King of Wall Street(46)

She turned and swept up her hair and I realized she was asking me to unzip her. “Would you wear it?” she asked as I helped her out of her dress.

I nodded. “Yes. It’s beautiful. Not that I would have anywhere to wear a dress like that.” I closed the curtain so she could dress in private.

“On a date?” she asked. “Do you have a boyfriend yet?”

My stomach flipped over as I remembered our conversation in the laundry room. Had she told Max anything I’d said? I glanced at the exit to the changing rooms. Could Max hear our interaction? “No, not at the moment.”

“You’re super pretty. When I’m older, I want to love my job, but I want someone to love me, too.” I’d not ruled out love. It had just never found me. Maybe Grace was right and I was looking for perfection. “My dad’s like you. Always busy with work. He always says that between work and me, he has more than enough for any man.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. She clearly wanted her dad’s approval, and I was getting the impression the two of them actually talked. Maybe they were closer than I thought. “Do you hang out a lot?” I asked, lowering my voice.

“Me and my dad? Yeah. Like all the time,” she replied.

Before I got a chance to ask Amanda more questions about her and Max’s relationship, she opened the curtain, grinning. “I really like this one,” she said, stepping out in a long skirt of pleated crepe, which had a slit up the side.

“It’s really pretty.” I leaned forward to even out the skirt. “I love it. This looks beautiful.” The shoulders were a contrasting silver material that came down and crisscrossed around her bust, in a Greek-like style. There was no cleavage, but at the same time it was dramatic. “And it looks gorgeous against your hair. Let me grab some shoes. Stay there.”

As I walked out of the dressing rooms, my eyes met Max’s as he looked up from his phone.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

I nodded. “Just getting some shoes.”

As I passed, he grabbed my wrist. I froze. Almost immediately he dropped my hand. “Sorry. I just wanted to say thank you. This means a lot to Amanda.”

I nodded but didn’t look at him. My brain was misfiring. One minute Max was thanking me for making his daughter happy, the next he was yelling at me if I didn’t get his sandwich order right. And then there were those kisses.

And I couldn’t quite work out the dynamic between Max and Amanda. He seemed quite involved in Amanda’s life. More than I’d thought. But if he’d never been married to her mother, how had that worked? It had never worked with my father.

I grabbed a pair of silver sandals with a small heel and rushed back to Amanda.

“Will he like it? Can we convince him?” she asked, taking the shoes and strapping them up. “This is the one, right?”

“You know him better than I do, but I think you look beautiful in it.”

“Daaad,” she called out. “I’m coming out. And I really like this one. It’s perfect, so you can’t be mean.”

Her smile was so wide, I couldn’t help but smile back. I really hoped he approved. Amanda deserved to wear this dress. It was age appropriate and really elegant.

She stepped out onto the shop floor and I peeked around the corner at Max’s face. His eyebrows were halfway up his forehead as she twirled around three hundred sixty degrees for him. “What do you think?” she asked.

He gave a small shake of his head as he stood and took a deep breath. “I think you look far too grown-up.” Amanda’s shoulders slumped. “And completely beautiful.” He pulled her into a hug. “You found your dress, peanut.” He lowered his voice and spoke into her ear as they continued to hug. “You’re growing up so fast; you have to forgive me for wanting to keep you mine for longer than I should.”

Tears welled in my eyes. He sounded so genuine. So completely besotted with his daughter.

“I’ll always be yours, Dad,” she said as she smiled. He kissed her on the cheek and released her.

Max seemed to regain his composure. “Twirl for me again,” he said, lifting her hand in his and pulling his daughter into a spin.

The skirt of the dress lifted as she turned faster and faster. Max grinned and Amanda giggled. My heart squeezed. It felt as if I were encroaching on what should be a private moment. I should have my own memories like this, not have to steal other people’s.

* * * * *

“You know what this means?” Amanda asked as we stepped out onto the sidewalk, the heat swallowing us up immediately. She carried two white boutique bags, one with the dress and one with the shoes and a bag we’d spotted on the way to the cash register.