Chapter 4
Seeing Lexie in that dress made my mouth go dry. Thinking about her out of it made my dick hard. She seemed oblivious to how beautiful she was, which made her even more beautiful. Nothing about her was fake. Except, of course, our whole ”relationship.”
I wasn”t entirely joking when I suggested I used her company just to see her. At least, to interact with her on some level. I never actually went to the office, but I personally paid every invoice she sent, knowing she was on the other end of the transaction.
Do I sound like a pathetic stalker? Probably. Do I care? As long as I wasn”t doing anything illegal, there was no harm in it. There was also no harm in making excuses to spend more time with her.
”The shop next door sells shoes,” I said, tilting my head back so my voice would carry over the change room door. I might have tried to peek in through a gap, but all I saw was a hint of an elbow. Since peering through gaps in change room doors probably was illegal, I averted my eyes.
”Then maybe we can get a coffee,” I suggested.
”I don”t drink coffee,” she said. Before my heart sank too far, she added, ”But I could go for a cup of tea. I mean, you are paying by the hour.”
One of the shop staff walked past just as Lexie said that. She stopped and gave me a disgusted look before walking away.
For fuck’s sake, did I really look like the kind of man who needed to pay a woman for her company? Or for sex? Just because I was taking Lexie to the party in return for renewing my contract didn”t mean she was some kind of prostitute.
I sighed. I might have to give the store a big tip to keep them from going to the tabloids. Something like that would go viral in about ten seconds flat.
First world billionaire problems was right. Some of them were legitimately as irritating as fuck.
”A billion pennies for your thoughts.” Lexie stepped out of the change room, once more dressed in her limo driver uniform.
”I can assure you, they”re not worth that much.” I took the dress from her hands and carried it over to pay for it.
The same shop assistant who overheard Lexie was also behind the desk. She gave us both a judgy look, but was quick enough to take my card and ring up the sale.
Lexie must have caught on, because she took the bag with the dress in it, raised herself up on her toes and kissed my cheek. ”Thank you, daddy. You”re always so good to me.”
The shop assistant”s eyes were huge.
I almost choked on air. ”I”m always happy to look after my good girl,” I said.
I smiled at the way Lexie”s eyes darkened. Interesting.
”Now, let”s get you some shoes.” If that was how she wanted to play it, I was more than happy to play along. ”I”m thinking the kind of heels that look good all by themselves.”
Now I was diamond hard, thinking of Lexie wearing a pair of heels and nothing else.
”Whatever my daddy wants.” She patted my cheek and swept out the door, leaving me to follow behind.
My balls were going to be blue as hell at this rate.
I stepped into the shoe shop and stood back, watching Lexie move from shelf to shelf, eyes wide as she saw the prices of each pair.
”These cost more than a month”s rent,” she whispered. She lightly touched the toe of a pair of Louboutins as though she was scared her touch might break them and she”d be forced to pay.
”They”re nice,” I said. Not very practical, but that seemed to be the point of women”s footwear. Heels, anyway.
”For the price, they should be more than nice,” she said. ”They should be absolutely incredible and probably be able to cook a three course meal.”
”I”ll settle for convincing my mother we”re seeing each other,” I said. ”Nothing says ”committed” like a pair of shoes like that.”
”Nothing says ”you should be committed” like paying that much for a pair of shoes,” Lexie said dryly. ”I have a nice pair of flat shoes at home. They”re a little worn?—”
I picked up the Louboutins and pressed them into her hand. ”Try them on.”
”I can”t.” She placed them back on the shelf.
”Of course you can,” I insisted. I started to reach for them again, but she placed her fingers on the back of my hand.
I felt as though I”d been struck by lightning. Her touch was a jolt of pure electricity all the way to my core. I cleared my throat. ”I don”t mind paying.”
She smiled. ”They”re not my size.”
”Ah.” That was a different story then.
Her smile widened. ”I”m sorry, I couldn”t resist. They really are expensive, though. I”m sure we could find something cheaper.”
”If you”d prefer something less expensive, then by all means, look around and choose something,” I said.
I liked her too much not to respect her opinion on this. She had to feel comfortable. If she didn”t, then I may blow the one chance I had of getting her to look at me twice.
”What if I want to wear sneakers?” She raised an eyebrow at me.
”Then we need to go back and choose a longer dress,” I said. ”One that will cover your feet. Otherwise my mother will lose her mind. I don”t think even my brother would get away with wearing sneakers to his own party.”
”Have you ever been tempted to do something you know would piss her off?” Lexie asked.
”Tempted? Yes. I”m one hundred percent certain it wouldn”t be worth the hassle. My mother has a long memory and a way of making sure your past deeds catch up to you. No matter how small a deal something is.” I pinched the bridge of my nose.
”It sounds like we should both wear sneakers to this party,” Lexie said. ”Whose life are you living anyway, yours or hers?”
”Most definitely hers,” I said dryly. ”I”m just an accessory.”
She looked at me in sympathy. ”That”s terrible. No one should feel like an accessory in their own life. You should be free to enjoy yourself.”
I looked at her past my hand. ”Who says I don”t enjoy my life?”
She planted a fist on her hip. ”When was the last time you did anything spontaneous? Something fun?”
”I asked you to accompany me to the party,” I said. ”That was spontaneous.” I”d only been thinking about it for the last decade.
”But was it fun?” She cocked her head at me.
”What could be more fun than shopping for women”s shoes?” I asked.
”Just about anything,” she said. ”What are you doing for the rest of the day?”
”Being driven around by a beautiful woman,” I said. ”After she chooses some shoes.”
”I”ll pick something, but then I”m taking you somewhere fun,” she said.
”You”re not making me go skydiving are you?” I grimaced.
”Scared?” she asked.
”Of jumping out of a perfectly good plane? Of course I am. Any sensible person would be.” That was the sort of thing my brother would do, not me.
”I”m not taking you skydiving,” she said. ”Trust me, you”ll have a blast.”
”The last time someone said trust me, I woke up on a beach somewhere,” I said. ”That was also the last time I drank tequila.”
She grinned. ”That sounds like one hell of a story.”
I shrugged. ”It probably is; I don”t remember the details. I”d suggest you ask my brother, but I doubt he remembers either. On the upside, I didn”t end up married to a stranger.”
Lexie laughed. ”This will be a lot more fun, I promise.”
I hoped those weren”t famous last words.