When Nico dropped us off, he gave me his black card and told us to have fun. My mother has been doing just that. I think she has more bags than I do.
“You think I’ll be able to find Ms. Rose something nice in here?” One of the main reasons I wanted to go shopping today was to buy a birthday gift for Ms. Rose.
The woman has been such a blessing in our lives that I wanted something nice to celebrate her. Her birthday is three weeks from now, so I have time. But she’s going to visit her sons for her birthday for three days, so I want to get something before she leaves.
Evelyn stops at the display of sunglasses.
“I don’t know why you keep catering to that woman.”
Shaking my head, I toss my long braids over my shoulder. The day after we landed on the island, Nico brought an entire team over to cater to me. I got a massage, a facial, and my hair braided in knotless hip-length small braids.
“I happen to like Ms. Rose, and she’s incredible with Noah.” I peruse the rack of colorful dresses.
Evelyn walks over to the same rack as me. “Mmmhmm,” she hums in disapproval. “We will see how incredible she is when you come home early one day and find her climbing out of bed with your husband.”
I turn to my mother, my jaw nearly unhinged.
“Don’t look at me like that. You think because she’s older she wouldn’t do it. Older women enjoy sex too, dear. I would know.”
“Ew, Mom,” I chuckle while shaking my head.
Evelyn stops scanning the racks of clothes to look at me. Her expression is hard to read. She looks shocked yet pleased.
“Wow.” She pushes her hair behind her ear. “You’ve never called me Mom before.”
Damn, she’s right. I didn’t even realize the word had come out of my mouth. I guess, Evelyn and I have grown closer in the month she’s been here. She’s mom of the year or anything, but having her here with me hasn’t been all bad. Plus, she’s helped me navigate this new life I’m in.
I know nothing about being the wife to a billionaire. Moving through this world is daunting. Having her here has helped a little.
“Well,” I say, focusing on the clothes again. “I never had a reason to before. But now I do.” I glance over at her and find her smiling.
She nods her head, not making a big deal out of what I said. We go back to perusing the racks of clothes.
Evelyn’s gasp draws my attention. “Oh, Tiffany, you have to get this bathing suit.”
I walked around the rack of clothes I was perusing to the side she was on. She’s standing in front of one of those half-body mannequins. On display is a burnt orange colored bathing suit. It’s made to look like a one piece but with all the cutouts and ties, it would be considered a two-piece. The front of the bathing suit would wrap around my neck like a halter. The bra part cradles the cleavage in two triangular slingshots. All down the center are crisscross straps that tie on the side. The bottoms connect to the top, but with one pull of a string they would fall away. The thing is sexy, I won’t lie.
“This is stunning,” I say in awe of the bathing suit.
“Yes, and it would look superb on you.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. With the way this thing is cut, it will be hard to hide my baby weight.”
After having Noah, my body shifted a little. I wasn’t the size five I was before I had him. I’m closer to an eight now. My hips and ass alone would rip the stitches out of a size five dress.
“Darling, real men prefer curves. Especially ones he helped you gain.” She winks at me as she bumps her shoulder against mine.
Not once since I had my son had Nico complained about the little weight. The man has kissed, sucked and licked every inchof my new body. But there is always that little doubt in my mind that I’m not the woman he fell in love with.
“Just buy it,” my mother says, handing it to me. “And if you don’t like it, you can always bring it back.”
She was lying. She knows good and well that if I bought this bathing suit, I wouldn’t be bringing it back. However, her trick worked. I scan the racks for my size in the bathing suit and take it and the shawl I found for Ms. Rose up to the register.
Mother and I spent most of the day together. We shopped a little more and then went to have lunch at a beautiful seafood spot. Now we were heading back down the strip, wasting time.
“Have you talked to James since you left?”
I still couldn’t get over him putting his hands on my mother. James was such a nice guy. He went out of his way to make Noah and I feel welcome the entire time we were there. And he seemed to love my mother. I guess you really can’t always trust people. He put on quite a show for me. He’s called me a few times since she got here, but I haven’t answered.
