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“It’s a very romantic diamond, Mr. Ward. Do you know the lucky lady’s size?
I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring Kate nabbed from Ava’s jewelry box, a costume piece she used to wear. “Here.” I place it down. “Size it to that. How long will it take?”
“Oh, for you, Mr. Ward, we can have it ready by the end of the day.”
“Fuck,” I curse, making him flinch. “Sorry.” There’s not a chance I can make it back today to pick it up. “Can you have it delivered?” I ask. “Later today. Leave it with the concierge.”
“My pleasure, Mr. Ward.”
“Thanks, Hans.” I pull out my card and hand it over, and he takes it with the biggest smile. My eyes fall to a necklace, and I slowly move toward it, captivated by the blinder of a diamond. Stunning. Perfect. I just want to buy her everything. “This necklace,” I say, my eyes fixed to it. “Do you think she’ll like it?”
“How could she not?”
I pout, thinking. It’s a whopper of a diamond. Too big? Another catches my eye. Slightly smaller. Less sparkly. Underwhelming, to be honest, compared to the other. Torn, I look at Hans. “I’m going to have Zoe walk past with Ava. Discreetly show her the necklaces.” I’m sure Zoe can make an excuse to take Ava back out onto the shop floor at some point during the fitting.
His shoulders straighten. “Oh, Mr. Ward, you are spoiling her.”
I motion to the card. “You should probably keep that for now.”
He pops it into the machine and I tap in my PIN, looking down at my watch.Shit. “I’ll be back,” I say, dashing off. I’ve been gone for nearly half an hour. She’ll be wondering where I am. I jump on the escalator, run up the steps, and jog through the various departments toward the personal shopping area.
I round a corner.
And nearly barge into the back of Ava.
Fuck.
I skid to a stop, my front literally a hair’s breadth away from her back as she juggles a few dresses in her arms. “Fucking hell,” she hisses, nearly dropping one of them. I scowl at the back of her head, my lips straight, and reverse my steps, putting myself back around the corner and releasing my held breath. What to do, what to do?
I peek around the corner, spotting Zoe walking toward Ava, therefore toward me. She spots me, frowns, and I quickly put my finger to my mouth to silence her. Her frown deepens, as she splits her attention between me and taking the dresses out of Ava’s arms, handing them to a young lad who hangs them on a mobile rail. Afullmobile rail. I smile to myself. She’s having fun.
Ava walks off toward another display, taking in a disturbingly short gray...thing. Zoe checks her attention is elsewhere and comes over. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I need you to walk Ava through the jewelry rooms. Past Hans. There’s a necklace in a cabinet. Diamond. Hans knows the one. He’ll give you a wink. Make sure Ava sees it. See if she likes it.”
Zoe looks back at Ava, as do I. She’s still looking at the short gray thing. “Jesse,” she says, looking at her watch. “I allocated an hour. I’m pushing time already.”
I point to the mobile rail. “See that?”
“Yes, I see that.”
“I’ll buy it all.” My phone rings, and I pull it out, seeing an unknown number on my screen. Yeah, not answering that. I reject the call, slip my phone back into my pocket, and get back to bribing Zoe. “Allof it, Zoe.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not being ridiculous. Every single thing. And the necklace if she likes it.”
Her mouth hangs open briefly before she gets it under control. Yes, I’m smitten. “The budget?” she asks.
I say what every commission-based personal shopper wants to hear. “There is no budget.”
She grins. “Well, then I guess I need to be getting on.”
“Yes, please do.” I expect that mobile clothes rail will be loaded to breaking point by the time it makes it back to the personal shopping department. Don’t care. “And, Zoe?” I call quietly, making her look back at me. I point to Ava, who is still looking at that offending gray dress. “That dress isdefinitelya no.” I need to claw back a little control here. “Anything that short is a big, fat fucking no.”
“Then perhaps you should be proposing to a woman moreyourage.”
My jaw hits the floor at my feet—the cheeky fucker—and I’m about to retaliate when I see Ava turning. Shit. I quickly disappear round the corner again, smiling at an old couple who are watching me with slightly wary expressions. “Morning,” I say, pulling my phone out when it rings again. “Sarah,” I answer, wandering away aimlessly.
