AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I backed up and looked at her face, it had a blank expression on it. Her mouth was slightly open, and she just stared at me as though in shock.
“Now let’s go fix this,” I said, grabbing her hand before I lead her inside the goddamn store.
“We apologize again, Mr. Rosetti,”the scrawny, gray haired, too uppity for her own good manager repeated.
The second I’d asked for the manager, everyone in the store stopped what they were doing.
I didn’t mind having an audience as I took her—and her awful staff—to task for how they’d treated Cherry.
“I’m sure it won’t happen again,” I said in my best condescending voice. Cherry’s grip on my hand and my arm increased as I’d laid everything out for the manager.
I made damn sure she—and the others—knew how pissed I was.
And what might happen to her business if my “friend” wasn’t taken care of properly from now on.
“Absolutely not, you have my guarantee,” the manager said. “We’ll take excellent care of your friend.” She put on a shaky smile, and I grinned back.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
After that, they showed us into a private dressing room area. I sat in a large, overstuffed, white, leather chair. No fewer than three staff members were hovering around Cherry, asking questions about her likes and dislikes.
Someone brought out a tray of champagne flutes and Cherry’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning. I chuckled to myself as I went back to opening and answering emails on my phone.
Compliments galore were handed out—all of them well deserved.
Cherry waltzed over a few times to show me an outfit, but mostly, the women were in a frenzy with bringing out clothes for her to try on. I did look toward the dressing room a few times. However, there always seemed to be a few people in the way.
The manager made her way over to me after a while and delicately interrupted me. “Mr. Rosetti, I’m terribly sorry to bother you,” she said with a fake, awkward smile on her face.
“Is something the matter?” I asked when I peered up.
“No, no, not at all.” She let out an uncomfortable laugh. “I’m only wondering, well, the young lady wasn’t sure as to what the budget for today’s visit would be?”
“Is she having better luck today with finding what she wants?” I took the opportunity to rub some salt into the wound.
Her hands clasped together in front of her chest. “Oh yes, Mr. Rosetti. She’s found several items. She’s just unsure of how much to spend?”
I let out a breath and went back to my phone. “Whatever she wants.”
“Very good, Mr. Rosetti. Very good,” she said, backing up as she continued nervously laughing.
An hour later, we left the store. I had them send all the items down to the awaiting car.
To say that Cherry was in a better mood was somewhat of an understatement. She had a lightness about her that made me happy.
“Your last name is Rosetti?” she asked, her arm linked around mine as we walked.
“It is.”
I gazed down into her smiling face. “Is that why you have roses carved in the wood at your house?”
“That’s a good assumption,” I said, unable to stop smirking at her.
“Do you like roses? Not just because it’s in your name, I mean,” she asked with her head quirked slightly to the side.
I brought her to a stop and reached out and touched her beautiful, golden hair. “I do. Did you enjoy the one I left on your pillow this morning?”
Watching her face transform again, amazed me. A beautiful blush emerged on her cheeks. “Yes,” she said, gazing down at my jacket for a moment, “it was a nice surprise.” Her eyes glanced up at mine. “I forgot to say, ‘thank you’. I’m sorry. I was in such a rush.”
