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Whoa.My heart skips a beat. Must be the champagne.
He leans toward my ear. “That okay? I figure calling you hockey gorilla in public would be bad for our little charade.”
Logan giggles, I’m still reeling.
“It’s fine,” I finally find the breath to say. “Come.”
“Isn’t the mall closed?”
“It is.”
We approach the wide glass doors, and someone lets us in, promptly locking the doors behind us. Logan surveys the landscape, looking for something out of the ordinary, but the only thing out of the ordinary is having several members of staff here past close.
“Mr. Wescott, I’m one of the managers, Brittany, may I take your coat?”
He hugs himself. “No. I’ll keep it, thanks.” Slender fingers cling to my round biceps. Well, that’s a little reward I didn’t plan on. My mind begins concocting other ways to have him cling to me.
“Rhett?” Logan says.
“Brittany, maybe you can explain what’s happening?”
“Yes. Apologies, Mr. Wescott. Mr. Elkington rented Holt out after hours so that you could shoe shop to your heart’s delight. Come this way and I’ll show you to the shoe department.”
I clear my throat. “He’s welcome to anything else he wants too, but let’s start with shoes.” My original idea was shoes, but once again I’m worried that I’ve gotten it wrong and maybe he’d like makeup or dresses better? I’m also concerned that I’ve overwhelmed him.
Logan nods, clinging to me tightly and his heeled boots click across the floor. He wraps his arms around me when we’re on the escalator. Holding him close, I allow my eyelids to flutter shut. I like him against me like this.
The shoe department at Holt is wall-to-wall with every designer shoe imaginable. Some sparkle on the wall and others shine their red glossiness from display cases at knee height. His eyes bug out of his head. “I’ve never seen this many pairs of shoes all in one place before. Oh my God, are those Jimmy Choos?”
He lifts a sparkly blue pump to look at the price tag. His brows flash. “These are seventeen hundred dollars.”
I hitch my right shoulder. “So? Get whatever you want. As many pairs as you want.”
“Sorry,” he says to Brittany and the other staff watching us. “My boyfriend is insane. Baby, can I talk to you over here for a moment?”
He called me baby again. The same warmth spreads through me and I know the champagne’s gotten to my head.
I let him drag me off, far enough away to give us the illusion of privacy. We’ll still have to talk quietly and keep to the boyfriend script. “If I give you a five-star review for the best date ever, can we go?”
I frown. “You don’t like this?”
“Rhett, this is a really nice and thoughtful thing, but I can’t sink a fortune on shoes. Merc’s voice is ringing through my head about how many families could be fed with seventeen hundred dollars and imaginary Mercy’s right.”
“He didn’t see a problem with it when I ‘donated’ a truckload of iPhones to the Meyer horde.”
Hair’s fallen in front of his beautiful eyes.
“An iPhone serves a purpose—at least—shoes like these ones are just a luxury.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a little luxury.” Maybe I won’t tell him that he’s wearing a four thousand-dollar Valentino. The boots are Ferragamo. “I can fix this. Whatever you spend tonight, I’ll match in a donation to a charity of your choice, okay?”
I want him to have the shoes.Niceshoes.
He bites his bottom lip. “Okay. Just one pair.”
“Get three.” And then I’ll get him a few more based on what he tries on. “C’mon. Be my prince for a night.”
Taking his hand, I bring him back to where Brittany and the others are waiting for us. They’ve got trays of champagne and strawberries. I pass him off to Brittany.
