A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 74

Chapter 74

“Yes, please,” I said with a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

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The elderly woman, Margaret, smiled warmly in return before giving a small nod toward one of the younger employees behind the register.

“Could you ring this for me?” she asked, carefully lifting the outfit from the mannequin.

“Of course,” the employee disappeared towards the register as I turned back to find Kaia still wearing the oversized faux fur scarf around her neck like she had absolutely no intention of taking it off.

I shook my head, unable to hide my smile. “I know you’re buying that.”

she looked down at the scarf before lifting her chin dramatically. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You have been wearing it for the last ten minutes, you clearly love it.”

She let out a sigh. “Fine,” she admitted, stroking the ridiculously fluffy scarf, “but in my defense, it chose me.”

I laughed, already knowing she’d be walking out of the store with it, whether she wore it again after today or not. Before I could dwell on the scarf, the curtain to Caelum’s dressing room shifted slightly and a hand appeared through the gap.

“Uh..” I gathered the stack of clothes Kaia and I had picked out for him and walked over, trying very hard to keep my eyes anywhere but the opening, I held the clothes out toward him.

“Here,” his hand reached out, taking them from me.

“Thanks.”

“There’s..a few more this time,” I said, keeping my gaze fixed on the floor just outside the dressing room, trying not to look at him knowing he was only in his boxers and my horny, little ass would combust at the sight.

When I made my way back to where Kaia was, I couldn’t help but nervously chew on the inside of my cheek, my fingers fidgeting together as my eyes stayed glued to the row of green dressing room curtains.

Why was he taking so long, What if he hated them, or none of them fit? Or worse, what if I’d completely missed the mark?

“So,” Kaia’s voice drifted over as she caught the way I kept glancing toward the dressing rooms, “you look like a kid waiting outside the principal’s office after pulling the fire alarm.”

I barely registered what she said. “Hm?”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Relax,” she said, nudging my shoulder, “I’m sure he’ll look great,” I nodded absentmindedly.

I know he’ll look great, that wasn’t what I was worried about. I just..wanted him to like the clothes.

The realization made me inwardly groan.

God, I truly was pathetic

A few minutes later, one of the green curtains slid open and Elias strutted out first again, chin high and shoulders thrown back as if he were walking the runway at Fashion Week instead of the middle of a thrift store.

He even spun once for dramatic effect, making Kaia snorted so loudly she had to cover her mouth. “Oh my God.”

“What.” He grinned, “I was born for this.”

Chapter 74

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“You were born to embarrass yourself,” another curtain opened and Jace stepped out, looking far more natural in his outfit than Elias had.

He caught my eye and smiled. “So?” he asked. “What do you think?”

“Huh?” his smile turned amused.

“Delilah. My attention snapped back to him.

“Oh.” My brows furrowed, “You.. you look good.”

He chuckled softly. “I’ll take that.”

As he walked closer. I noticed his hair had become slightly messy from changing. Without really thinking, I lifted my hand. “Hold still.”

He froze as my fingers lightly brushed through the front of his hair, smoothing down the strands that had stubbornly fallen out of place.

“There.” I smiled softly at him, when a sharp sound of a whistle echoed through the store, causing me to instinctively looked

The last green curtain had opened and Caelum stepped out.

He wore one of the outfits Kaia and I had picked for him, a pair of dark straight leg jeans and a fitted black crew neck shirt beneath a lightweight charcoal overshirt left unbuttoned. The darker colours made his features stand out,, and for the first time, the clothes actually fit him instead of hanging loosely from his frame.

He looked Insanely good

Without realizing it, my fingers slipped away from Jace’s hair and he noticed the shift in my attention, turning around as well.

Caelum rubbed the back of his neck before holding his arms slightly away from his sides, giving us a better look.

“So….” he asked, a little tint on his cheeks, “What do you think?”

Elias was the first to recover, and he let out a low whistle, looking him up and down before pointing at him. “Dude,” he shook his head with a grin, “you actually look fit.”

“I know, right?” Kaia chimed in immediately, “Fit is putting it lightly.” she folded her arms, looking thoroughly pleased with herself, “honestly, I was starting to think you weren’t coming out, I was two seconds away from dragging you out myself.”

A faint flush crept across Caelum’s cheeks and his attention drifted past the others until it settled on me, almost as though my opinion was the one he was waiting for.

Giving him a small nod, “how does it feel,” I asked, unable to stop smiling, “wearing clothes that actually fit you.”

A quiet laugh vibrated from his chest. “It feels..” he glanced down at himself before looking back at me, “good.”

There was something about the way he said it, softly, almost like he hadn’t expected to enjoy it, that made my chest tighten. Before I could say anything else.. Kaia clapped her hands together.

“Alright” she announced, “back in you go.”

Caelum blinked. “What?”

