Page 39 of The Baby-whisperer and the Brute
“You…” He stopped, swallowed, started again. “That, uh… looks great. Nice… choice.”
Looking down at myself, I let out a nervous giggle and smoothed the already-smooth fabric over my hips and thighs. “Do you think your mom would like it?”
He chuckled. “I don’t know about her, but I sure do.”
The girls had joined him. “You look so pretty, Angelina,” Skyla said, her eyes alight with appreciation. “Like my Holiday Barbie.”
Claire ran forward, wrapping her arms around my legs and rubbing her little face against the exquisite fabric. “Ilovethis dress. I love you so fancy like this.”
I smiled at the little girl’s misunderstanding, stroking her hair. “It’s not for me. It’s for your grandmother.”
Skyla laughed out loud. “That red dress can’t fit Nana. Nana iswaytoo big for that dress.”
Sully shushed her, stepping forward and addressing the shop owner. “We’ll take that one, if you could wrap it up. And whatever else fit her.”
“All of it, sir?” Chelle asked, clearly shocked but hopeful.
“Everything.”
“Well, I’ll just—I’ll get that wrapped up for you.” She scurried away toward the dressing room, leaving me standing with Sully and blinking in confusion.
“Don’t you want to see them first and make some selections? There were alotof things that fit.”
“Did you like them all?” he asked.
“Yes, but it’s way too many. You need to pick the ones you want for your mother.”
Sully brushed off the suggestion. “Are you putting a limit on how many things I can buy for a gift? I told you, there’s no point in killing myself to make all this money if I’m not free to spend it however I want. And what Iwantis to spend it on the people I care about.”
That was hard to argue with. The man was a billionaire.
Though I had gasped at the price tags, I knew he could easily afford to buy the entire contents of the pricey store if he wanted to. He’d probably never even notice the relatively infinitesimal subtraction from his account.
“Fine. I’ll just... go change. Be back in a minute.”
He gave me a satisfied nod, and I turned to go, leaving him standing by a rack of swimsuits. Before entering the changing area, I glanced back over my shoulder.
He was still watching me, making me wonder... what did this red dress look like from behind?
Chapter Eleven
Surprise Present
Sully
When we got home, Angelina went to the kitchen to prepare a snack for the girls.
I handed the shopping bags to my newly hired butler Julian along with some quiet instructions for what to do with them then went upstairs to change.
When I came back down dressed for the pool, I saw Skyla and Claire had finished eating and had put on their suits as well. Angelina still wore what she’d been wearing earlier, a pair of long shorts and a loose button-down short-sleeved shirt.
“Hey,” I said as I entered the room.
Angelina looked up, flicked her gaze over me, then glanced away quickly, wiping invisible crumbs from the countertop and returning a bottle of juice to the refrigerator.
“Hi. We’re just about ready.” Her voice sounded different, kind of thin and breathy.
Was it what I was wearing? She’d seen me in shorts and a t-shirt practically every day for the past month.
