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He took the dress off the hanger and unzipped it Then he stepped into the god-awful ruffled pink dress and stuck his arh the small sleeves

It barely fit There was no way he could have zipped it, but that wasn’t the point This wasn’t a fashion show, this was a statement of intent He opened the conference door, walked across the hall and entered Taryn’s office without knocking

She was standing by the , looking out Her suit was fitted and she was barefoot He saw her ridiculously high heels by her chair

"Taryn?"

She didn’t turn, but he saw her stiffen

"Go away"

"No I won’t do that Not now and not ever I’m sorry about what I said before I’, but there were a lot better ways to handle it" He paused to draw in a breath "I hurt you I apologize for that I want to proht What I can pro haul That you can depend on el ever acts this stupid, I’ll hire a platoon to take him out"

Her shoulders shook, but he didn’t know if she was laughing or crying

"I brought you soaze settled on the dress Sohtened her eyes and her mouth twitched "You look ridiculous"

"That’s okay"

"You’d be a hideous cross-dresser The dress doesn’t suit you at all"

"I’ as I can be in your wedding If you’ll still have ht her capable of One second she was by the , the next she was throwing herself at hiht

"I’ive hed "Where did you get that dress?"

"I borrowed it from Isabel By the way, if you destroy it, I have to pay for it"

"You can afford it" She looked up at him "What happened?"

"The world closed in I had Larissa and Percy, the job offer Everywhere I turned, I was being forced to giveabout you"

"So you lashed out?"

"With style"

She stepped back and sniffed "You really shouldn’t be here At Score, Ijob is a better fit You need that, Jack"

He smiled "Already done I start on Monday"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah Which nation still stands, but without the drama"

She touched the front of the dress "I wonder if they make this in a size you could wear"

"Pink isn’t my color"