Page 76 of Colton

My mouth opens, then closes. Something inside of me snaps, and whether it’s embarrassment that he saw the pictures, or annoyance that he didn’t tell me, I can’t quite understand just yet.

“You what?” My voice is slightly squeaky.

“To be fair,” he starts defending. “It was Artemis who showed me. I just bought them so no one else would. I deleted them off my phone, too.”

I’m rendered speechless. The secret I’ve been struggling to tell him is out in the open, only for me to realize it wasn’t a secret at all. And out of all people, it just had to be Artemis to show him. I remain quiet for another moment, my mind going into a frenzy.

“Why the hell would you pay so much for them?”

“Sweetheart,” he says softly. “If you’d let me, I’d give you millions.”

“You will not,” I threaten.

“I will not,” he nods. “Only because you don’t want me to. Don’t misunderstand, I didn’t spend that much money out of pity; I just saw art and thought it was a fair price.”

My cheeks heat up at the subtle compliment, and he lifts an amused brow. He stares at me, and I’m feeling almost too exposed to his eyes now.

“You can’t just say stuff like that!”

“But I mean it.” he pushes the towel a bit up, kissing my thigh softly. “You’re a work of art, my sweet girl. And I’ve ensured the art is for my eyes only.”

My breath hitches, and I struggle to breathe for a moment.

Then, Colton pulls back.

“Now, let’s get you dressed. You need to eat.”

My heart sinks. The excitement that’s slowly been building inside of me falls entirely, and I sigh in disappointment. Colton chuckles and stands up, kissing my forehead gently.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your fill, you greedy girl.”

I smile sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“What did I tell you about apologizing?”

My mouth clamps shut and I stand up. Colton brings me a bag, and I recognize the name of the boutique — the same one we went to yesterday. I thought the clothes wouldn’t be ready by tomorrow?

“I can just see the question on your face,” he says with a soft smile. “One outfit was prepared, so they delivered it.”

“Dare I ask how much it all cost?”

“Don’t worry your pretty head with such nonsense, alright?”

Slowly, I pull out the items from the bag. A matching pair of underwear and a bra, and one of the blouses I merely touched. It’s in a soft blue shade, a little loose, with long sleeves. And a pair of dress pants that are definitely way out of my budget; I’d never be able to afford something like that on my own.

“I’ll be outside while you get dressed.”

Colton leaves, the door closing softly behind him. With a deep breath, I slump into the bed, closing my eyes for a moment. Damn, this is all feeling too good to be true.

◆◆◆

The clothes fit me perfectly — which isn’t a surprise. Still, it is a surprise how good it feels to have clothes tailored to my measurements. They’re making me greedy and very excited to see the rest of the batch.

Colton, true to his word, stayed outside while I got dressed. My hair’s still wet, pulled up with a simple hair clip, a few strands falling out and framing my face. His eyes linger on my body for a beat longer than necessary, before he looks up at me.

“Shall we?”

I lift a brow. “I thought we were eating in the bedroom again.”