Page 77 of The Last Resort
Rachel couldn’t fault Vivian’s logic. She was going to havelet her reservations go. Accept Matthew’s generosity as being part of who he was and be grateful to have such a gorgeous man in her life, a man who wanted to spoil her.
“Okay. Let’s go have some retail fun.”
As the personal shopper at Cult Gaia whisked Matthew’s black Amex away and went to wrap their purchases, Rachel slipped her cell out of her purse.
If I get hangry, I’m blaming you
#sorrynotsorry
Her plans to grab a quick breakfast before heading out with Vivian had been foiled by the presence of a male leg hooking around her knee and holding her in bed. She’d been unable to resist Matthew’s kisses and demands for morning sex.
Giving Bryce over the joke. His face
“Oh no, don’t do that,” whispered Rachel, lifting her gaze to find Vivian checking over her shoulder and reading the screen of her phone.
It was just after ten and they’d been at the designer statement store for an hour. Rachel had lost count of the number of beachwear pieces she’d tried on. Vivian, who she’d quickly come to realize was a near Olympian-level shopper, had thrust garment after garment through the door of thedressing room insisting that Rachel tried on each and every one.
“Why didn’t you tell me you hadn’t eaten? You poor girl, you must be starving,” said Vivian.
Rachel held a hand to her forehead, and swayed like she was about to faint. “I don’t think I have the strength to try on any more clothes, not without an emergency muffin and flat white coffee inside me.”
Her friendly shopping fiend raised an eyebrow at Rachel’s terrible acting skills, but she seemed to take pity. “Okay, just a minute.” Vivian lifted her phone to her ear and after having a quick conversation with someone, ended the call with a cheery, “Thanks, see you shortly.”
“Our driver will have coffees and some snacks waiting for us as soon as we leave the store. What’s the thing about the bear joke?”
“I met a family of bears on the walking trail at the lodge. The mama bear wasn’t happy to see me. And I can tell you, the feeling was mutual.”
Vivian lay a hand on Rachel’s arm. “Oh my god. And Bryce cracked that gag about bears eating Matthew. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s alright. Lucky for me the mountain rescue people were out in their chopper, and they winched me to safety.”
The shopping assistant returned and handed Rachel back the black Amex card. She could have sworn the card was sucking in air from having been worked so hard.
I don’t think I want to look at the store receipt.
Her final purchase count at Cult Gaia was fifteen garments, including a skimpy gold cut out design which had Rachel thanking herself for having kept up with her bikini line maintenance right through the chills of the Colorado weather.
There were four resort wear dresses along with a fabuloussunhat, the price of which Rachel had erased from her memory once she’d read it. Who knew that a wide brimmed straw hat could cost that much?
“Your bags have been delivered to your town car by the concierge service, Ms. Royal.”
Rachel opened her mouth ready to correct the woman on her relationship status, but a quick glance from Vivian stopped her.
“I’ll just take those few items on the rack, thank you,” said Vivian. She handed over Bryce’s credit card.
While the assistant rang up the purchases, Vivian turned back to Rachel. “All the stores know we are coming today. And as much as it spins my head at times, the name Royal on the credit card is all that matters.”
Rachel tapped a quick message to Matthew on her phone.
your Amex card and U
Keep up strength
Viv is under my orders
“Yes, I am, and we are on a tight schedule, so let’s finish up here,” said Vivian pointing at Rachel’s phone. She seemed to have an endless amount of energy.
“Saks Fifth Avenue is next, and cousin Camille will be waiting for us there. She’ll no doubt have some beautiful pieces chosen for you. But you’ll still need something special to wear for the wedding ceremony, so after Saks, we have an appointment at Carolina Herrera. The European Royals will be expecting to see us wearing American elegance, so the grand dame of New York City is a safe bet. I’m also picking up my dress from there.”
