Page 91 of Taming the CEO

“Ummm, how about Macy's?" I asked.

He turned to me. "I have a personal shopper at Bloomingdale's. She'll help us out."

My eyes bulged, and I cleared my throat. “Maddox. I, ahh...”

“Yeah?”

“I'm not a Bloomingdale's shopper. It's really out of my price range.” No sense in beating around the bush. Our economic situations were very different.

He took my hand, squeezing my fingers. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll put everything on my credit card."

I laughed nervously. "No, you won't."

“It’s no big deal.”

I tried not to let that make me feel dirty. I would never expect anyone to pay for my things—especially after a hot night of sex. It made me feel weird.

“It is for me. I pay for my own things. Always have, always will.”

I took out my phone and searched for Macy’s address. I’d shopped there on two occasions, but I didn’t remember where it was off the top of my head.

“Let’s go here,” I said, showing him the screen.

He looked up from the phone to me. For a few seconds, he said nothing, then asked, "It's really that important to you?"

I nodded. "Yes." I was standing firm on this.

"All right, we'll go to Macy's."

My mouth hung open as I put down my phone. I'd expected him to fight me on it, or at least try to get his way. I liked that even though he was ruthless in business deals, he was very considerate in his personal life. I hadn't expected that.

Washington Street was fairly empty for Boston standards. After parking, we walked hand in hand. The city didn’t get nearly the amount of snow and sleet the suburbs did. Essex was in ten times worse shape than Boston. It was warmer than yesterday, so I didn’t button up my coat.

I smiled at a passerby who stared at me.

"Ah, I should write 'I am not ashamed' on my forehead," I whispered to Maddox as we stepped inside the store.

"What are you talking about?"

“People are giving me judgy looks as if I'm doing the walk of shame. I absolutely do not feel ashamed about going on a date last night and staying over. I won't have anyone shaming me today.”

"I like you so damn much," he said, putting an arm across my back and unexpectedly pulling me close to him. He brushed his thumb over my lower lip. "I fucking love your sass."

“That's a good thing because I have an endless supply of it. Now come on, let me go get some clothes. I might not care about people ogling me, but these shoes are not meant for walking.”

The one thing I enjoyed most about Macy's was their sales section. They had many options, and I always found something I loved. Today was no different. I found a dark pair of skinny jeans, black sneakers, and socks, plus a sweater that they had in three different colors.

"Can I come in?" Maddox asked as I was trying on the sweaters.

"The dressing room is pretty small," I said, "but you can peek." I'd put on the dark brown sweater, which was cheaper than the rest by ten bucks. But it was honestly not my color. The other options were black and dark green.

Maddox came inside, and I held up the two sweaters. After a few seconds, he swallowed hard but stayed silent.

Ha! He was looking at my boobs.

“Maddox? Which do you like better?”

He cleared his throat. “Dark green.”

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