Page 81 of Brat Baby
I bit my lip. Hudson obviously takes the action as a crack in my hesitation on my part, so he reaches up to place his hands on my bare shoulders, the little spaghetti straps of the dress doing nothing as a barrier.
“Kitten, let me do this for you. I want to spoil you. Please?”
My throat locks up with the use of his nickname for me, and I know it’s his way of playing dirty to get what he wants, but I don’t fucking care.
I turn, taking the opportunity to step a little closer to him as I do, and stare at the building.
Hudson’s hands smooth over my shoulders as he waits for me to decide. I have to admit, I do hesitate maybe a touch too long because I know that once I give in, he’ll stop touching me.
But eventually, I can’t hold out anymore. “Okay.”
Chapter 42
Hudson
The silence coming from the passenger seat is a literal demonstration of Emery’s current state of mind—shock. And maybe a little surrealness.
It’s my turn to take pleasure in her state of distress. We’re still in the parking garage; I haven’t even taken the car out of park yet. There are a few shopping bags in the back seat, and easilytwice as many still in the store, marked to be delivered to her dorm tomorrow afternoon after her class with me is over.
She didn’t even get close to my budget limit. I told her so at the register as the final amount appeared on the screen. That was when the true protests started.
There were a few minor ones after I’d put a ban on checking tags for prices before she made decisions. As adorable as it was to watch her making careful selections, trying to balance price with need, it wasn’t the purpose of this shopping trip.
Nope. If this is the last time I get to spoil my girl, I want to make sure she has everything she could possibly need for at least the next twelve months. Anything she touched, if she displayed even the slightest amount of interest, it went into the yes pile.
The salespeople received a very sizeable commission today.
It is well into the afternoon, and I know I need to get her back to her dorm soon so that she can do whatever it is she does to prepare for her week, but I can’t help but want to drag all of this out a little more.
I can see why Darcy is planning to make her an offer to be his muse outside of our arrangement with her. Her profile is stunning, and the way the last of the afternoon rays of sun touch her cheeks and highlight her freckles is an image I wish I could burn into my memory.
She is absolutely perfect.
Unable to help myself, I reach across the center console and move the hair away from the side of her face so that I can see her. As my fingers touch her cheek, she turns to face me, hazel eyes large and beseeching.
“Hudson, I can’t accept all of that. It was way too much. Like, seriously. I think, when everything arrives tomorrow, I might go through it all and send some back. It’s too much. I seriously don’t need all of it. I’m used to not having everything. I can make do.” Even though she is telling me what she plans to do, there isa pleading edge to her voice, like she needs me to hear what she is saying.
And I do, but it isn’t the message she wants me to hear. My ribs ache with the enormity of my sympathy, but I’m not letting her send any of it back. And from the way she has played us at every turn this last week, I know that I’m going to have to go low to ensure that she keeps it all.
“I understand that it’s a lot, but if you try to send it back, all you are going to do is cost me more money. I’ve already left a message with them that if you return any of it, they are to recharge me and resend it to you.” Lies, all of it, but I’m all for playing dirty to win. “So, if you don’t want me spending another cent on you, you’re just going to have to keep it all.”
She hiccups on a laugh, eyes glassy and broken, so very clearly not used to this type of treatment. Emery looks away, and I see the obvious struggle she is having over accepting everything we bought today. “It’s too much.”
“It’s not enough.”
She snaps back around to face me so quickly, a tear does fall. “I do not need one-thousand count sheets or these over-the-top sunglasses.”
Emery opens the case on her lap, pulling out a pair of Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, the massive dark lenses aimed in my direction. Then she gestures to the back seat. “Or the Coach handbag or the three pairs of high heels. Where the hell am I going to wear any of this stuff? I can’t. I don’t need this much.”
I shrug, turn back forward, and start the car. “Wherever you like. And I think the definition of need is defined by each person’s circumstances. Just because your past has never required them does not mean that your future doesn’t.”
“Hudson, I’m serious.”
My lips quirk, because, yes, my little kitten is definitely serious, if the furrowing of her brow and thin press of her lips is anything to go by. “So am I.”
We literally worked our way through every single level of Saks Fifth Avenue, only skipping the sections that weren’t relevant to our little spree today. She was pretty on the money with her list of store options earlier when she’d been trying to get our destination out of me.
My college experience wasn’t much different from Emmy’s. Dorm-room living, on a partial housing scholarship. While my family was living comfortably back then, we weren’t well-off. They’d helped me get set up in the dorms, purchasing all those initial things that you need when you first move out, but after that, I either had to manage or get a part-time job.
