taking up all of my personal space.
“I’d prefer you stick your head in a trash compactor, but not sure I’m going to be that lucky today.”
“Unfortunately not,” he says as his chest presses against my back and his arm reaches out in front of me. He grabs a black silk dress that’s practically backless, only held together by a fewthin ties. The front is a loose cowl neck, which seems to dip low, exactly what he wanted. “This looks like it would be perfect.”
“Of course, you would say that,” I reply. “It barely has any fabric.”
“Which is perfect,” he says. “Even a long slit up the front.”
I study the dress and I feel a smile pass over my lips as I say, “You know what, that dress very well might be perfect.”
