She blinked at him. “You think I look like Grace Kelly?”
“Better.” His expression was dark and loaded with promise. It made her tingle in places she wasn’t usually aware of.
Caroline faced the assistant. “This is the one. I’ll take the shoes too.”
The woman made a note on her iPad. “We’ll need to arrange for a fitting, to make sure it’s perfect on you. When should I book?”
Josh answered for her: “Next week. You have the wedding dates and details, right?” The assistant nodded. “In that case, it would be best if you came to us this time.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
Caroline skimmed her hand down the smooth silk bodice. Never in her life would she have imagined getting married in such a dress. She glanced at Josh to see if he was in as much awe of the dress as she was.
“I need to eat. Now.” Nope, Josh wasn’t in awe of the dress. He gave her a pleading look. “Are we done here?”
She bit back a smile. “Yes. We’re done.”
“About time.” He turned to the sales assistant. “Don’t offer her anything else. If there’s something you think we need, bring it to Scotland. We’re done and we’re going to eat.”
Caroline and the woman exchanged an amused look.
“Are you getting changed or do I need to help you?” Josh said with a growl.
Caroline laughed as she ran for the changing room.
They were sitting in Harrods’ Steakhouse, perched on high stools around the gleaming marble counter. Behind the counter, an army of men in chef’s whites took orders for steak, and cooked it while their customers watched. The aroma was mouth-watering. Caroline swivelled on her stool. Behind her there were several counters similar to the one they were seated at. One for meat, another for seafood. She supposed this was Harrods’ version of a fast-food court.
They sat at the end of the counter. On the stools
at the other side of Caroline were two men in business suits, deep in discussion about the economy. Josh turned towards her, spreading his knees wide so that they sat either side of hers. The stools were fixed to the floor, so Caroline couldn’t move away from him. Not that she wanted to. He rested his right hand on her thigh.
“You can’t live on salad and water, baby. This is a long day. We left early. You need energy.”
They’d had this discussion already, when he’d ordered the world’s biggest steak with a barrel of fries. His thumb caressed her knee. Caroline found it hard to concentrate on his words when his touch was vibrating throughout her body.
“Josh, I’m getting married. I need to look my best.”
“Baby, you can do that on a steak.”
“I want a salad.”
He frowned. “Nobody wants salad.”
She rolled her eyes at him.
“Okay,” he said, “how about we get some cake for dessert?”
Caroline scowled at him. “Do you want me to look fat at the wedding?”
His eyebrows shot up. “You won’t look fat. You’ll look perfect.”
“Not if I live on steak and cake, I won’t.”
He threw up his hands in exasperation. Clearly he didn’t understand a word she was saying. But she knew that on her wedding day, the world would be watching, wondering what kind of woman made Josh propose. There wasn’t time to change her image. To become more stylish. There was nothing she could do but look exactly like what she was—a plain, mousy librarian. But she could at least try to be the best mousy librarian possible. Which meant no cake.
Josh scooted forward. His thighs pressed into her legs. His right hand moved slowly up her arm to rest at the base of her neck. “I like how you look. Even if you gorge yourself on cake, that won’t change.”
Caroline blinked hard at him. She was wearing her only other dress. A pretty pink linen shift that she’d bought in a sale when shopping in Glasgow years ago. She’d teamed it with cream flats and a simple silver necklace that her grandfather had given her. It had a single daisy pendant hanging from it. She didn’t have any other jewellery on, and her only makeup was some mascara and a swipe of lip gloss. She was plain and underdressed, especially for Harrods. And he liked how she looked?