Page 53 of Loving Her Enemy

“Oh, let’s go in here,” Bristol said, pulling Halayna into a store that had super trendy clothing. According to Bristol, it was owned by some singer who Halayna hadn’t heard of, but from what she saw so far, the clothes were cute.

As they moved around other shoppers, it didn’t take long for them to find a few outfits they liked. While Bristol was ready to try on her finds, Halayna wasn’t. She preferred to try everything on at once.

“I’ll be right back. I’m going to the dressing room. Stay nearby in case I want a second opinion on something.”

“Will do,” Halayna said absently as she looked through a rack of jeans.

The last time they’d done any real shopping was right before Halayna had decided to accept Sloane’s proposal. Then, several racks of clothes had been delivered to her hotel room for her to go through. It had been a fabulous experience, but there was nothing like hanging out in a store with your bestie.

Halayna moved to another rack when her eyes caught sight of some sundresses.

“That style would look gorgeous on you,” a woman, standing near her while looking through the rack of clothes, said.

“Think so?” Halayna held up the salmon color dress, trying to picture herself in it. She wasn’t a huge fan of wrap dresses since she was kind of small on top, but maybe she should try this one on.

“It’ll look great against your dark skin,” the woman insisted. “So, is that husband of yours taking you somewhere special tonight?”

Halayna smiled. She was still getting used to having a husband, but it gave her warm, fuzzy feelings whenever she thought of Sloane.

“No, I’m just shopping with a friend,” she said absently and draped the dress over her arm.

The woman kept up a steady monologue as they continued looking through the clothes, talking as if they were old friends.

Maybe this was what people meant by Georgia’s Southern hospitality. Since she had arrived, she couldn’t say she had experienced it. At least not when it came to customer service. The other week, while in a drug store, the woman at the cash register had barely spared her a glance while ringing up her items.

“Tell me, Mrs. Davidson. How’d you land one of the most eligible bachelors in the world?”

Halayna frowned at the question, and when she looked up, a microphone was shoved in her face, and camera flashes blinded her.

“What the…”

“How long did you and Sloane Davidson date?”

“Is it true you two were recently married in a private ceremony in Hawaii?” another woman to her left asked.

Halayna backed away from them while lifting her hand to block the camera flashes.

What is happening here?

She dropped the clothes she’d been holding and tried to get away from them, but they were right behind her. One cut her off on the other side of the clothes rack, throwing even more questions at her.

Heart racing, pulse pounding, she needed to get out of there, but she couldn’t leave Bristol.

Breathing hard, she frantically looked around. People were everywhere. Some whispering to their friends, while others were snapping pictures of her.

Why? What the hell was going on?

Bristol. She had to get to Bristol, but each way she turned, there was someone blocking her path or shoving her from behind. Halayna could barely see from all the flashes, and all she could think about was finding her friend and getting the hell out of there.

Her gaze darted around anxiously.

Tears blurred her vision.

Each way she turned, there was someone in her face. The man with the camera and the first woman were more aggressive. If she could just get away from them.

Where were the dressing rooms? She turned again, stumbled but righted herself, but then another woman with a cell phone was in her face. She was saying something, but all Halayna could hear was the blood rushing to her ears.

“Mrs. Davidson. Mrs. Davidson.”