Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 140184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 701(@200wpm)___ 561(@250wpm)___ 467(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 701(@200wpm)___ 561(@250wpm)___ 467(@300wpm)
“The right pants and shoes?”
She nods. “You have to have black work pants and black non-slip shoes. It’s a whole thing.”
The manager must text her back, because she throws back the blankets and climbs off the bed, but her head is down, her thumbs flying across her phone screen as she walks.
When she stops texting, she pulls a black leather case out of her purse and hands it to me. “Will you give these to Jet when he gets home and see if he can fix them?”
I unzip the case and open it to find a pair of mangled headphones. “What the hell happened here?”
“My mother. She threw a fit and destroyed them. It took me ages to save up enough money to buy them. It’ll probably take me a couple of months to get new ones, so if he can make them work before then, I would be immensely grateful.”
“Your mother deliberately destroyed your headphones?”
She nods. “She’s a bitch. It’s not news. But I’ll basically die without them. They’re noise-canceling headphones, and I like to listen to music in my room when she’s home, especially when she has her gross new boyfriend over. I can’t properly escape without them.”
That settles it. I zip the case back up and set the broken headphones on my dresser. “Tell your manager you can’t come in today.”
Her gaze jumps to mine. “I can’t. I need the money. Didn’t you hear? I have to buy new headphones.”
“I’ll buy you new headphones. It’s probably my fault those ones are broken. Order the new uniform so you have one to keep here in case of emergencies, and I’ll take you out to get new headphones and whatever else you need to complete your uniform. That way, if this happens again, you’ll have everything you need here. We’ll get you an outfit to keep here, too.”
Her eyes light up. “Are you serious? You’re going to get me out of work and take me on a shopping spree?”
“I’m the best,” I say dryly.
She grins and throws her arms around me, kissing me and murmuring against my mouth, “Yes, you are.”
I can’t help smiling as she kisses me a few more times, her arms wound tightly around my neck. Her gratitude is delicious, and it makes me happy to see her so excited as she heads into my bathroom to shower.
I don’t know how she’ll feel about it, but the only women’s clothes I have in the house are Edie’s. I donated most of her clothes after she died, but I kept a box of items that had special meaning to me. The sweater she was wearing when we got engaged, my favorite shirt, her favorite jeans, things like that.
I’m not sure if Edie’s clothes will even fit Kennedy, but they’re roughly the same size, so there should be something that will at least suffice until I can buy her a new outfit.
I’m in the bathroom with her when she steps out of the shower and wraps a fluffy bath towel around her wet body.
“What’s that?” she asks, peering into the box I have open on the counter.
“Some of Edie’s old clothes.” I check her face, but nothing unpleasant registers. “If you want, you can look through and see if anything fits you. Just something you can wear temporarily until we get to the store and get you something of your own to wear.”
Apparently, she isn’t weirded out at all, because she reaches in and grabs out the woven coral sweater Edie was wearing when we got engaged. I start to grab it and tell her not that, but before I can, she says, “I love this.” She peeks inside the box. “Are there any leggings in here?”
“Uh, no. Leggings would have been donated, but there should be some pants.”
“All right. Thank you,” she says, flashing me a smile. “You’re sure it won’t be weird if I wear your wife’s clothes?”
I’m not at all sure of that, but she’s already claimed the sweater, and it will probably be weirder if I refuse to let her wear it.
I shake my head. “Pick out what you like. I’ll go downstairs and make some breakfast so we can eat before we go.”
Chapter ten
Milo
It’s weekend, so the mall is bustling.
Kennedy is in her element. We get smoothies and she hauls me through the mall, showing me everything she wants at the various shops. I’m so glad she’s not shy about stuff like that because I’m more than happy to buy her anything she needs.
When we go to the store where she says her work pants will be, she finds a couple of tops she likes, too. After that, we go to a clothing store I’m fairly certain I am too old to be in, but she finds a bunch of stuff she likes there. She gets a skimpy pair of sleep shorts and a matching top that will cover her tits but leave most of her skin visible, then she gets a sweater to wear over it in case she has to wear it around the boys.