"I know you don't," she said, bumping into me as she turned left and I turned right.
"Shoe store is that way," I told her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her.
"My shoes are fine!" she argued.
I looked down at her feet. There was a hole in the heel of one of her shoes.
"It was my stupid tiny house," she explained. "It has it out for me. I was going down the ladder, and my foot caught."
"You're lucky you didn't break your neck," I said. "Besides, why do you even need to be in there?"
"It's the only quiet place I can work without being interrupted. It's the tiny house or the bathroom, but in the bathroom all I think about was that time in the tub…"
"Thanks, now that's all I can think about," I said as I opened the door for the shoe boutique.
"Um, no, we need to go to a low-end discount shoe place," she said, balking in the doorway as soon as she saw the Louboutin sign in the window. "You saw how hard I am on shoes."
I gently shoved her inside.
"I can't believe Harrogate can even support a place like this," she whispered as we walked into the luxuriously decorated space. "It's so pretty." Josie patted one of the shoes on display.
"Whoa!" Josie said, turning to another display.
Whoawas my reaction. They were a pair of open-toe stiletto sandals that somehow turned into fishnet tights.
"That's… erotic," Josie said as we both studied the shoes. I wanted nothing more than to see her in them.
Focus. We're here for business professional wear.
"Is it crazy that I want those?" Josie whispered to me.
"Not crazy at all," I whispered back. "They would probably go very nicely with a shelf bra."
She turned her head into my chest to smother a laugh. "They totally would."
"Would you like to try these on?" the sales associate asked, coming up to us.
Yes, I thought.
"No!" Josie said, snickering. "I just need a basic black stiletto." She looked at me for confirmation.
"Get whatever you want," I told her.
"And a nude heel," she added.
Whoever had designed those shoes knew what they were doing, I decided as Josie walked back and forth in front of me, trying out the stilettoes. She looked elegant and sophisticated in them.
"I sort of want to wear these right now," Josie said as the sales associate carried the boxes to the counter. "But I don't think they go with lasagna stains." I handed the associate my card, and I knew Josie was itching to see the total.
"Don't worry about it," I told her, taking the bags and leading her out of the shop.
I'm coming back for you, I thought when I passed the fishnet stilettoes.
When we were outside, Josie looked down at her shirt then looked up at me.
"Want to go bra shopping?" she asked. "This is my only one left. My tiny house destroyed one, and Henry used another one as a slingshot."
I shook my head. "Henry needs to learn some personal boundaries. No one touches your bras but me."
