"Of course you have. That one's not good enough for you." He nodded towards the dress before taking it out of my hand and sliding it forward.
"I didn't know you were an expert in women's clothes." I looked at him sideways.
"I'm not. I know what won't look good on you," he said. "That one would look like a tent."
"I'm not sure it's that bad," I said with a laugh. I moved on to the next one anyway. He was right, it wouldn't have suited my body shape.
"Which one would you suggest?" I asked.
He stepped over beside me and started to look through the rack. He dismissed dress after dress before handing me one in dark green.
"That looks nothing like what Forrest had in mind," I said.
"Fuck Forrest." Woody grunted. "Try it on." He held it out to me, a challenging look in his eyes.
I pretended I was going to argue, but then took the dress and stepped over to the fitting room. I gave him a quick look before closing the door behind me.
"No peeking."
I caught his smirk right before the door shut.
Hanging the dress on a hanger on the wall, I started working my way out of my clothes, placing everything carefully in a folded pile on a chair in the corner. I unhooked my bra and placed it on top of the pile before stepping into the dress and pulling it up over myself.
He had a good eye, it was perfect for me. Not to mention it would do exactly what Forrest described.
"It looks nice," I called out. "I'm going to need your help to zip it up."
"Of course you do."
The handle turned slowly and the door swung open. He stuck his head inside and looked up and down. His eyes darkened.
"Like what you see?" I asked, swishing the skirt back and forth.
"You're all right." He shrugged one shoulder and stepped into the fitting room, closing the door behind him. "Turn around."
I stood with my back to him, gaze on my reflexion as he stood behind me. He took the sides of the dress from my hand and held them while slowly pulling the zipper up, his knuckles brushing against my skin. Calloused and oh so slow.
"It's a perfect fit." I appraised myself. "Better than I thought it would be."
He placed his hands on my hips. "I missed my calling. I should have been one of those guys onSay Yes to the Dress."
"I can see it now.Say Yes to the Dress, New York.Starring Woody…" I trailed off, stopping short of saying his last name. It didn't come with good memories. Honestly, not taking Wolfgang's name was one of my better life choices.
"He was an asshole, wasn't he?" Woody said, his eyes still on my reflexion.
I didn't need to ask who he was referring to. We both knew.
"Yeah, he was," I said. "You were better off without him in your life." That might not be my call to make, but I wasn't wrong. No one should grow up with a father like that.
"You're better off without him in yours, aren't you?" Why did he look sad?
"I'm definitely better off without him," I said without hesitation. "What they did…" I didn't mention Harlow and Archer by name. "They did me a favor."
Was he going to get angry again? Start trying to kill them? He seemed resigned instead, as if he finally understood his father got what he deserved. He didn't like it, but he understood it.
"Was he around when you were a kid?" I asked gently.
A frown flickered across his face.