Taking his time about it, he found her and Peggy at a rack of Wrangler jeans. “I think these will be a perfect fit,” Peggy was saying as she pulled out a pair that looked as if they would be show Brielle’s fine ass to perfection.
He joined the conversation enthusiastically. “I agree.”
“Colt may act like an ass,” Peggy said, echoing one word of his thoughts, “but he does have good taste when it comes to clothing. You should listen to him.” Her sugary-sweet sales voice had Colt in yet another of his patented grins.
Brielle’s enthusiasm didn’t match Colt’s.
She was soon being pushed from one rack of clothes to the next, and her arms were laden with things she knew she’d never wear again after she left this benighted place. She didn’t want to even think about the money she was about to spend on clothes that she would have scoffed at before today. Heck, she was still scoffing today.
When she finally made it to the changing room and slipped into a pair of the jeans and a button-down shirt, she felt itchy and uncomfortable. She was used to silk and cashmere, not cotton and polyester. She’d never get used to this new life. But if she wanted to earn the respect of the men working for her, she needed to fit in to their world a little better.
Even if it would kill her budget. She hoped her father would mellow out before too much longer, and maybe, just maybe, let her have access to her trust fund again. Maybe she’d better quit ignoring his calls if she hoped for that to happen. This shopping trip wouldn’t make the slightest dent in the money she had sitting in her frozen bank account.
Just the thought of her old platinum credit card made her want to cry. There was a time she hadn’t had to think about the cost of anything. Now, a fifty-dollar pair of jeans was making her break out in a sweat.
One thing she was learning from all of this was that she should be a lot more grateful for what she’d had. Not everyone lived the way she used to live, and not everyone was just handed everything. But that was probably one of the lessons her father wanted to teach her and her brothers.
Slipping into the boots that Colt had picked out for her, she looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror and grimaced to see herself in such an outfit. No way could she pull this off. She just wasn’t made to be a ranch girl. She was made to live in the city in a nice safe condo where someone else did the yard work. That was just who she was. The sooner everyone in her life accepted that, the sooner she could get back to the real world. Her real world.
“Come out, Brielle,” Colt said. “I know it can’t take that long to change, not even for a princess.”
She glared at the curtain separating her from Colt, but she had no doubt he would barge in on her if she didn’t comply. The sad thing was that the thought of him sharing the small dressing room with her wasn’t as horrifying as it should have been, not after that burning kiss. She feared she’d be replaying that several nights in a row in her dreams.
“I’m coming. Keep your pants on.” She pulled the curtain back and stepped out. “I don’t see how you people can deal with these clothes. My toes feel as if they’re being crushed.” She twirled around as a joke. This wasn’t a fashion show she’d ever thought she’d participate in — that was for damn sure.
Colt stepped up behind her when her twirl left her back facing him. His hands slid around the curve of her hips and his thumbs settled in her front pockets as he turned their bodies so he could look into her light green eyes through the full-length mirror.
“I think you look pretty damn hot in this outfit,” he whispered against her ear, letting his lips brush the tender flesh of her neck as he bent just a little lower. “And these jeans have the added advantage of being the perfect resting place for a man’s hands.” He let his fingertips graze the top of her thighs.
Where was Peggy when Brielle needed someone to run interference? The shopkeeper had suddenly disappeared, and no one else seemed to be in the store. Gulping, Brielle knew she was in trouble, because she couldn’t find one single comeback to Colt’s lines.
She remained motionless as he kept pressing against her. What this man was doing to her body should be against the law. If someone had told her last year that she’d be melting into a giant puddle over a ranch hand, she would have given out a ladylike guffaw. Right now, however, she didn’t feel in the least like laughing.
When he finally let her go, she walked almost in a trance back into the changing room, pulled the curtain back into place, slowly unbuttoned the shirt, and let it float to the floor. Then she just stood there looking into the mirror at her flushed cheeks.