"This rack," Sarah says with a shrug.
She starts to pick up the corset, and I pull it out of her hands and toss it to the ground.
"No corsets," I say with a mild grin. "She doesn't need shit like that."
Sarah wants to throw out an insult, but she remembers her place before she does. She looks sickly because she's way too thin. I'm not about to let her bash Raya who is perfectly healthy, but not at all fat. Not even a little. Fucking crazy Sterling Shore standards.
Raya is still getting rung up when I reach the register, and I start throwing mounds of clothes onto the counter.
"Add this to it," I say, moving so the two women following me can mound their stuff up.
While they're adding to the pile, I throw a few pairs of sunglasses in, and then move closer to Raya.
"What are you doing?" she hisses, letting her eyes leak venom. It's cute, really. The fact that she thinks she can be intimidating is actually comical, but I'd better not laugh.
I shrug, trying not to let her know what a jerk I feel like, and decide to play it off, rather than tell her I'm trying to get rid of my guilt by buying her tons of clothes.
"I know my father better than you. He'd make me bring you back, and I've got shit to do today."
"I don't want all this."
"Too bad," I mutter, moving my focus back to the cashier while the others neatly place the clothes in designer bags.
Raya's jaw tries to unhinge when she hears the price, acting as though she just said something ridiculous. Has she never been shopping?
When she freezes, I decide to reach over and pull the credit card from her back pocket. I might let my hand push against her ass more than necessary, but she doesn't need to know that. And she doesn't even react.
"It's his store, Raya. It's not like he's not getting it all back," I say with a small snicker.
It's not true. He'll only get a percentage of this transaction back, but she doesn't need to know that either. He'll make fifty times that amount from just this store today. Especially in about an hour. That's rush hour here.
Gently, I use my finger to push her jaw into a respectable position, feeling satisfied when she holds it there on her own, and then I take the card back from the cashier.
"Let's go," I tell her while grabbing as many bags as I can.
The girls grab some bags and follow us, helping to put them in the trunk. I smile when Raya pulls a pair of sunglasses from a bag. At least I did something right.
After shutting the trunk, I walk over to her door, and groan inwardly at myself when I open it for her. Now I just look like a schmuck who's begging for penance.
"Come on," I say when all she does is stare at me like I've sprouted a second head.
I ignore the stares we're getting from the other girls, because I know they'd like to kick Raya out of the car so they could join the Colton heir. Everyone wants a piece of my dad. I'm not their way to him, so they need to get that plan out of their mind.
After closing the door, and ignoring how much better she looks in designer jeans as opposed to jeans that didn't fit her body properly, I move to my side. I have to stifle a grin when I notice her watching me with intrigue. Yeah, I've confused her. Hell, I've confused myself.
"When's your next doctor's appointment?" I ask to break the silence while driving away. Not to mention, I'd actually like to take her there. It's the least I could—
"Um... I don't think there's going to be one. Since it was just some heavy bruising."
Heavy bruising? Did they see that massive pile of marks? There could be something internally wrong! What moronic doctors does she have?
"What?" I ask, trying not to let my fury leak out.
"Like I said, no major injuries. No need for a second visit."
She doesn't say anything else, and I keep my lips sealed. I'll just call her damn doctors the second I get home.
Chapter Three