Chapter 7
Rhys pov
The second we walked through the doors, three sales associates converged on us like they'd been waiting behind the racks for exactly this moment.
"Mr. Sterling." The one in front, tall, polished, already reaching for Kayla's jacket like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Welcome back. What can we get started for you today?"
"She needs something for a formal event," I said, nodding toward Kayla. "Saturday night. Something that actually gets noticed."
Kayla stood a step behind me, arms crossed loosely over her chest, eyes moving over the racks with the kind of stillness that told me she was doing math in her head, calculating exits, calculating cost, calculating whether this was a mistake she could still walk back from.
I knew that look. I'd seen it on plen
