Page 42 of You'll Be the Death of Me

“Huh. Well, let’s pretend I didn’t see it, and you weren’t here to point it out to me.”

Cole grumbled and closed the book. “What are you planning to do?”

Dell stood in front of the closet, silently beaming at the sight of her wedding gown hung front and center. “Show him something verypersonalas a reminder of who he messed with.” She channeled her anger into her fingertips and reached for the garment bag’s zipper.

“Please tell me you’re not going to—”

“Put on my wedding dress? Why, yes, I am. I’ll need your help with the buttons, so start channeling some powerful feelings.”

Cole watched her pull it from the garment bag and sweep it out of the closet. The swirl and swish of ivory fabric brushed against the floor. “Um...” he said, seemingly dumbstruck.

“Let’s see if your theory about not being able to change my clothes is true,” she said, and shooed him away with her hand.

His face burned and he turned around so his back was to her. She heard him swallow again. “What exactly are you hoping to achieve here?”

Dell peeled her nightgown over her head and stepped into the wedding gown. The feel of the silky lining against her skin was the most satisfying it had ever been. Unlike all the times before, shewantedto put on this dress. The excitement she had over Tommy’s reaction to seeing her in it was ten times what it had ever been when imagining their wedding day.

“You know he won’t be able to see you, right?” Cole said, dousing her fire.

“He’ll at least see the dress, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. All the scarier,” Dell said, and pulled the bodice taut against her chest. She smiled at the thought of her gown floating down the hall and scaring the ever-living shit out of Tommy.

“Okay, now I need a hand,” she announced to Cole.

He turned to see her standing with the dress held against her front and her entire bare back exposed from the nape of her neck to her tailbone. She’d swept her hair over her shoulder to allow him access to the two dozen pearl buttons lining the dress’s spine.

When he didn’t say anything, Dell turned to look over her shoulder. The look on his face hitched her breath. Cole’s eyes were wide but soft, his lips slightly parted. He looked like he’d been stunned speechless.

The sight of him unable to speak put a warmth in Dell’s chest and face. “Could you please button me up?” she asked. In all the times she’d put on the dress, she’d never buttoned it herself. A bridal shop assistant had always done it for her. With some strategic bending of her elbows, she might have been able to fasten the bottom five buttons or so, but that was it. This dress required help to get into.

And get out of, she thought, and felt herself tingle at the idea of Cole doing that part too.

“Um, I can try, but I’ve never touched anything from the physical world before,” he confessed. His voice was thick and low.

She felt him step closer to her. It took her a moment to find her voice. “Well, it’s not that hard. Just think of something that summons a strong emotion.”

He stayed quiet for a long pause before Dell felt the tug of his fingers at her lower back. She smiled to herself.

“There you go! You’re doing it,” she encouraged, and regatheredher hair in her hand. His breath fluttered against her skin and made her tingle.

“What are you feeling?” she asked out of curiosity. She couldn’t see his face but could tell his strong emotion was not anger. A different energy pulsed off him.

“Um, I’m feeling...something,” he said shyly.

The warmth in Dell’s face spread to the rest of her body as she felt his hands work their way up her back. “Well, whatever you’re feeling, it’s working.”

His fingertips brushed her spine like feathers, if feathers could send electric sparks shooting across her skin.

Cole softly cleared his throat. “This is, um, a nice dress,” he said like he was trying to find a distraction from touching her bare skin.

“It is,” Dell agreed. “Too bad it’s going to go to waste. Well, I guess not entirely. Using it to scare Tommy is a more noble purpose than walking down the aisle.”

“What exactly do you plan to do?” Cole asked. Nerves coursed through his voice. He was maybe five buttons from the top now, and Dell found herself not wanting him to finish.

“Well, if horror movies are any indication, simply floating nearby him will be enough. But I want to go bigger than that. Too bad there aren’t any walnuts in the house, otherwise I’d hit him in the face with a handful to let him know I figured out his little plan.” Her voice faded out on a bitter note.