Page 20 of Sweet Madness

Yet this time, the almost-smile lasts a second longer than the last.

Thank God for small victories, I guess.

“Are you done?” He clears his throat, looking a bit flustered. Huh. Interesting.

My proximity affects him just as much as he affects me. That’s one more point in my favor.

The silence envelops us, the cozy ambiance of the boutique and the bustling noise of the staff fading into the background as I find myself lost in brown eyes that make it difficult to catch my breath.

Time stops, and everything that hurt me yesterday seems to fade away as Shaw Banning looks down at me. At that moment, fractures of the people we used to be come to the surface to greet each other—the man who smiled with his entire face and the little girl who used to collect the stars for him each night.

As if snapping himself out of the trance we’re both under, he sidesteps me and quickly grabs a pink dress with small watermelons on it, gently tossing it to me and catching me off guard.

One second, he’s hot; the next, he’s cold; and the next… he reveals the man I used to know, even if it’s just for a brief second.

Holding the pretty dress, he chose closer to my chest, I nod, making my curls bounce with the movement. “I’m ready to go.”

Someone clears their throat, interrupting us. Shaw and I turn to find the saleslady staring at me a little too closely. For a second, I forget who I am to the world. Only for a moment, and all because of him.

The saleslady smiles and then walks behind the counter to murmur something to her coworker. They both glance at their phones and then at me.

Busted.

It was nice not being me, even if only temporarily.

But then, not wanting to sour the moment, I ignore the women as an idea pops into my head.

“Hey, Shaw,” I say, giving the salesladies my back and focusing only on my bodyguard.

“Yes?” He reaches behind his back to grab his wallet and glances back at me.

I give him a smile that has trouble written all over it. “Can we make another stop?”

The big grump narrows his eyes, looking suspicious, but after a minute that feels like a lifetime, he gently nods before turning back to the overly flirtatious women and handing one of them his credit card.

Five minutes later, Shaw has bags filled with clothes in both hands and his perpetual scowl on his face as he guides me out of the tiny store towards our next stop.

Oh, this is going to be fun.

Shaw

The moment the girl bats her eyelashes at me and asks if we can make another stop before we head back to the ranch, I should say no.

But I don’t, and now we’re here.

“So… how do I look?” The little vixen flips her hair and smiles shyly over at me.

It should be a fucking crime what she just did.

Her once-long raven curls are gone, now they fall just above her breasts, adorned with subtle pink highlights woven into the dark strands.

Biting down hard, I feel my fucking molars shake with the force. I suppress the urge to tell her just how pissed off I am that she did this.

And what a fucking mess that would that be.

I have no right to care, and I shouldn’t. I should only be focused on her fucking safety, but I do care.

In under two days, this petite terror with a dazzling smile and eyes that could dismantle my defenses has already push me to question my sanity.

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