Page 45 of The Baby Contract With My Hot Billionaire Boss

“We’ll be there soon and we can see what they have,” I tell her, instead of saying anything else. I’m sure they’ll have something that she will like. Though I’m not entirely sure what all we’re going to need.

Luckily, Emma seems to have an idea on that.

“Okay, so we’re going to need a crib and a dresser and maybe a rocking chair. And a stroller and some linens and things. Clothes. And diapers. But I think we can make do with that.”

I shake my head slightly but lead her into the store. We’re not going to ‘make do’ with anything, but for now I’ll let her think what she wants. Which is why I also let her take the lead at first when it comes to looking for the things we want.

“Hello … Miss,” the sales clerk says, walking over to us with a strange look on her face. She glances over Emma with a look almost like disdain and I clench my teeth together to keep from saying anything. But Emma just stands up straight and squares her shoulders.

“Hello, I’m looking for furniture for a baby’s room.”

“Well, you’re in the right place then,” the woman replies and her tone is almost sarcastic even while she’s pasted on a fake smile.

“Okay, great,” Emma says smoothly instead of responding. “I only need the basics, and we’re looking to make things as functional as possible.”

“Of course.” Again, that tone that I don’t like and it’s grating on me not to say something. But Emma looks like she wants to handle it and so for now I keep my mouth shut. “These are the most … functional pieces that we have,” the woman finally replies, leading us to what I’m sure is the cheapest bedroom set in the place.

Even still, when Emma glances at the price I can see her eyes go wide. And the smug look on the woman’s face.

“Is there a problem?”

“No. It’s just that you’re our first stop and so-“

“You won’t find anything better than what we have to offer,” the woman interrupts and I’m entirely positive that it’s a smug expression now. She’s enjoying tormenting Emma. Enjoying making her uncomfortable.

“Are you the manager?” I ask suddenly and both women turn to look at me.

“No. The manager isn’t working today.”

“Too bad,” I retort and the woman does the same once-over on me. But my shorts and buttoned shirt won’t be mistaken for anything other than a high-end brand, though she likely won’t know anything about it. Still, I get a slightly less judgy look. “You,” I point to a young man walking past us wearing a uniform for the store. “You are a salesperson?”

“Um … yes … I … yes, I am,” he replies, glancing nervously from the other woman to me and Emma.

“Great. You can help us. And you … you can get back to whatever you were doing before,” I instruct.

Emma looks shocked at the way I take charge, and the boy looks nervous still but steps up as the other woman scoffs at us and walks away.

“Better your time wasted than mine,” she murmurs to the boy as she walks away but he takes a deep breath, sets down the box he was holding, and glances from me to Emma before settling on her.

“Okay, well, I see you’re looking at this model, it’s-“

“We don’t want this one,” I interrupt though Emma shoots me a glare and shakes her head.

“Oh. Okay, well, I can show you some of the other options.” He glances around the room and seems to decide that the best course of action is to simply make our way through, which he does easily, getting more and more comfortable as we look at new items.

By the time we make it all the way around the room he’s definitely in his element and feeling a lot more confident. And he’s making Emma smile and laugh along the way. And keeping her from looking at the price tags.

“Now, this is the best that we have. It’s made with solid wood, a teak exterior with a solid frame under it so it’s beautiful and still sturdy. There are two dressers to go with it like you would find in an adult set, a tall one here and the lower one that can be used also as a changing table. Or there’s a separate changing table here.” He points out all of the features and I can tell Emma is impressed.

“This is the one.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to look at any of the others again?” He asks, his brow furrowed but I can tell he’s not concerned about us paying for it. He’s paying attention to what we want, and that I appreciate.

“This is the one. And we’ll take the entire set.”

“Great. If you’d like we can look at some of the bedding and other things …”

By the time we get to the register there is a huge pile of boxes and packages waiting for us. And the judgy lady is staring at us with a scowl on her face.

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