Page 78 of Taking What's Ours
After dropping Rosie off at an almost empty clubhouse, and knowing the men have gone off somewhere, we head to meet Kate and Isabella. When we walk in the door, I immediately know this place is different from the average costume shop. Its designs are much more upscale.
I look around in stunned silence. “Wow. This place is amazing.”
Evelyn grins. “I know, right? The woman who owns it used to do costumes for Hollywood.”
“It’s so much better than what I expected,” I say.
We spot the girls in the back and make our way toward them.
“I’m thinking of going as Little Red Riding Hood and making Utah go as the Big Bad Wolf,” Kate says, holding up a costume that is sexier than any I’ve ever seen. “What do you think?”
“That could work, I suppose,” Evelyn says, flipping through items on a rack.
“Have you found anything?” I ask Isabella.
She studies a costume and cocks her head, then keeps on flipping. “Not yet. It has to be perfect.” She looks over at me. “How are things with you and Baja?”
Lola sidles up. “Yeah, did he do what I warned you he’d do?”
I nod. “He pushed me away last night when I made advances on him. Then this morning, when I threw some attitude at him, he took me out to the cemetery and showed me Hannah and Sophie’s grave.”
“Wow, that’s a big step for him,” Evelyn says.
“Huge,” Lola agrees. “He really showed you? I’m proud of the boy.”
“Yep. I definitely wasn’t ready for that.”
“It is a gaping wound—one he’s carried for several years now,” Isabella murmurs. “You need to be mindful of just how much it affects him.”
“The funny thing is… it’s only brought me closer to him. I was trying to take things slow, you know? I’ve got a long line of bad choices in men. I never pick the ones who want to settle down or who get me. I was starting to believe I’d finally found that with Baja. On the surface, he seems completely wrong for me—a biker with a wild lifestyle—but when I dig deeper, he’s so much more than that. He treats me with more respect and caring than any man I’ve been with. But this is a big roadblock. He seems set in his decision to not open himself up to that pain again.”
“He doesn’t want to see you get hurt because of the club,” Isabella says.
“Exactly. How can I fight that? I don’t know what to do.”
Lola leans an arm on the rack of clothes. “It’s easy. But first you have to be sure you want a life with him. Because if Baja lets those protective walls down, he’ll be devastated if you change your mind and hightail it to Denver. So, I’m asking you… Are you serious about this? About him?”
“Yes. He’s the one. I know it.”
Lola grins. “Then I know just the thing.” She wanders off, meandering through racks to a far corner with a display of Star Wars costumes, and I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s thinking. She stops and points up to a display of a mannequin dressed as Princess Leia in her slave costume.
My gaze trails over the skimpy, sexy costume, and my eyes widen. I slap a hand on my chest. “Oh, you have got to be kidding. I can’t wear that.”
“Why not?”
“Just look at it.” I fling my hand out. “There’s barely anything to it.”
“Look, you show up in a costume like this, and Baja’s gonna be putty in your hands,” Lola insists.
“It’s true,” Kate says. “No man in his right mind is turning that down.”
“I agree,” Isabella says, sealing my fate. “Baja is not going to push you away. In fact, he may be fighting off every man in the clubhouse.”
“You’ve all lost your minds,” I say. “How about Cat Woman? I could go as Cat Woman.”
“Nope. I’m going as Cat Woman this year,” Evelyn says. She eyes me up and down, then flips through the racks and pulls out the costume. “I’m guessing this is your size. Try it on.”
The next thing I know, I’m being herded toward the dressing rooms.