Page 16 of Carnal Desire

She shrugged. “I was a little restless.”

I was tempted to ask if I was the cause of it but didn’t. No sense in looking like I was fishing for compliments or something.

I took a few bites of the savory casserole, my eyes closing in pleasure. It was a mixture of eggs, potatoes, vegetables, cheese,and some sort of sausage. Everything was flavorful and perfectly seasoned.

When I opened my eyes, Ariel was staring at me with an intense look on her face. I pressed my thighs together and sternly told myself to behave. Determined to not act so desperate and wanton today, I broke her stare and glanced around the room as I took another bite of my breakfast.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to a stack of boxes and bags leaned up against the side of the couch. They hadn’t been there last night.

“Theo brought you some shoes. And some other stuff,” she said with what felt like forced casualness.

I sent her a curious look, then walked over and glanced through the bags, finding a variety of panties and bras, all in my exact size. I’d never had matching bra and panty sets in my life, but there were at least ten here, all with tags from what looked like high end stores.

“How did Theo know my bra size?” I asked curiously as I stroked a red lace bra that was particularly sexy.

She shrugged. “He’s a gay man, they’re good at that stuff.”

Then I opened one of the half dozen shoeboxes. Pulling out a pair of very cute sandals, I looked at the bottom, unsurprised to find there wasn’t even a speck of dirt on the soles. My desire to have fancy shoes warred with my innate independence.I couldn’t pretend that this wasn’t charity, especially when I remembered a conversation Theo initiated last night about people’s shoe size.

My eyes narrowed. “Everything here looks brand new.”

“I’m not sure where he got that stuff.”

Ariel’s eyes darted away from me, raising my suspicions about yesterday’s clothes too. Nothing in those bags looked like they’d ever been worn. I’d known the clothes were new when I saw them, but I convinced myself that they were just gently used.

“That’s not what I asked you,” I said, dropping the adorable sandals and marching over to the table. “Look Ariel, I appreciate you letting me stay here, but I don’t want to be your charity case. I can buy my own shoes.”

“I wanted to buy you something nice,” she said. “Just accept the gift. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is to me!” I slammed my fists on my hips, glaring.

“You have holes in your shoes, Sadie!” she said in a frustrated tone.

“What?”

“The shoes you wore on the boat yesterday, they had holes on the bottom,” she explained. “It made me sad.”

“I’m sorry my shoes make you sad,” I said sarcastically, even while my cheeks burned with shame. I’d noticed the soles were wearing thin, but I hadn’t even realized there were holes now.

Ariel rose from her chair and pressed her palm against my red cheek. I couldn’t help but lean in against it. She gave me a look that was surprisingly tender.

“Sadie. I have so much money, more than I could ever use, let me spoil you a little bit. Please, baby. You deserve to be spoiled. Let me do this for you.”

Ariel

Iwatched the struggle in Sadie’s eyes. I knew that she’d been hurt before and that she’d learned not to trust anyone but herself. My girl was strong and independent, and I loved that about her. But I wasn’t going to rest until she believed that I wasn’t like those other women. I just wanted to love her and take care of her. What was the use of being rich if I couldn’t use my money to make other people happy?

She’d get there eventually. She’d learn to trust me.

We both jumped as a loud crack of thunder sounded, quickly followed by a bolt of lightning. It was a dark and gloomy day, with early summer thunderstorms predicted to roll through until tomorrow. We wouldn’t be doing any outdoor activities today, that’s for sure.

Normally I would spend at least part of the day working, but I didn’t want to waste any time with Sadie, no matter how full my inbox was getting.

After what felt like a million years, Sadie finally nodded.

“Okay, thank you. I’ll accept your gifts this time but please, no more. You’ve given me more than enough.”

She opened her mouth to say something else, but I didn’t want to argue anymore. I wanted to kiss her again. So I did.

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