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Once I have my food, I settle at the table with Bella, and she watches me try everything, an expectant, but patient look on her face.
“It’s just… I don’t know. It’s hard to know where I stand sometimes,” I tell her. “Everything was nice this morning, and we were flirting and teasing each other before we left the house, right? Then we get to the office, and I have to bring him some files, and I come in to see this other assistant, Sienna, all over him. And he was just letting her do it.”
Bella rolls her eyes. “I remember Sienna. Tall, leggy, always acts like she has a stick up her ass?”
“That’s the one,” I say, laughing a little. “And it doesn’t help that she’s beautiful and competent and she hates me. So seeingher there in his office just made me feel like shit, you know? Like he’s just waiting for his chance to swoop in and have her once he’s done with me. He said that I’m his wife, so I shouldn’t worry, but it’s not like we’re mated. It’s not like he can’t just toss me aside if he wanted to.”
I don’t know how much Xavier has told his family about the truth of our marriage, so I don’t go into too much detail. The relevant parts seem safe enough anyway.
“Oh, Xavier,” Bella says on a sigh, shaking her head. “He can be an idiot sometimes. He’s so friendly and charming to everyone that he forgets that some people read into that kind of thing.”
“Right?” I say, finishing the last bite of my sandwich. “Sienna definitely wants him, and he didn’t do anything to warn her off.”
“Here’s the thing about my brother,” Bella says, leaning her elbow on the table. “He basically always means well. Everything he does is to make other people happy. But sometimes he needs to realize that he’s being over the top with it. Or that in trying to make everyone happy, he’s letting other people down. You just have to make sure he knows how you feel.”
I wrinkle my nose because having a heart to heart about it doesn’t sound great. Although I guess I basically already let him know I was jealous by snapping at him about Sienna. So that cat is out of the bag already.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “I guess I should just talk to him about it now that I’ve calmed down some. Better than letting it fester.”
We finish our meal and I get up to go pay at the counter, Bella following behind me. When I pull out my wallet, I realize Xavier’s card is still sticking out of it from when he gave it to me this morning.
Bella grins mischievously. “Well, they say the best way to get your feelings out after a fight is to spend money.”
“Who says that?”
She shrugs. “People. I’ve heard them.”
I laugh and swipe Xavier’s card to pay for lunch and the two of us walk out together.
“What are you doing now?” Bella asks.
“I guess technically I should get back to work. I told Xavier I was taking a long lunch, but there’s a lot to do.”
She smiles at me, linking her arm with mine. “Or you could not do that and we could go do something fun instead.”
“Like… what?”
“Shopping!”
“I don’t know if I should…”
“Come on, Pen. You’re married to the bosses. What’s the fun of that if you don’t take advantage of it every now and then? What did Xavier tell you when he gave you his card?”
I chew my bottom lip for a while before answering. “That I should use it to get whatever I want.”
“There you go.”
I don’t mention that he said that because we were talking about my nesting, but Bella does have a point. The three of them are always talking about providing for me, and up until now, I haven’t really asked for anything.
“Okay,” I say, smiling back at her. “Let’s do it.”
She claps excitedly. “Yes! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to have a shopping buddy? Trying to get my brothers to come along with me is like pulling teeth. And on top of that they have the worst taste.”
We take the car to the shopping district, bypassing any of the shops I would usually go into, hoping to find something on clearance that wouldn’t break the bank. We go right for the high end boutiques with names I can’t pronounce. The clothes are all so beautiful, and you can tell they’re expensive because there aren’t even any price tags on them.
In the first shop, a sales girl asks if we need any help, and Bella waves her off with a smile.
“We’ve got this,” she says, towing me over to a rack of dresses. She pulls out one that’s a lovely green color and holds it up to me. “This would look amazing on you.”