°Amy’s POV°
Julie had this way of talking that just… eased the edges off everything. Like she’d been born knowing how to make people comfortable. I didn’t even notice when the dress I’d been holding slipped over my arm and a pile of clothes started forming in my hands. She was quick, thoughtful, and so unbothered about the fact that I was clearly out of place here.
“You’ll need more than one pair of jeans,” she was saying, flipping through a rack like it was second nature. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later.”
I smiled faintly, hugging the stack against my chest. “I think I’m already at ‘later.’”
Julie chuckled, the sound light and easy. “Good sign. Means I’m doing my job.”
Her presence made me forget, at least for a moment, about the weight of Christian’s gaze across the store. I could
