AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He gave her hand a squeeze, letting her know he got the message, and requested, “Can we have my usual booth?”
“Yup. We just cleaned it, so it’s open.” Sofia grabbed a couple of menus from the holder behind the hostess stand and headed into the restaurant. “Follow me.”
As they followed, Kitten looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t put me on a pedestal.”
Arbor grinned at her. “You’re my mate, and I will if I want to.” He lifted their clasped hands and kissed her knuckles. “To me, you are the top. You’re the best. I can only hope you’ll feel that way about me, eventually.”
They reached their booth, and Sofia set their menus on the top of the round table, as Arbor released Kitten’s hand. She slid into the booth, and Arbor slid in next to her.
When Sofia walked away, Kitten leaned in and pressed her lips to his. After a moment, she pulled back a fraction of an inch and whispered, “You are the top for me, too.”
Arbor’s lion purred inside of him as Arbor cupped her face in his hands and took her lips in a deep kiss, making sure she knew exactly what her words meant to him.
After dinner, they strolled through a few shops near the restaurant, hand in hand. Arbor loved spending time with her. It didn’t matter what they were doing. He’d stand by her side as she perused racks of clothes or shelves of books. He’d hold bags for her while she tried things on. He’d even try clothes on that she thought would look great on him. Arbor didn’t care, as long as he was doing it with her.
The third shop they stopped in was a ladies’ clothing boutique, but half of it was lingerie, which only sent his imagination into high gear. While she looked at blouses and dress pants, he spent the time picturing her in each scrap of lace and silk his eyes landed on.
“See something you like?” The salesclerk asked as she walked up and stood a little too close to Arbor.
He looked in her direction as he took a step away from her and closer to Kitten, who was only a handful of feet away. The salesclerk appeared to be in her mid-twenties, with long, blond hair and blue eyes. She was pretty, but she had nothing on his Kitten. He liked curves, the more the better, and the salesclerk was lacking in that department. It wasn’t a bad thing. She just wasn’t for him.
“Excuse me?”
She waved a hand toward the lingerie side of the store, before she slipped both hands into her back pockets, which made her thrust her chest out at him. “See something you like?”
Her flirting wouldn’t have been more obvious if she had bit her lip and unbuttoned her blouse.
Arbor almost rolled his eyes. Instead, he reached out and took Kitten’s hand. “Yeah. Hey Kitten, will you try something on for me?”
Kitten looked at him and narrowed her eyes a bit. “Sure.”
“I think you would look amazing in that blue and black thing with the lace down the middle and top.”
After glancing across to the other side of the shop, Kitten asked, “The sheer babydoll nightie?”
“Is that what it’s called? Yeah, you’d be fuck hot in that.”
The salesclerk took that moment to pipe up and said, “I don’t think we sell it in her… size.”
Oh, hell no.Arbor stepped around the twat, pulling Kitten with him. “Look to see if they have your size,” he told her. “If they don’t, they’re stupid. That was made for a woman with curves.”
The blush on Kitten’s cheeks made his anger rise, and his lion started to hiss inside of him. No one had a right to make her feel anything but beautiful. No way was he going to let a woman put down his mate in an attempt to win him over. Fuck that.
Kitten cleared her throat and pulled one of the nighties off the rack. Holding it up, she said, “They have it.”
“I’m buying it,” he said and glanced around. He saw a matching silk robe on the next rack. Checking the size on the nightie, he found the right robe and grabbed it.
“Arbor, it’s expensive,” Kitten quietly objected.
After cupping her cheek in his palm, he didn’t bother lowering his voice when he said, “Nothing is too expensive for my woman, but if it bothers you, consider it my wedding present.”
As the smile grew on his mate’s face, Arbor heard the sales clerk huff behind him. Without looking away from his woman, he addressed the clerk, “Is your manager here?”
“No, she doesn’t work on Monday evenings.”
“Is there another clerk?”
“Yes, but I can help you,” she insisted with annoyance.