“You’ve only modeled one outfit,” she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Elias and Jace have already been out twice before he could protest, she lightly pushed him back toward the green curtain, “Fashion show’s not over.”

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Chapter 74

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He laughed under his breath, disappearing back inside the dressing room and she immediately grabbed another outfit from the growing pile and shoved one into Elias’s arms before handing another to Jace.

Elias looked down at the clothes, then back at her. “Are you planning on shopping just for us?” he gestured toward Kaia and then me. “What about you two?”

“That’s already handled.” Kaia replied with a dismissive wave. “You don’t have to worry about us.”

She didn’t have to say it, but I knew she was using this opportunity to shop for Caelum, and had to do with her suggestive concerning the fall festive, even though she was trying to be discrete about it. She was all for changing his wardrobe.

Checking the time on her phone before slipping it back into her pocket. “We’ve just got to make one quick stop before our next destination.” then she pointed toward the dressing rooms, “so hurry up. We still have places to be.”

The both of them make their way back to their dressing room again and almost on cue, the green curtain beside them slid open again.

Caelum stepped out wearing another outfit Kaia and I had picked, this time it was a lightweight black bomber jacket layered over a fitted dark charcoal knit, paired with slim black jeans that actually sat properly instead of bunching around his ankles. clean white sneakers finished the look, giving him an effortless, put-together appearance.

Kaia’s eyes widened. “Okay,” she gave an approving nod. “I’m impressed.”

I couldn’t disagree, It was almost unfair, everything he put on somehow worked. Every outfit suited him in a different way, like he’d been made for all of them. At this point, I was convinced he could wear a bright Christmas sweater in the middle of summer and somehow still make it look good.

The woman finally stepped away from the mannequin after I politely asked if I could get the outfit and few minutes later, the three piece set was finally in my hands. I looked down at it, smoothing my fingers over the fabric as I waited for Caelum to finish changing into the last item he picked out.

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I wasn’t sure why I cared so much about whether he liked it, maybe because I had spent way too long picking it out.

The curtain suddenly moved, and he stepped out, my eyes immediately landed on him, and for once,, he didn’t look like the guy who spent most of his time buried behind books or arguing with me over every little thing.

The outfit fit him perfectly, sitting comfortably against his frame without looking like he was trying too hard.

“I actually like this one,” he admitted, glancing down at himself. That was probably the closest thing to a compliment I’d ever heard from him.

Kaia looked him up and down before nodding. “Okay, I’ll admit it. It looks really nice.”

His lips lifted slightly, almost like he was trying not to smile, then his eyes shifted straight to what was in my hands. “What’s that?” he asked.

My brain completely stopped working, my lips parted but nothing came out.

Why the fuck couldn’t I speak?

It was literally just Caelum asking what I was holding, a normal question with a simple answer. But somehow, my brain had decided to forget every word I had ever learned.

Kara nudged my side and I snapped out of whatever weird, awkward grip had taken over me and cleared my throat.

“It’s a three piece.” I said, finally finding my voice, “I picked it out,” I held it up, “Erm… here.”

Extending my arms fully practically pushing it toward him like the fabric was suddenly too heavy to hold, and the expression on his face shifted to surprise, like he genuinely hadn’t expected me to choose something for him.

Chapter 74

For a second, he just stared at me, then without saying anything, he took it. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

And before I could respond, he turned around and disappeared behind the curtain and I stared after him.

Kaia leaned closer. “You okay?”

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I immediately looked at her. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she gave me a look that said she absolutely did not believe me.

Before I could argue, the curtain moved again. This time, Elias and Jace walked out and they both looked good as expected.

Elias had somehow managed to make a simple outfit look effortlessly cool, while Jace looked like he belonged in some ridiculous fashion advertisement.

After getting our approval, both of them went back behind the curtain to change out of their outfits so the cashier couldring everything up.

And then, we waited and waited, till five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen. I glanced toward the curtain, still nothing.

“Did he get stuck?” Elias asked.

Kaia glanced toward the curtain before calling out, “Caelum? Everything okay in there?”

There was a pause, then his voice came through. “Yeah. Everything’s fine,” the response was slightly hesitant, but before I could think too much about it, the curtain finally pulled open.

And I forgot how to breathe when he walked out.

He had on the deep charcoal trousers I picked out, fitted perfectly around his legs, paired with the black knit turtleneck that hugged his frame in a way that made me realise I had severely underestimated what was hiding underneath all those. oversized sweaters and layers.

The sleeves stopped just enough to show his arms, revealing a toned build I definitely wasn’t expecting, the long black overcoat wasn’t on him yet.

I just knew I felt like I was about to melt straight into the floor.

“Oh my God.” Kaia breathed, her eyes immediately went to his arms, “Wait… hold on. Since when do you have arms like that?”

He looked down at himself, clearly confused. “What?”

She walked around him slightly, still looking shocked. “No, seriously. You went from Clark Kent to Superman.”

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