Keeping the CEO's Secret

Chapter Ten

"I'm not sure if you've met me, but there's no way I'm wearing that."

From the other side of the changing room curtain I heard shuffling from Callum. He had been trying to pick an 'appropriate' outfit for me to wear and it was making me increasingly reluctant to partake in his plans for the day.

"Don't be so dramatic; the colour suits you."

I chucked the dress over the railing of the curtain in response to that. The price tag alone was enough to make me feel sick, let alone how low cut it was. It didn't 'suit' me in the slightest; it made me feel like I was suffocating.

"Give me one last chance," Callum pleaded.

"I didn't come all the way to Oxford to try on dress after dress, Callum," I groaned.

No response came and I was sure he had already run off to find another inappropriate dress for me to wear. Taking a seat on the bench, I pulled my legs up to my chest and stared at myself in the floor length mirror. What on earth was I doing?

"I've cracked it," Callum's voice was back. "You're not into clubbing-type dresses."

It took him nearly thirty minutes to figure that out?

A dress was passed over the railing. It was floor length and white with florals; he had finally found something that didn't make me want to hide in the changing room for the rest of my life. Thumbing the fabric, I tried to find the price.

"I pulled the tag off so don't even bother looking for it."

Rolling my eyes at him and his disregard for rules, I pulled the dress over my head and let the fabric hit the floor. It was the perfect length for me. However, I was reluctant to allow him to buy me a dress to prance around Oxford wearing. A fancy dress? It just didn't feel like me.

"You can wear your cardigan over the top if that helps?" He'd dropped his voice to just a whisper, the words filtering through the gap in the curtain fabric.

That alleviated some of the tension in my chest and I did as he recommended, wrapping my cardigan around myself. It looked a little odd with the dress, but it did make me feel a whole lot better. It felt more like the girl staring back at me was indeed my own reflection, and not a stranger in a fancy dress trying to be somebody she's not.

"Can I get a peek?"

With one last glance in the mirror and a hand through my hair to settle it, I pulled back the curtain. Callum's eyes were on me in a second and mine on him. He looked dishevelled from his shopping experience; his hands had clearly been raking through his hair in his frustration.

His eyes drank me in, scanning me up and down with an expression unlike any I'd seen from him so far. He let out a low whistle, making my cheeks flare up with a red, burning tinge.

"I can see now that this was the obvious choice from the beginning," Callum tutted. "You look beautiful, Millie."

My stomach turned and I had to divert my gaze from him, staring at the floor to try and calm my beating heart. The way he was looking at me was too much and I felt exposed, despite the comfort of my cardigan. It made my stomach flip, and my mouth go dry—my thoughts racing.

"Shut it," I mumbled.

Callum took the tag to the till to pay, and I gathered my things, lurking awkwardly behind him as the sales associate rang him up. Her eyes glanced over to me every so often and it was clear she was trying to piece things together. Despite Callum's sunglasses and hat getup, he was pretty recognisable.