Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(23)

The first dress was exactly what she’d feared. It was a satin orange halter dress. She looked like a shiny orange sausage once she had stuffed herself in it. Her spectacular cleavage was smushed, and her boobs looked like two droopy basketballs. There wasn’t a miracle bra in the world that could fix the problems with the bodice.

Lily stepped out of the dressing room. “Ta-dah.”

She twirled around and let the room get the full effect of the dress. All four of them were quiet for a full two minutes before the attendant handed her the next dress with her eyes down.

Dress number two was a strapless column dress, not something she would ever choose for herself. Strapless dresses did nothing for her top half, and column dresses made her look lumpy. She didn’t have a column body and the dress only emphasized that. She had spent years learning how to showcase her body in clothes. It was hard when you had outrageous curves and more than a little extra junk in the trunk. She avoided clothes like this because they made her feel bad.

She knew it was silly. It was the dress that was made wrong, not her body. That didn’t stop her eyes from zeroing in on all the lumps and bumps in the mirror. She stepped out of the dressing room with her hands on her hips. “Here’s number two.”

“Whoa.” Max was handing an armful of garment bags to the attendant. He must have come in while she was dressing. “That dress is not for you.”

Lily laughed. “At least someone is willing to be honest.”

“No groomsmen allowed.” Gummy tried to shoo Max out.

“I’m Max, not Finn.” He dodged Gummy. “There’s no problem with me staying. Plus, I think you guys need another set of eyes.”

“Why not?” Lily asked. It was a spontaneous choice but it felt right in her gut. “It isn’t like he could spoil anything. Plus, Addison is leaving. I need another honest opinion.”

Addison looked at her watch. “Oh, shoot! I need to see the last dress. I can be a few minutes late to work.”

“I think your co-workers are going to love you getting special treatment and a big wedding.” Lily smirked. “How about you leave us here and I’ll pick something out? You have final approval, of course, but I think I can pick something good.”

Addison bit her lip. “I don’t know.”

“Could I pick something worse than this?” Lily pointed to her bulging midsection. The fabric was stretched painfully tight over her stomach and hips. At least she would pick a dress that fit. That alone would be an improvement over Hilda’s picks.

Gummy nodded. “I won’t make any decisions until you okay them. It’s fine, Addy.”

Addison stood up and hugged Lily. “Sorry. We’ll have something by the end of the night, I’m sure.”

Max took Addison’s place at the table. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, let’s pick a dress!”

“What are you doing here?” Lily asked before returning to the dressing room.

Max raised his voice so she could hear him. “I’m dropping off the tuxes. I happened to drop by while they were finishing up the fitting. The suits look great.”

“What are you doing after this?” Lily came out of the dressing room in her bright pink shorts and lime green tank top. She was glad to be back in regular clothes, and Max had already seen enough of her in that awful stuff. She wasn’t even going to try on the last dress. It was too awful.

“Nothing much,” Max said. “I’m having dinner with Shane later, but I’m free before that. I’d love to help you pick out a dress.”

“Really?” Lily was skeptical. No man enjoyed shopping.

“I’m looking for any way to help out with the wedding. I want to help make it perfect too.”

Lily shrugged. She could use the company, and Max would be honest. Even if he had a terrible eye for fashion, it would give her a second opinion she could trust and he would know what looked hot. She wanted to look classy and hot. It was Addison’s day but it wasn’t like Lily had to look terrible. The better Lily looked, the better Addison would look. It was a cumulative effect. Plus, the men were going to look super hot in their tuxes. The ladies had to look good too!

Max could be her shopping buddy for the night. Her super cute shopping buddy because he looked smoking hot. Max was wearing shorts and a tank top and his arms were massive. The dresses weren’t the only pretty things to look at all evening.

“Let’s see the other options,” Lily told Gummy.

He looked to his assistant. “Get us the book.”

Hilda sighed and went to retrieve it from her big bag. She plopped it down in front of Lily and Max. “We can do a simple color change if the dress is white, but it’s better if you pick out something that’s already orange.”

“I marked all the dresses that fit the color palette already.” Gummy pointed to the colorful page flags sticking out of the book. “There aren’t a lot of options, but maybe you’ll see something you like. I’m going to step outside for a moment. I have to get in touch with the florists.”

Hilda sat in the corner while Gummy went outside. Lily started paging through Gummy’s marked selections. She caught sight of a few orange dresses as she was flipping the pages.

“That one looks nice.” Max pointed to a sparkling burnt orange dress that wasn’t marked. Hilda got up and went outside after she heard that.