Enemy Mine

Chapter 59

Todd X worked his fashion designer image with flamboyance and colorful accessories, entering the apartment wearing chartreuse and white pinstriped pants paired with a paisley shirt exploding in various shades of purple. His skin radiated a sparkly, spray-tan brown, and his dark hair stood over his forehead in a stiff boy-band peak. He arrived pulling a rolling trunk on a leather leash, introducing his assistant, Claude, who trailed behind him in with a dress rack. Claude's appearance mimicked Todd's in every way, except his hair had been bleached white to the roots, making him look like a psychedelic Q-tip.

The lighting in Vincent's apartment was atrocious, according to Todd, but apparently he had been subjected to worse, and a floor lamp served our purposes as I posed in front of Vincent and the paisley twins in nothing but boy shorts and a bra. The prom queen's court had nothing on this.

"I appreciate you catering to my whims, Reese," Todd said as he circled me. "Before we can match you with the perfect dress, I need to know how you carry yourself. Will you walk to the door and back, please?" He flicked his wrist toward the foyer and I had no choice but to obey, straightening my shoulders to correct my slouch. On my return trip, Todd crossed his arms and turned to Vincent on the couch, glancing over his sixties-style Pierre Cardin glasses. "You did tell me size eight, right?"

"You told them eight?" I shouted at Vincent. "Didn't you check the clothes in my closet?"

"Yes, and there were a lot of eights in there."

"Have you seen me wear half the clothes in my closet? No. That's because most of them are too small for my ass. I desperately need to go shopping for new stuff."

"No one is stopping you from shopping."

Todd tsked at our argument. "Vincent also mentioned tens, and after I perused the media photos of you, I had enough to work with."

"How many photos of me did you find?" I asked. "I've been trying to keep my face on the other side of the camera."

Todd laughed in a high-pitched lilt that sounded like a cat crying for dinner. "You can forget about that now. You're dating Vincent Valentino. You are the news of the day, and I won't let you embarrass yourself, darling. At least, in the clothing department."

Todd perused the rack of dresses, which all appeared to be black, and he chose the first one on the end. While he stripped off the plastic cover, Claude hurried to the trunk and selected a pair of black pumps. They handed over my bounty in unison, and Todd waved me away.

"Off you go," he said.

I gave the dress a fifty percent chance of making the cut when I looked at it in the bathroom light. I based this off the number eight on the tag and the stretchy fabric. Spandex had always been my friend, but it also hugged everything, and I realized right away, as I poured into the dress like molasses, that I would need to ditch my underwear so the seams wouldn't show.

After tugging the hem over my butt, I surveyed the results in the mirror, checking angles and the surface area of exposed skin. Far too much for a lowkey public appearance I decided, and I gave the dress a twenty percent chance with Vincent. I slipped on the fuck-me pumps Claude had chosen to complete my 'mamacita' look, and I walked into the living room to a slack-jawed audience.

"You're not leaving the apartment in that," Vincent said firmly. "But I want to buy it for you."

Todd and Claude clicked their tongues simultaneously but neither argued with him. Todd merely plucked another dress from the rack and handed it to me. "Here you go, love. See if this fits your assets better."

I smiled politely, winked at Vincent, and scuttled back to the dressing room, half expecting Vincent to follow me in. His impulsive side always got my engine revved, and I imagined him watching me as I slowly peeled the dress off in front of the mirror.