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“What? Yes, I’m fine.”
They continued on, passing a jewelry store that held Katie’s attention and then walking into the fabrics and crafts store a little farther down. Maia’s eyes lit up, and even Rose was impressed when they walked in – how had she never been here before? The store washuge.
Maia strode off towards the back of the store where a hand-painted sign indicated the silks could be found and Rose trailed after her at a slightly slower pace, admiring the hardwood floors and cute kitschy design of the store. It sort of felt like stereotypical grandma vibes, homey but professional enough that you didn’t want to have your hand caught in the cookie jar.
A gorgeous sage green silk caught Rose’s eye as Maia held it up and examined the quality, but it was the deeper emerald behind her that would be perfect for the gala. Rose held it up for Maia to see and was rewarded with a grin that had Katie and Cara looking bemusedly back and forth between them.
“How has it been with Blake?” Katie asked, leaning against the exposed brick wall. “I didn’t realize you guys had so much history until Cara filled me in after dinner atThe Hummingbird.” Her icy blue eyes narrowed on Rose and she winced, knowing Katie hated being left out of the loop.
“Yeah, sorry about that. Um, things are fine.”
“Fine?” Maia snorted as she measured out a ream of fabric, being careful not to handle it too much less her fingerprints mar the silk. “You should have heard her complaining the other day.He’s such an arrogant ass, Maia.” Her friend snickered and Katie grinned at the high falsetto Maia had used to imitate Rose.
“Well, Blake seems to be enjoying himself,” Cara said, clearly trying to be peacemaker. “He was in such a good mood last night it was actually nauseating.”
“Last night, huh?” Maia shot Rose a look and she could feel her cheeks growing warm again as she remembered Blake’s soft moans and warm breath in her ear as he’d powered into her.
“You know, I think we can order the fabric online,” Rose said brightly, gesturing blithely to the sign taped up behind the register before hurrying away.
The girls followed her out of the store a few moments later and Rose’s heart was beating hard when Maia opened her mouth again, clearly not content to let this go, so Rose quickly distracted them all by ushering everyone into a boutique lingerie shop and immediately darting into the racks of lace to hide her unease.
The shop was dark with black changing curtains on silver rods and fancy leather armchairs that sat in the corner next to–
“Oh my god,” Rose blurted and then clapped a hand over her mouth as she took in the display.
“Found something good?” Maia sounded amused and Rose knew then that she’d made a mistake darting into the first store she saw. There was no way Rose DuLoe would ever be caught dead inside a sex shop and Maia knew it.
Her friend walked over to the display and cooed over a bright purple dildo, complete with glitter as she held it up for Rose to see. “This one says it's flavored.”
Rose choked on her own spit as Katie and Cara walked up to them and Katie waggled her eyebrows as she took the dildo from Maia. “Good for you, Rose. Maybe you should go with something a little smaller and work up to that though. That thing’s monstrous and Maia was telling me it’s been a while for you.”
Mouth dropping open, Rose snatched the silicone cock from Katie and spun to face Maia with a gasp of outrage before thrusting her hands on her hips and turning her glare on Katie too. “Well, Blake is bigger than that and I took him just fine.” Then she clamped her mouth shut again as her eyes flew wide.
“I knew it!” Maia crowed as Cara grimaced.
“Could have done without knowing that,” she said, and Rose shot her an apologetic look.
“I didn’t mean–I never–”
“You slept with Blake,” Maia said smugly. “I knew you had sex-hair in the car yesterday.”
“It just happened,” she said lamely, the dildo flopping over in her hand like it too was sad and she grimaced, about to set it down when the faintsnickof a camera reached her ears. “No,” she whispered, horror coiling in her chest. “How do they keep finding me?”
Rose threw the dildo down as Cara stepped closer to Katie, anxiously gripping her hand as Maia and Katie peered warily out of the store’s entrance. The click came again and this time, Rose spotted them on the opposite side of the circle of shops. They were on the first floor and her body felt both hot and cold as she stomped out of the store and peered over the edge of the glass barrier to the floor beneath theirs and found another swarm of paparazzi trying to come up the escalator.
“How is hedoingthis? Did you guys tell Blake we were coming here?” Rose asked Katie and Cara, who both shook their heads. “They won’t leave me alone after Blake all but told them we’re dating.”
“Which just to clarify…” Katie said with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not?”
Rose’s mouth dropped open again. “No.Are you crazy? No offense, Cara.”
The younger woman shrugged lightly. “None taken.”
“So you’re just hooking up then?” Maia seemed both surprised and impressed, and Rose shook her head vehemently.
“We had sexonceand it was a mistake. Not–” she said as Maia looked set to interrupt her again, “another word about me and Blake.”
“Well in that case, we should probably get out of here unless you want to field all of their questions,” Katie nodded to the paps, who had found their way onto their floor and were determinedly striding forward. “I tell you what, we’ll distract them for you.” Before Rose could question that at all, Katie turned and faced Cara before sliding down onto one knee and Maia grabbed Rose’s hand excitedly.
