Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1)(24)

“Just me,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “Or were you expecting someone else?”

She seemed flustered for a second and he wondered whether she would continue to speak with him, or if she would run away as she probably should. At the very least, she would wonder what his intentions were, but even he didn’t have an answer to that.

Schooling her expression, she stood a little straighter, brushing her hair over her shoulder. Ah, and there it was, the steely backbone of a woman who knew she had nothing to fear.

How very wrong she was …

“What?”

“What was it about what I said that was unclear?” he asked, waiting to see the fire in her eyes—she didn’t disappoint.

“You asked which do I prefer. Of what?”

He gestured with a lift of his finger to the store around him. “All of it.”

Violet’s eyes drifted over him from head to toe, unabashed in her study of him. Anyone else might have been uncomfortable under her scrutiny, but he stood his ground. “I doubt you’ll find something in your size.”

“Fair enough, but it wouldn’t be for me. It’s a gift.”

Her lips turned down as a coldness seemed to wash over her. “Oh?”

He nodded. “Two, in fact.”

Kaz could tell from her expression that she thought the gifts would be for women in his life, girlfriends maybe, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t offered that impression. He’d wanted to see her reaction to that … and it looked like Violet wasn’t as immune to him as she pretended to be.

“I’m sure someone that works here would be willing to help you.”

The subtle edge to her voice made him smile. “Undoubtedly, but I suspect you have a far better fashion sense than the lot of them, considering who your mother is.”

At the reminder that he knew more about her than she probably knew about him, she took a step back, her gaze darting to the entrance. “I should go.”

She’d only taken a step before he was calling out to her. He should have let her leave, it would have been the right thing to do, but he wasn’t ready to walk away yet.

“My sisters. They turned sixteen today.” That information wouldn’t be hard to find out should she have asked anyone else, so he didn’t find it imperative to keep it a secret. “They asked for something from here, but as you can see, I’m ill-equipped to pick something out for them.”

“I’m not sixteen,” she returned with a lift of her brow.

“No,” Kaz said, his lips curling up in one corner. “You’re definitely not that, but you were once.”

Now it was his turn to drink her in. She wasn’t wearing a dress that conformed to her curves like that night, but she was wearing skinny jeans that molded to shapely legs, and a cream-colored blouse that dipped in the middle to reveal a tantalizing view of her breasts. Even though it was her, or maybe even because it was her, Kaz felt a stirring of lust.

“Fine. Have you anything to go on? Did they say what they wanted?”

“Lady’s choice.”

Violet chewed on her lip for a moment, like she was contemplating whether to go through with this. After all, she would be actively engaging with him as opposed to it being forced on her.

Ultimately, she agreed, nodding once, just the slightest tilt to her head, before she was moving quickly through the racks. Though, she did keep a sizable distance between them. After asking for their sizes—he’d had to check his phone for an answer—she was silent as she picked up an assortment of dresses, skirts, blouses, putting some back, eyeing others, and those she deemed worthy, she handed to him.

By the time she finished, they had gone through nearly every garment in the place and his arms were laden with items. Even Kaz, whose wardrobe was arguably large, was a bit surprised by how much she had chosen.

“This is a bit much, no?”

To that, she gave him a sparkling, if not sarcastic, smile and waved his words away. “A girl only turns sixteen once, right?”

While he took his items to the register, setting them on the counter and picking out a number of gift boxes that were complementary with any purchase, Kaz looked back to where Violet had disappeared to. She was still looking at the red dress from earlier, but now she was comparing it to another that wasn’t nearly as nice.

“Sir? We can have someone bring your purchases to your car, if you would like,” the sales associate offered politely, drawing his attention back to her.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

When it was all rang up and carefully placed in boxes, Kaz paid, gesturing for the man that was now carrying them to follow behind. Before leaving, however, he stopped at the last moment and went back over to Violet. And this time, she was all too aware of his presence as she turned before he even got close.

“Is there something else I can help you with?” she asked, almost like she was wary that his answer might be yes.

He gestured to the dresses she held. “The red one, I like it.”

Violet looked down, almost like she was surprised to find the dresses there, or maybe surprised that he had noticed in the first place. She sounded almost wistful as she said, “Yeah, I like it too.” Even as she said the words, however, she hung it back up. “But no one can look better than my mother at her own event.”