“All right.”
Was that disappointment in his voice? She really wasn’t sure. But she needed to get away from him so she could put herself back together. Nothing ever worked right in her life when she was impulsive and dove into things without thinking.
Austin grabbed a set of keys and motioned. “I’ve rented transportation.”
When they got to the front of the resort and Austin climbed into a golf cart, Dani snorted. “That’s our transportation?”
He patted the seat beside him. “Hop on.”
She did as she was told. “I thought you rented a car.”
“I did. Well, sort of.”
“Yeah, hate to break it to you, but this isn’t a car.”
“It will get us there.” He started the engine and the cart took off.
Dani grabbed onto the bar next to her seat so she wouldn’t fall out. “How fast does this go?”
Austin grinned. “Twenty miles per hour. It’s cool, right?”
She laughed. “It’s only cool if you’re a grandpa.”
“Ouch.”
The pouty look on his face made her laugh again. “Sorry. I’ll stop teasing. You didn’t have to take me shopping.” She grew serious thinking about how nice he was being. “I really do appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” He turned down a busier street. Cars passed by them as they chugged along at grandpa speed. “You haven’t seen where we’re going.”
She squinted at him. “Where?” she asked, not quite sure she wanted to know.
He turned again, this time into a parking lot. The large sign across the building made it clear where he was taking her, and she balked. “No way.”
“Give it a chance.”
Dani frowned. “I don’t shop at SaleMart.”
“You didn’t shop at SaleMart…before. But now might be a good time to try it out.” He shot her a look, and she knew what he was thinking. Who was she to reject anything? She had no money. He was doing her a favor. She couldn’t expect him to buy her designer clothes.
She swallowed back her distaste. He was right. Who was she? No one. Without her father, she was a nobody. And she had nothing. Heck, last night she was almost on the streets. She had no right to be picky. Her father wanted her to suffer. She could show him she wasn’t a spoiled brat. She’d do this. “Okay,” she said, the word tasting a bit bitter on her tongue.
Austin laughed. “You look like you’re about to go on that television program that makes you eat baby ostrich eggs or something.”
She smoothed out her features and flashed him a smile. “Nope. I’m good. Let’s go see what they have. Maybe it’s not so bad.”
“I’m sure you’ll live through it.”
Dani nodded, although she wasn’t as confident as Austin. If anyone took a picture of her shopping at SaleMart, she’d have to die a thousand deaths. She’d be made fun of for the rest of her life.
Chapter 10
The cart squeaked as Austin pushed it down the aisle. Dani looked like she was praying the ceiling would fall on her and cover her so no one would see her shopping there. She kept putting her hand up to her face, like she was shielding the sun, but they were indoors. It made him smile. They passed by a large display of sunglasses and Dani grabbed a pair, sliding them on her face.
“You don’t need to hide.”
“I’m not hiding. I like these. They are…” She tapped the side, like she was trying to think of something nice to say about the cheap sunglasses. “A nice plastic,” she finished. She continued walking, and he didn’t press the issue.
“Do you want to check these out?” he asked as they walked by the shoe section. “You could probably use a pair of work shoes.”
Dani nodded and sat down on one of the stools. “That’s fine.”
He waited for her to stand and pull a pair from the shelves, but she continued to just sit there. “Do you see any you like?”
“I’ll just wait for the attendant.”
Austin hooked his thumbs into his belt loops and tried to hide his smile. “This store doesn’t have those.”
She jerked her head and stared at him. “What?”
“You just have to pick what you want from the shelf and try them on yourself.” He grabbed a pair that looked about her size and handed them to her. “Like this. But put this on first,” he said, tossing her a pair of temporary socks.
Her face flushed. “Oh.” She slipped off her sandals and put on the little socks before shoving a foot into the shoe.
“How does it fit?”
“It’s too tight.”
He held out his hand. “Then let me go up another size.”
He helped her try on shoes for another fifteen minutes before she found a pair she liked. Then they moved on to the clothes section. Dani wrinkled her nose at every shirt they passed by. He held up several, and she shook her head at them. He tried not to get exasperated with her. This was not what she was used to. He knew this. She just needed a little time to adjust.
Finally, after they had walked through the clothes section twice, he said, “You’re going to have to agree to something. You can’t keep wearing that same shirt every day. Someone’s going to notice.”
She cowered, dropping her gaze. “I know.” Her voice was low, almost hard to hear.
“Come on. It’s not so bad. This one is pretty normal.” He picked up a solid blue tee.
She considered it a moment, then finally nodded. “You’re right. It’s not that bad.” She took it from him.
Austin passed by a T-shirt that said, Dear Algebra, please stop asking us to find your X. She’s never coming back. He chuckled. He hadn’t noticed that one the two other times they’d walked down this aisle. It was cute, and made him laugh. He picked it up and shoved it at her. “Here, you need this.”
Dani read the shirt and made a face. “Uh, no. I’d never wear this.”
That sounded like a challenge to him. “Why not?”
“Are you kidding me? It’s a math joke. I don’t even like math. I’m not a nerd.”
“It’s funny.”
“No, not really.”
He nudged her. Now he really wanted to make her wear the math shirt. “Go on. Get it.”
She shook her head. “Never. It’s not me.”
She was not going to budge. Figures. But he kind of wanted to see if he could get her to give in. He got an idea. “Well, if you’re trying to hide your identity, then it’s the perfect shirt for you, isn’t it?”
She opened her mouth for a rebuttal, but stopped. She blinked and looked at the article of clothing. “You may have a point.”
Oh, yes. He was so going to get her to wear an algebra shirt. “See? We should be looking for things that hide you. This would totally do that.”
She frowned and examined the shirt again, lifting her sunglasses to peer at it closer. “I guess you’re right.”
Score. He grabbed it from her hand and tossed it into the cart. “Two down. Let’s keep going.”
The next shirt he found was orange with black stripes. It looked like a prisoner had escaped and tried to disguise their prison outfit by dying it orange. “This one will be good.”