Page 22 of Meet Me at the Altar

“We have a beautiful handbag that pairs well with these shoes, Mr. Jones,” the salesclerk offered with a bright smile.

She had damn dollar signs flickering in her bright blue eyes. I was already struggling with accepting the pair of Jimmy Choo heels from him. Just because he caught me eyeing them while he was taking a call out on the sidewalk didn’t mean that I expected him to buy them for me.

The minute he laid eyes on me, he ended the call and rushed me right into the store. We had just left a few other boutiques and stores where he had spent twenty stacks on me in clothes, shoes, jewelry, and accessories, and he’d placed the bags in the car so that we could finish shopping.

“No, Drè. I don’t need another gift,” I argued.

“Bring the handbag, ma’am.”

“Why are you doing this?” I asked in a low tone when she walked away.

“Why are you being so difficult? What’s wrong with a man wanting to do nice things for his lady?”

“Your lady isn’t accustomed to living like this and having a man lavish her with these types of expensive gifts. I buy things for myself.”

“Why?”

“Because if I wanted something expensive in the past, I bought them. Remy was the only relationship I’ve had, and he bought me cute little necklaces and rings, but I buy my own clothes, shoes, and anything that’s expensive.”

“What’s that got to do with me, Kalli? I’m not him, so don’t expect me to act like him.”

“I don’t. It’s just . . . I mean, I appreciate you wanting to do for me like this, but I’m not accustomed to this. It’s a different level of a relationship than I’ve had, and I’m not there yet.”

He cupped my chin in his hand and tilted my head back slightly. “You’re at that level, baby. Everything that I have is yours, and anything that I don’t have, you can get.”

The salesclerk immediately came back with the handbag, and I couldn’t deny that she had an eye for fashion. Andrès bought the shoes, the handbag, and a bottle of Royal Diamond by Amaffi. We stepped into Solomon Brothers so that he could check on a watch that he had specially designed for his brother, Solomon.

I walked around the store eyeing various pieces that I found intriguing. Andrès was deeply engrossed in his conversation with his personal jeweler when I spotted something that I wanted. After a couple of minutes, a salesperson finished with another couple and came to serve me.

“You ready, babe?” Andrès asked after another fifteen minutes.

“Yeah. Did you get everything you needed?”

“Yep. Did you see anything you wanted in here?” he asked me.

“No, but I’m starving. Can we grab lunch now?”

“Yeah. Sounds like spending money works an appetite up in you,” he replied teasingly.

“Or it sounds like that smoothie I had for breakfast wasn’t enough to hold me over,” I replied, giggling.

“Babe, I told you we could have gotten breakfast when I picked you up.”

“And I told you that?—”

“Hold up, baby. Let me grab this call; it’s relating to the house construction.”

“Okay.”

He moved from the doorway of the jeweler to the front window. I walked a few paces away to give him some privacy and to check out a bakery. When Andrès glanced up at me, I pointed to the bakery, and he nodded. I stepped inside and bought some cupcakes before I returned to the sidewalk.

Andrès was still on his call, so I hopped on social media while I waited.

“Kalliope?” A male’s voice rose slightly above the din of the loud vehicles passing by and people talking, causing my head to jerk up.

“Kalliope, I thought that was you.”

I hadn’t seen or spoken to Remy since the day I found him and Ellis together. I’d run out of there and not looked back, except for the night I had gone back to vandalize his property, but I hadn’t seen him. My father and brother and a couple of my male cousins had gone by there to pick up my things the morning after I left when he wasn’t home.