Page 83 of Dr. Bad Boy

“I’m doing it slowly. One suitcase at a time.” She looks at me and blushes. “Anyway, Sasha, Violet, Violet, Sasha.”

“Nice to meet you,” the sort-of roommate says with a wink. “What’s on our shopping agenda today?”

“I need presents for Gavin’s entire family.” Ellie winces. “No pressure or anything. And Max, too.” She gives me a curious look. “Maybe you could help with that.”

“Uh…” What am I going to recommend? A ball gag? Purple heels that he can make me wear so when I lean over I’m the perfect height to fuck from behind? I realize I can’t immediately come up with any non-kink gift ideas other than maybe hockey stuff. What does that say about our relationship? And what doesthatworry say about me, when I’m supposed to just want a kink-based relationship anyway? “Yeah. I might need help there, too.”

She nods. “It’s so stressful, eh? Picking the right present.”

Well now it is. But Sasha’s a pro. She’s got a father and a couple of brothers, all with expensive taste and a couple of decades of getting everything they want. As we swing into the first department store, she outlines her strategy for holiday gift giving.

“First, look for something that will make them laugh. A dorky tie, a silly mug, or a game of some sort. Then add an expectedly high-value item to it, like a good quality tie-clip, a rare coffee subscription service, or a weekend away at an exclusive resort.”

I give Ellie an impressed look. “You were right. She’s good at this shopping thing.”

Sasha does a little dance of victory and points us toward the men’s section. I find a tie that I might give to Max. It’s not funny, exactly, but it’s hot. Black and purple threads woven in a way that it looks black until you’re up close, and then the purple ripples through it.

He could wear it for my next visit to the principal’s office.

It’s the kind of kinked-up romantic gesture I think he might appreciate. Although are matching outfits ever appreciated by a guy like Max?

“That’s nice,” Ellie murmurs as she wanders past.

“Is it weird if it matches shoes I have?”

She tilts her head to the side. “Not if it’s the only thing that matches? That’s subtle, you know?”

I glance around. Sasha’s over in the fragrance section now, and we’re all alone. Even Ellie’s bodyguards are giving us a wide berth. “Do you know about Max’s Christmas party?”

She nods. “We can’t go. It’s…too soon.”

I get that. A short-lived scandal about Gavin’s college sexscapades rocked through Ottawa a few months earlier, and attending a kinky holiday party might be too sensitive for him. Or her, although she doesn’t look upset.

“Next year, maybe!” She glances across the department store floor toward her best friend. “Did Max give you an idea of how many people would be there?”

“Some of his friends from the hockey team. He’s doing the full catering thing, but it’s still going to be low-key and smallish. Partly for me, partly due to the space confines.”

“If there’s a heavy percentage of guys, find out if Max would mind if Sasha came. Oh!” She claps her hands together. “And Beth could go! Max likes her. They could go together.”

I frown atMax likes her. “Beth?”

“Gavin’s assistant.” Ellie sighs dramatically. “She loves Lachlan, and Lachlan loves her, but they’re both…I don’t know. It’s tragic. Max and I are both on Team Lachlan+Beth, I think. Not that we have meetings or anything. Just a hunch. But ask him.”

“I will.”

We head to a book store next, and I pick a travel memoir that has a crotchety-but-secretly-softhearted-old-man vibe to it. Maybe for Max, maybe for my father. Next to it is a motorcycle road trip book that Matthew might like, so I add that to my pile.

“I need a dress for my father’s Christmas party,” Sasha announces when we finish there, and Ellie shrugs.

“I could do some dress shopping. How about you, Violet? Do you need an outfit for that party we talked about before?”

Uh, no. But I can’t tell her that Max picks out all my outfits. That’s weird outside the confines of our secret thing. Isn’t it? I think it is. Doesn’t mean I don’t like it, though. Because it’s also lovely.

She laughs. “I’ll take that as a no.”

My face heats up and I nod. “We’re good on that front.”

But I try on a black silk dress anyway, to play along, and it fits like a glove. The saleslady sees me coming a mile away, and when she whispers that it’s going on sale for twenty percent off tomorrow, but she can give me that discount tonight, I’m sold.

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