Page 20 of I Shouldn't Feel This Way

There was a long pause.

“You bastard, damn you!” she snapped. “Fine! She’s yours!”

“And one other thing … If you mention this little convo of ours to her, you’ll be sorry.”

“I won’t mention a damn thing! Happy? Are we done now?” Emily was upset.

My daughter was soon approaching from the distance, which meant I had to wrap up the conversation. “You have a good day, Em.” I smiled slyly.

“Go to hell, Noah.” She hung up.

That went well,I sardonically said to myself.

Aria entered the car and strapped on her seat belt.

“Did you call Mom?”

“Yeah, I just got off the phone with her. She’s fine with you hanging out with me. I told her I’d bring you home in the evening.”

“Oh, okay, that’s good.”

“Yeah, so tell me, princess, what do you feel like doing, since we’re bordering on rebellion today?”

“Um …”

The seconds passed and Aria still couldn’t decide on a destination.

“I know where to take you.” I drove out of the school parking lot. “We’re going shopping.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

ARIA

I cannot express what it felt like to be spoiled. That experience had been foreign to me until Noah took me shopping with him. He literally spent about five thousand dollars on my clothes, shoes, accessories, makeup … pretty much everything and anything I wanted. Grams and Granddad would always send me $200 on my birthday, but this was just overboard. We went to all the high-end designer boutiques and Noah watched me try on outfits and shoes. It was so much fun because as soon as he flashed his credit card, the salespeople at the store started giving us VIP treatment.

After about an hour of shopping from place to place, we stopped at a clothing store called Chloé,on Madison Avenue. I immediately browsed their clothing line and was helped into a dressing room to see if the sizes were okay. Everything seemed to fit just fine, and I had one last item to test out. I changed into a strapless blue dress. The satin fabric hugged my body in all the right places, with the hem resting above my knees. I felt really sexy as I turned around, examining my figure from every angle.

The saleslady was talking in the background. “I am missing the summer already. Don’t you hate this weather?”

“I live in California, actually,” Noah replied.

“You and your wife are so lucky.”

Oh my God! She thinks I’m his wife!It shocked me so much that I accidentally dropped my bra.

Noah choked on his champagne, clearing his throat as he answered, “She’s not my wife.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed because of your wedding band.”

She probably thought he was a cheating bastard, taking “the other woman” out on a shopping spree.

“That’s my daughter in there.”

“Wow! You are a young father! I never would have guessed!”

This was embarrassing.Nosy person much?

He laughed off the awkwardness and I stepped out of the dressing room to rescue him.

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