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His look turns from confusion to anger in a heartbeat. He instantly understands why I don’t want to be here, and he’s pissed.
“Is Tricia here?” he growls.
Sasha’s eyes widen, and for a moment, she looks nervous, but she quickly hides that emotion and goes back to looking down her nose at me. “No, she’s not.”
Jude doesn’t say anything as he pulls his phone from his pocket. He taps on the screen and then holds the phone to his ear. I hear a feminine voice answer but can’t make out what she’s saying. Whatever it is makes Jude smile, and I can’t help the jealousy that bubbles up inside me. I want to be the only woman who makes him smile like that. Lord, I’m ridiculous.
“Always causing trouble, Tricia. No wonder your father’s hair is gray. I’ve got a little situation that I’m hoping you can help with. I’m at Flair with my girlfriend, and it seems one of your employees has an issue with customer service.”
Sasha’s eyes are as big as dinner plates as she listens to Jude’s side of the conversation. When he holds his phone out to her, she looks at it like it’s a snake that will bite her. Her hand shakes as she lifts it to her ear. She listens quietly to whatever this Tricia person says, her face paling.
“O-okay, Miss. Worthington. I apologize. No, no, it won’t happen again. Yes. Anything she wants. I didn’t realize she was a VIP…”
The conversation goes on for a couple more minutes, where Sasha is clearly kissing Tricia’s ass and doing her best to get herself out of the hole she dug herself. If I were petty, I would be happy seeing the mean girl groveling. I mostly feel bad for her. If she were a happy person, she wouldn’t feel the need to make others feel like less than she is. I’ve never understood women like her. We should be empowering each other, not breaking each other down.
I’m surprised when she holds Jude’s phone out to me. I look at him questioningly. He just smiles and shrugs. I take the phone, wondering why Tricia would want to speak with me. I assume she’s the store manager and is obviously friends with Jude, but that doesn’t explain why she wants to talk to me.
“H-hello?”
“Hello, dear. I want to personally apologize for Sasha’s behavior. It’s unacceptable that she treated you so poorly. I will make sure that it never happens again.”
“Oh, it’s okay. You don’t have to go to any trouble for me.”
She laughs lightly. “It’s no trouble, darling. Besides, you’re important to Jude; therefore, you’re important to me.”
“I, uh, I don’t think that’s the case…”
“Honey, he called you his girlfriend. I’ve known him for over ten years, and he’s never introduced a woman as his girlfriend before. You’re more important than you think.”
Her words leave me speechless. This woman has known Jude for over a decade, and he’s never once introduced her to a girlfriend? Maybe they aren’t that close of friends? Surely, he’s had a ton of girlfriends over the years. I don’t know why he hasn’t been scooped up already. He’s so handsome and sweet. He’s one of the good ones, and for some reason, he’s calling me his girlfriend. It just doesn’t make sense.
“Have fun shopping, darling. Sasha has promised to take good care of you, but if she gives you any trouble, call me.”
“O-okay, thanks,” I stutter out, still trying to make sense of her previous words.
I hand Jude his phone, and he slides it into his pocket. “Everything okay?”
I nod.
He smiles and kisses the top of my head. “Good. Let’s get shopping.”
We spend the next thirty minutes going through the racks of clothes. I cringe every time Jude passes something to Sasha to put in the dressing room she started for me after the first ten minutes of him picking out clothes for me. He’s been careful to keep me from looking at the price tags, but I’ve seen several. One of the dresses he picked was over six hundred dollars. My entire old wardrobe and car combined didn’t cost me that much.
“Time to give me a fashion show,” Jude teases.
I almost protest when he follows me into the dressing room, but quickly realize it's set up with a seating area separate from the changing area. I’ve never seen such a fancy dressing room. A silver chandelier hangs above a platform surrounded by mirrors where you can model the clothing. The couch that Jude’s lounging on is covered in crushed blue velvet with silver throw pillows for added comfort. The whole room screams luxury.
It’s one more thing that makes me feel like I don’t belong. I don’t want Jude to feel like I’m ungrateful, so I paste on a smile and fake confidence I don’t feel. He went to a lot of trouble to bring me here. I don’t want him to know how uncomfortable I am. It’s a me problem, not a him problem.
“Everything is set up for you, Miss,” Sasha says with a forced sweetness.
Ever since she talked to Tricia, she’s been extra accommodating, but she can’t completely hide her feelings for me. Jude picked up on it, which is why he took over picking things for me. Sasha pulled out a few things that, while beautiful, wouldn’t have looked good on me. It’s like she was trying to pick stuff that would make me look awful. Jude wasn’t having any of it, so he took control. His taste in clothes impressed me. Everything he picked is something I would pick for myself.
“That will be all, Sasha. We’ve got it from here,” Jude says, dismissing her.
“Very well. Ring the bell if you need anything,” she says tightly.
I go behind the curtain and find three racks filled with clothes. Lordy. I knew he was picking a lot, but this is insane. I only need a few pairs of jeans and a handful of shirts. This is too much. I look through the racks and pull out a simple pair of jeans and a soft sweater. My stomach sinks when I see the price tags. The jeans are over two hundred dollars, and the sweater is a hundred. More than three hundred dollars for a single pair of jeans and a sweater!
