Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Jenna did a quick double take when she saw Taurex, but recovered almost immediately and turned back to Terra.
“Welcome! You must be Terra.”
“That’s me.” Terra nodded, smiling.
“And this is your crew?”
“My mother, Lucy, my son Cody, my daughter Lisa and…” Terra hesitated for the smallest fraction of a second before looking at Taurex. “My fiancé, Taurex.”
The word did something warm and painful to her chest that she didn’t want to examine too closely.
Taurex’s golden eyes flicked toward her.
“My fiancé,” he repeated quietly.
Jenna clapped her hands.
“Perfect. Let’s find you a dress.”
She led them toward a fitting area with several chairs arranged around a low carpeted platform surrounded on three sides by tall mirrors. Lisa immediately claimed the chair closest to the platform, Lucy settled beside her and Cody sprawled into another with all the exaggerated boredom of a ten-year-old boy who wanted everyone to know he did not care about dresses even though he kept looking around.
Taurex remained standing.
Jenna looked up at him.
“Er, we can probably find you a chair, Sir.”
Taurex glanced at the delicate-looking upholstered seats and shook his head.
“I believe standing would be safer.”
Terra laughed.
“He’s probably right. We’d better let him stand.”
Jenna turned back to her.
“So, tell me what you like.”
Terra looked around at the endless rows of white and ivory gowns helplessly.
“I honestly don’t know,” she admitted. She’d pictured buying herself a wedding gown, but she’d never really thought about what kind she wanted.
“That’s okay,” the bridal attendant said brightly. “What do you want to feel like?”
The question surprised her, and Terra glanced toward the mirrors.
What did she want to feel like?
Not younger—that was the first answer that came to mind.
She didn’t want a dress designed to disguise the fact that she was no longer a Spring chicken. She was a woman in here with two children, full hips, a generous ass and breasts that had long ago surrendered any intention of remaining exactly where they had been at twenty-five. She had spent too many years listening to Jackson criticize the body that had carried his children. If she was going to pretend to be a bride, she wanted to feel beautiful exactly as she was.
“Feminine,” she said at last. “Elegant. Romantic. But not too fussy. I don’t want to look like I’m trying to be twenty because I’m not.”
Jenna nodded immediately.
“Got it.”
“And I want her to look like a princess,” Lisa added.
“Lisa,” Lucy said warningly.
“What?” Lisa asked, giving her Nana wide, innocent eyes. “I’m just saying.”
Jenna grinned at her.
“We can do elegant princess.”
Terra looked at Taurex.
“What do you think?”
His gaze moved slowly over her, and his golden eyes were suddenly half-lidded in a way that made a little shiver run down her spine.
“I think whatever makes you feel beautiful is what you should wear,” he rumbled softly.
Jenna smiled.
“Well, you’ve got him trained right, don’t you?”
“No,” Terra said softly. “He came that way.”
Taurex’s ears twitched and he gave her another look that made her shiver.
Terra wished they were alone and could talk…or maybe do more than talk. But then Jenna began pulling dresses.
The first was a traditional ball gown with a heavily beaded bodice, enormous skirt, and enough glittering appliqué to decorate a parade float. Terra put it on because Lisa loved it.
The moment she stepped onto the platform, Lisa clapped.
“Princess! Mommy, you’re a princess!”
Lucy tilted her head.
“No, honey—it’s pretty but that’s not your mommy’s dress.”
Terra laughed.
“I agree—it’s kind of a lot.”
Her mom nodded.
“You look beautiful because you always look beautiful, but that dress is wearing you.”
Cody nodded.
“Yeah, Mom—Nana’s right. You look like one of those cakes.”
Terra laughed again.
“Thank you, Cody.”
She looked at Taurex and saw that the big Monstrum was watching her intently.
“Well?” She spread her hands. “What do you think?”
“I think you are beautiful,” he said.
Terra’s heart fluttered.
“But?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He hesitated.
“The garment… seems unnecessarily large. I looks, as Cody said, like one of the cakes we saw in the bakery. The ones with too many layers. ”
Lucy laughed.
“See? Even the ‘Bull-man’ agrees. Next dress!”
The second dress was a mermaid cut—fitted from bust to knee before exploding into layers of ruffles that trailed behind her like a tail.
Terra emerged, took one look at herself in the mirrors and immediately shook her head.
“No. Uh-uh. This is not the one.”
“No,” Lucy agreed.
“Nope,” Cody said.
Lisa considered it seriously.
“It looks like a mermaid.”
“It’s supposed to, I think,” Terra told her.
Taurex remained diplomatic.
“The first one was preferable but neither one is quite right.”
Terra laughed and disappeared back into the fitting room.
The third dress was simple satin with thin straps and a straight skirt.
It was beautiful…but it was also completely wrong.
Terra stood on the platform turning from side to side and frowning at her reflection.
“I feel like I’m going to an awards dinner.”
Her mom nodded.
“It’s pretty, but not bridal enough.”
Cody shrugged, looking bored.
“It’s okay.”
Lisa made a face.
“It’s not even a little like a princess dress.”