Page 39 of Gabriel's Album

“Soon, baby. I promise.”

With my words hanging in the air, she takes the red top and black skirt off and hangs them both up. I resist the temptation to grope her again, though her breasts look glorious, and I want them back in my mouth as soon as I can.

Ariana faces me and makes a show of putting her bra back on while I compose my features into a very obviously disappointed expression. She laughs. She puts her jeans and t-shirt on, as well as her shoes, and I really am disappointed by this reverse strip show. She looks so much better naked. When she’s dressed, I pull her into a hug and kiss her head.

“Where to now?” she asks me after I let her go.

I’m confused by the question because obviously the next thing we’re going to do is pay for her clothes.

“We have to buy you those clothes,” I say.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t really that interested in buying anything. I just wanted to try stuff on.”

“But you looked amazing in them.” I frown at her.

“I know, I just wasn’t too sure about them.”

Not too sure? She looked phenomenal in those outfits; we’d be crazy not to get them.

“What do you have to lose?” I ask her.

She doesn’t respond out loud, but her expression closes off and she shrugs at me. I grab the clothes off the hook and stride out of the changing room. Ariana scurries after me.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Buying you a present,” I reply and head toward the sales desk.

“You can’t.”

“Sure, I can. Watch me.”

We’re almost at the sales desk now, and Ariana hisses at me, “Those clothes are ridiculously overpriced.”

I mean, I suppose she’s not wrong. What I’ve discovered, though, is that the material and quality of the clothes makes them very enjoyable to wear, even if they’re expensive as hell to buy. Besides, it’s not like a few thousand dollars is going to break the bank anyway.

“Money isn’t an issue,” I grin at her. “I’ve got plenty to spare.”

I place the items on the desk and give a charming smile to the woman who is serving.

“Hi, we’d like to buy these.”

“Absolutely, sir,” she replies as she begins scanning the clothes.

The cashier rings up the purchases, and I search in my wallet for my credit card before I pull out my black American Express card.

Ariana whispers in my ear, “Gabriel, you don’t have to do this.”

Does she think that I don’t know that? I mean, it’s not like she’s here forcing me to buy her things. God knows, if she was, I’d probably have dumped her long ago. Whatever is going on with her, she’s clearly doing that overthinking thing again. If I didn’t want to buy her clothes, then I wouldn’t do it.

“Of course I don’t have to; I want to,” I reply. Then, to clarify things, I tell her, “You looked great in the clothes; you should have them. You’re just being silly.”

I swipe my card, and as I’m waiting for the transaction to process, I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and call our driver to tell him that we’ll be ready to leave in a few minutes.

I sign the slip that prints from the register and thank the salesgirl. I grab the bag of clothes and take Ariana’s hand in mine as we walk away. She hasn’t said anything more this whole time, and I’m regretting my comment about her being silly. I shouldn’t have said that, but they’re just clothes, for crying out loud.

We get into the waiting car, then I turn to her and ask, “Where do you want to go now?”

Ariana shrugs.

---