Page 57 of Friend Zone to End Zone

“There’s no arguing with that reaction.” Hillary shook her head like she too was mesmerized by whatever was going on between Arianna and me in that moment. “H-how about we find the shoes and necklace to go with the dress?”

She led Arianna to a table nearby where there were a dozen heels sporting designer names like Gucci, Jimmy Choo, and Louis Vuitton.

“What do you think about these Alexander McQueen black suede peep-toe heels?” Hillary said as she reached for a pair of shoes. “I think they would be perfect with that dress.”

I watched Arianna’s eyes as she took in the shoes, and the way she looked at the shoes was probably very similar to the way I had just been looking at her. Shewantedthem.

She took them from Hillary and inspected them for a moment. Then she checked the price tag and her eyes went wide.

“How about we try them on?” I stepped toward her, taking the shoe out of her hand before she could put it back down. “You’re a size nine, right?”

“Yeah, but those are like fifteen hundred doll—“

“Do you like them?” I cut her off before she could worry too much about the cost.

“Well, yes.” She gazed at them with longing then she looked up at me. “They’re beautiful.”

“Then let’s try them on.”

And while Hillary went to the back room to grab the right size, I escorted Arianna to a chair nearby so she could sit down. When Hillary reappeared with the shoes, I took them out of the box, knelt down on one knee, and guided the shoes onto Arianna’s bare feet.

With my hand already on the back of her leg, I was so tempted to run my fingers up farther to see if her leg was as smooth and soft as it looked. But I reined myself back in just in time and asked, “How do they feel?”

She glanced down at my hand that was still on her leg and whispered, “They feel really good.”

And when our gazes met, there was something in her eyes that made me wonder if she was talking about the shoes or something else.

My heart instantly took off as I searched her eyes for understanding.

Was she trying to tell me something?

Was she hinting that there finally might be something on her side?

Or was it all just in my head? Because I’d definitely interpreted signs wrong before.

Then again, I remembered what she’d said when we first walked in the boutique, about how she could make Hillary believe that Arianna was really into me. So this could very well just be part of her act, too.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

Instead of dissecting everything that may or may not be happening between us, I gave her a hand up to assist her and said, “How about you take the shoes for a stroll to make sure they’re really what you want?”

She walked a big circle around the room, and then she came back and stood before me. “These are perfect,” she said. “Everything is perfect.”

I smiled, loving that I could finally do this for her. “I’m glad.” Then turning to Hillary, I said, “We’re getting the shoes, too.”

We decided against getting a necklace,since the plunging neckline of her dress didn’t need anything extra detracting from Arianna’s natural beauty. But we found some streaming diamond dangle earrings that looked amazing against her olive-complected skin tone.

While Arianna grabbed the clothes and shoes she’d worn into the store from the dressing room and put them into a bag, I had Hillary ring up the items Arianna and I had decided on. Then I also made secret arrangements for a gift I wanted to surprise Arianna with for tomorrow night.

I was just slipping my credit card back into my wallet when Arianna reappeared. And I couldn’t get over how breathtaking she was.

I could probably stare at her all night, but since I didn’t want to be a creeper, I put my wallet into the pocket inside my suit coat and asked, “Ready to go?”

“I guess.” She shifted her weight like she was nervous. “Can you tell me where we’re going now?”

I grinned. “Not a chance.” I took the bag of Arianna’s belongings from her. “But the car is waiting for us just outside.”

“The car?” She looked toward the front of the store to see what I was talking about. “Don’t you mean the Land Rover?”

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