Stunned by his bluntness, I walked with trepidation to the edge of the bed, eying the clothes with confusion. My fingers drifted over the piles of clothing and I felt the flush of anger spread across my face.
“Why do I need all of this, Lucas? I have plenty of clothes and the last thing I need is a personal shopper,” I muttered through clenched teeth.
Lucas sat down on the edge of the bed, crossing his legs and staring at me with his icy blue eyes. He wrapped his long fingers around his knee. He turned his head to the side, silently staring at me. A small smile touched his thin lips.
“You need this for many reasons, Josie. You've been living a half of a life and hiding from who you are for some reason. And you don't have to tell me why that is.” He put up his hand, sighing. His eyes became distant as if lost in a memory. “I can relate to you in many ways. I was considered an outcast when I was a human so I was forced to hide what I truly was. Being a homosexual man wasn't an acceptable thing to be when I was a human. Stefan saw past that and chose to be my friend. The two of you are obviously going to be together so I thought we should also be friends.”
I unclenched my jaw and sat down next to Lukas, patting him lightly on the leg with my hand. He looked at my hand for a moment, his eyes misty as he quickly glanced away to focus his attention on a shoe box.
“Lukas, you don't need to buy me anything to be my friend. I appreciate the thought, I do. It's really not necessary,” I said, trying to make my voice gentle and soothing. I couldn't stay angry at him. He was aggravating and impetuous at times but his intentions were genuine.
“Stefan is truly happy for the first time since I've known him, Josie. You have to understand how happy that I am that you're finally together. And sweetheart, I didn't buy you anything. You can thank Mr. Romance and his Black American Express card for your new wardrobe.” His cool hand covered mine for a moment. He stood up, walking across the room to open the doors to the expansive walk in closet. He began moving quickly from the bed to the closet, hanging dresses and blouses on hangers. Our little heart to heart chat was apparently over and I was left wondering why Stefan had decided to purchase me a new wardrobe.
He came to a sudden halt beside of me, his eyes sparkling as if he'd read my mind.. “Let it go, Josie. What's done is done. He loves you and he'd give you the moon if he could. Don't make a big deal over this. Now go get that hot body of yours in the shower and get ready. I'll get an outfit ready for you.”
Shaking myself slightly, I pulled myself out of my memory. Walking into the bedroom, I admired the emerald green dress draped across the bed. Picking it up carefully, I moved to stand in front of the full-length mirror. I carefully pulled the chiffon fabric over my body, adjusting my breasts in the ruched bodice of the strapless dress.
My fingers were reaching for the zipper when I heard Stefan approaching. I smiled when I saw his reflection in the mirror, stopping to lean against the door frame. I heard his sharp intake of breath as his eyes moved slowly over the length of my body.
“Can you zip me up?” I asked, grasping my hair in my hands and lightly lifting it away from the zipper.
He pressed off of the frame and slammed the door closed behind him, swaggering to stand behind me. His large hands pulled the zipper slowly up the fabric of the dress and his blue eyes locked on mine in the mirror, compelling and magnetic. His hands lingered on my shoulders, slowly running a finger up against the nape of my neck. I shivered from the feel of his hands on my skin, cool and sensual.
“It is a pity to see your body covered, even if you do look beautiful. Every man will want to take you home with him. I am the lucky one that has the pleasure of taking you...home.” His voice was low and smug. He stretched out on the bed, his dark jeans snug over his muscular thighs and his white dress shirt was open, leaving his sculpted chest exposed.
“It's a good thing I love an incredibly sexy vampire. And you know I don't want to go, Stefan. We could just stay here...you could just unzip this dress and we could just forget about going out....” I said, doing my best to sound sexy and persuasive as my eyes roamed over the length of his body on the bed behind me.
Stefan raised an eyebrow in amusement, flashing me fanged smile. “As much as I would enjoy getting you out of that incredibly sexy dress, we both agreed.”
“I know, I know,” I mumbled, putting my hands on my hips.
I was starting to hate it when he was right.
And as much as I didn't want to go, even I had to admit the dress was stunning. It stopped right above my knees and was snug in all of the right places. It had a thin, black silk belt that tied in the front of the dress around the waist. The deep green of the dress made my eyes almost luminous and my reddish-blond hair shine.