“That would be lovely, Juliette. Thank you.” She lets out a sigh of relief, then wraps my purchase. “Here you are.”
“Thank you. How much do I owe you?”
She waves me off. “Oh, don’t worry about that. It goes on the house account Mr. Davenport set up for you.”
“I’m going to kill that man,” I grumble under my breath. “And what is the limit on this house account, may I ask?”
She looks at me, surprised.
Not as surprised as I am, Gloria.
“There is no limit, of course.”
“Of course not.” I smile, most likely looking half-deranged. “You know what.” I turn toward the other assistant in a rage and take the crotchless piece—that I’ll never wear—and then the sage green set I was looking at earlier out of her hands, possibly with too much force. For good measure, I grab another set I’ve been eyeing for everyday use. “These too, please.”
“Oh. Yes, yes.” Gloria wraps these with more enthusiasm than before.
Of course, she would. Who wouldn’t, when they most definitely work off commission, and I’ve just spent a small fortune?
I barely say goodbye before I dial my dear old boyfriend.
“Hi, babe. I’m just finishing up here.”
“I just left La Perla, Harrison…”
“Mmmm. Give me a visual. What colors did you buy?” His chair creaks, and I picture him adjusting himself.
“Who cares,” I snap. “You can’t spend all that money on lingerie.”
“Those pieces please you just as much as me, so what’s the problem? Buy the whole store for all I care.”
I lower my voice when I detect hurt in his voice. “Because it’s too much, Harrison.” I know he means nothing by it, but having unlimited money to me is new. “I’m thankful, but it’s a lot all at once. Last week a Black Card, a freaking Black Card, Harrison. Not even a platinum. Now I have carte blanche in La Perla, a store I used to save for months to buy one piece.”
“I hear you, Jules, but don’t read into it so much. Enjoy it. Please.”
“Yeah okay…it’s just…”
“What’s wrong, baby?”
I step to the side so I’m out of the heavy foot traffic of Madison Avenue and lean against a brick building.
“I’m a lot younger than you, Harrison, and now you’re buying me all these expensive things. You know exactly how that looks to others, and I don’t ever want you to think I’m with you for your money.”
“God, I wish I was there to smack that ass of yours,” he grumbles. “When have I ever given a shit what others think? And I hope you don’t honestly believe I’d ever think that about you, Jules. Never. Ever.”
“Sorry, I don’t. I think I’m nervous about the party tomorrow,” I whisper.
Harrison told me the white party we are attending was a yearly event for a friend’s birthday he grew up with. When I told Becks, she looked up the guest list from last year, knowing exactly who the birthday guy was. Some big-wig finance bro, as she put it.
The same as Harrison, but he works in investment banking.Apparently, that’s different.Who the hell knew? It’s all foreign to me.
We discovered this wasn’t some small get-together with New York’s socialites. This party is also full of actors, musicians, and sports legends. Kygo was the freaking DJ.
“I told you already, we’ll make our rounds to say hello to a few of my friends. We don’t have to stay long. I promise.”
I don’t want to bethatgirlfriend. “We’ll stay as long as you want. It’s your friend’s birthday.”
“So does this mean I need to return the present I bought you for this weekend, orrr…”
