Page 56 of Tempting Kat
Before I can respond, he closes the door and steps back. Through the tinted window, I watch him standing there, hands in his pockets, eyes never leaving the car as Henry pulls away. He looks like a man staking a claim, marking his territory.
The partition between the front and back seats slides down with a soft mechanical hum.
“Where would you like to go first, Miss Katarina?” Henry asks, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror.
I fidget, still not quite believing this is happening. “Um, somewhere I can get basics? T-Mart, maybe?”
Henry's eyebrows shoot up so fast I almost laugh. “With all due respect, Miss Katarina, Mr. Gallo would prefer you shop somewhere…more upscale.”
“Would he now?” I mutter, crossing my arms. “Well, I'd prefer not to have my entire apartment flooded, but we don't always get what we want, do we?”
Henry's lips twitch like he's suppressing a smile. “Perhaps we could compromise. There's a shopping center downtown with stores at various price points.”
I slump back against the leather seat because Henry hasn’t done anything wrong and I’m not about to take my annoyance out on him. “Fine. Downtown it is.”
As Henry navigates through traffic, I stare out the window, trying to process the surreal turn my life has taken. Twenty-four hours ago, I was just a broke bartender with a shitty, flooded apartment avoiding my boss. Now I'm being chauffeured around in a luxury car with a black card burning a hole in my pocket.
This shopping center is a fucking maze of glass and chrome. There are sculptures that look like giant dildos, and the music is pretentious as hell, so I know people are spending likethree hundred dollars on a plain white t-shirt and thinking to themselves how reasonable that is.
“I really don't need you to follow me around, Henry,” I say as we step through the doors of a shop. “I'm a big girl. I can shop by myself.”
Henry gives me a look that somehow manages to be both polite and completely dismissive of what I just said.
It’s like I suggested the dumbest thing in the world. I roll my eyes but don't push it. If the poor guy has to report back to Conrad about my every move, so be it.
An hour later, I'm standing in front of a mirror in some overpriced boutique, trying on jeans that cost more than my old rent. They make my ass look incredible, but Jesus Christ, who pays four hundred dollars for denim?
“These are ridiculous,” I mutter, turning to check out the back view.
The salesgirl hovers nearby; her smile plastic and practiced. “They're our most popular style. The designer personally?—”
“I don't care if the designer personally stitched them with thread made from his own hair,” I cut her off. “They're just jeans.”
Her smile tightens. I can practically see her mentally calculating her commission slipping away.
I sigh and check the tag again. The jeans do make my ass look like a work of art. “Fine. I'll take them.”
Three stores later, I've accumulated exactly two bags containing the bare essentials—some jeans, t-shirts, underwear, and a couple of bras. Nothing fancy, nothing that really screams “I'm spending someone else's money.” Just practical shit I need to survive.
Ugh, Henry is nice, but shopping with him isn’t exactly fun. I wish Frankie were here instead of being whisked away at some mountain mansion with her ex’s rich ass daddy. Maybe Ishould’ve let Conrad come along after all. At least then I could’ve had fun pushing his buttons and watching the veins in his neck pop out as he restrains himself in public.
Conrad's name flashes on the screen with a text message from the devil himself.
Mr. Tall and Annoying
Stop fucking around and buy some goddamn things. You've spent less than two thousand dollars. If you don't fucking buy everything, and I do mean everything you need, then I'm firing Henry for letting you do this shit.
My blood fucking boils as I read the message. I clutch the phone so hard my knuckles turn white.
“That motherfucking control freak!” I snarl loud enough that a woman with a designer purse clutched to her chest gives me a scandalized look before hurrying away.
“Miss Katarina? Is everything alright?” Henry asks, his usually impassive face showing a hint of concern.
I thrust my phone at him. “Look at this shit! He's threatening to fire you because I'm not spending enough of his precious money!”
Henry's eyes widen slightly as he reads the text. “Mr. Gallo can be...intense when he doesn't get his way.”
“Intense? He's a fucking psychopath!” I snatch my phone back, fury coursing through my veins. “Well, if he wants me to spend his money, I'll fucking spend his money.”
