Page 42 of The Wicked Love

“Whoa, Becca, hold up. Are you serious?” Rose catches up to me, still in shock at my offer.

I assure her, “Yeah, definitely.”

Something must have caught Sophie’s eye because she is by the sandals, ten feet away from us. Her fingers caress the fuchsia Oran sandals sitting on the shelf, and a fun idea trickles into my mind.

Rose wanders off near Sophie like a kid in a candy store, and I walk over to Keanu.

“Anything they touch, buy it when we leave.”

Immediately after telling him, I walk up to Rose. “Try them on.”

Sophie meanders farther into the store, and I wonder how much the bill will be that they rack up today. I laugh to myself.

She scoffs. “Yeah, right.”

“Where’s the fun if you can’t even slip them on?” I egg her on.

She cocks her head to the side, still eyeing the sandals. “You have a point.”

Right as I convince her, the worker approaches with my already-wrapped bag. “Would you like to look it over?”

“I’m sure everything is fine.” I pull one of my cards out of my wallet and hand it to her. “Here you go.”

She turns to walk away, but I stop her.

“Also, can we get these in a size …” I turn to Rose.

“Six. Six, please.” Her words stammer out.

“Of course,” the lady responds and turns on her heels to get them for us.

Size six—got it.

“Do you and Sophie wear the same size? Maybe she’d like to try them on too,” I ask her.

“She actually wears a seven. But she’d probably try to squeeze into them just to say she had them on.” Rose giggles as the worker approaches with the fuchsia sandals and my card, handing them off to me.

Giving Rose her moment and space to try the sandals on, I walk up to Keanu, who is awkwardly standing in the middle of the room.

“Use this card. Size six of those sandals and”—I turn to see what Sophie has found—“and size seven of those. Also, pick out a handbag for each. If you need help, just ask the workers. And maybe a scarf for each of them too. Have them hold everything, and if you don’t mind, swing back later and get it after we’re done here.”

Keanu blinks rapidly for a second. “Where’s Becca?”

Confused, I ask, “What do you mean?”

He smiles. “I mean, you’re about to drop probably over five, ten thousand on them, and you’re being, like, hmm … I don’t know …kind?” His smile grows.

Deciding to spoil people for once, I extend my branch of generosity. “While you’re at it, grab a couple things for yourself. Price doesn’t matter. You deserve it anyway.”

Turning, I walk off before he can saythank youor anything. I’ve always been weird with compliments when it comes to something I did for a person.

“Are you guys about ready?” I ask Rose as she hands the sandals back to the worker.

Rose pouts to Sophie. “Yeah, we’re ready.”

Leading them out of Hermès quickly, I ask, “Where to?”

Sophie slides her hand down Rose’s wrist, interlocking their fingers. “American Eagle? I want to get some fuzzy socks.”