Andrew smiled. “George filled me in a bit. Plus, you smell of an honest shifter,” he finished. “I have something for you then if you want it.” Andrew stood and pulled a box from a drawer. “I made this for Ginny a long time ago. If you’re serious, I’d like you to have it.”
Patrick nodded as he took the box and opened it. Inside was a silver chain with tiny Art Nouveau roses decorating the length of the chain. “Um, Andrew, are you sure? Don’t you have a lady friend you’d like to give this to?” he asked.
“No, I lost my heart a long time ago. I have the occasional lover but nothing serious. Besides this was made with Ginny in mind. She should have it, and I can’t think of a better point in time for her to receive it,” Andrew said. He slid the chain into a velvet bag and handed it back to Patrick.
Patrick took a long look at Andrew. “Thank you. What do I owe you?” he asked.
“You owe me to love that crazy woman with all of your heart and keep her from killing all of us when she stresses,” said Andrew with a smile. “Otherwise, nothing.”
“Andrew, that isn’t fair. You’re an artisan and deserve payment for your art,” argued Patrick.
“Make her happy where I could not,” Andrew said and stood up. “Now you’d better get moving and make sure she buys something nice. Kohl’s is down the left past the popcorn store. Oh, and her favorite color is dark green.”
Patrick knew from the look on Andrew’s face that there was no arguing with him. He nodded, put the bag in his pocket and picked up her order. “Will you be at the party?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Ask Luc when you see him to show you the bear claw,” said Andrew as they headed back to the front of the store.
“Bear claw?” Patrick asked.
“Have Ginny tell you the story,” said Andrew and disappeared into the back.
*
Patrick left the shop and headed towards Kohl’s. He could have followed Ginny by scent alone, but it was nice to have some directions. He found her coming out of the dressing room with two outfits in her hand.
“So, which one are you getting?” he asked as she almost walked past him.
“Oh! Patrick, you startled me. Um… I really haven’t found one I like,” she said trying to put what she had in her hands on the rack for the clerk to return.
“So, are these the only two you have tried on?” he asked looking at the dresses. His nose told him that she had also tried on a green dress stuffed to the back. He pulled out all three and looked at them. The first one was plain. Straight body and no real fit. A sack with an expensive price tag. The second one looked like the kind of dress you’d wear to a funeral. Dark blue with a severe cut and no decoration. He put those two on the rack. Then he looked at the green one. It was softer, both in cut and fabric. A layer of some semi sheer fabric over a darker under dress and subtle lace around the collar.
“Ginny, what size do you wear?” he asked.
“A sixteen,” she said. “Damn! Why did he have to see that one?” she thought.
“Oh good. This is a sixteen. Go try it on. This is a really nice dress,” he said and held it out to Ginny. When she didn’t want to take it, he gave her a look that sent shivers down her spine.
“Fine,” she said and took the dress into the dressing room.
“I want to see you in it,” he called in after her.
“Just a minute,” she called. “Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!!!” she thought to herself as she slipped the dress on. She had tried it on first, fell in love with it, but couldn’t bring herself to spend the money. She did up the back and headed out to the lobby where Patrick waited.
“Here it is,” she said and did a quick turn and tried to head back to the dressing room.
“Wait a minute. You barely gave me a chance to see you let alone how the dress looked,” Patrick said with a subtle sub-vocal growl.
Ginny stopped in her tracks and turned around. She knew Patrick was taking a good look at her in the dress, but still couldn’t see how she could afford it.
“Looks good to me. What do you think Ginny?” he asked.
“Well, it’s nice, but I don’t know if I’d get more than one wear out of it and it’s a lot of money for just one occasion,” she said rapidly.
“Do you like it?” Patrick asked looking her straight in the eyes.
“Yes, but…” was as far as Ginny got.
“Good. Go get changed and we’ll pay for the dress,” Patrick said. The sub-vocals in his voice brooked no disagreement.
Ginny changed clothes and came out with the dress in hand. Part of her was ecstatic while the other panicked about money.
“Do you need shoes or tights or anything like that?” he asked.
“No, not really,” she said.
“Okay,” he said. “Then it’s off to the lingerie department and the shoe department. I learned a long time ago that ‘not really’ means yes.” He took the dress and steered her towards the lingerie section.
They looked through the bras and panties, but Ginny didn’t stop for more than a moment . They moved onto the hosiery section. Ginny found a couple pairs of hose and a pair of tights that matched the dress and was trying to decide between them when Patrick just took all three packages in his hand and smiled at her. She started to say something and just shut her mouth.
At the shoe department, it was more difficult to ignore the nice shoes. Ginny had a weakness for shoes. Patrick didn’t know it yet as he hadn’t seen the inside of her closet, but they were her one vice. There were two styles she liked. Mid heel in one style and the other was a neat flat.
“Are you going to try one of those pairs on, or are you just going to drool on them?” Patrick teased her.
“I’m trying to decide,” she said.
“What size?” he asked.
“An 8,” she said not really paying attention to Patrick.