Need Me (Mess with Me 3)

She’s talking so animatedly that I can’t stand the idea of interrupting her. But I’m still mentally reeling from this complete flip in her personality that seems to have happened overnight.

When we went to sleep, she seemed like her normal self.

Now she’s cooking and clapping and excited to go shopping? What the hell happened while I was asleep?

“You know I would do anything for you. If you want to go shopping, I guess we’ll go shopping.”

Ariana squeals. “Yay! Hurry up and get ready. I can’t wait to take you to all of my favorite boutiques so you can watch me try on everything.”

“Maybe not everything,” I mumble.

She claps her hands again and levels me with a look. The intensity in her eyes scares me a little.

“Everything.”

Three hours later, I’m about ready to tap out.

When Ariana said everything, she really meant every fucking thing in every fucking boutique in DC.

But every time I’m about to tell her we should go home, she looks at me with those big, hazel eyes and I can’t do it. She’s so happy right now. How can I take that away?

“Here we are!” Ariana crows excitedly, dragging me by the arm toward yet another store.

“You’re not tired at all, huh?” I’m hoping that at some point her feet will start to hurt or she’ll get hungry.

“Oh no. I’m just getting started.”

With that terrifying statement, she drags me through the door and straight toward the nearest sales associate.

The woman must

be experienced because with one head-to-toe look, she’s clearly seen enough to decide that we’re serious shoppers. Maybe it’s the material of my linen shirt or the maniacal glee in Ariana’s eyes that tips her off. Then again it could be the huge shopping bags that Ariana is banging into everything that lets her know we won’t be a waste of her time.

“Hello. Welcome to Rapture. My name is Meredith. Is there anything I can assist you with today?”

Ariana squeezes my arm. “Yes. My hubby here is treating me to a shopping day. Isn’t that just the sweetest?”

My head whips to the side. Hubby? That’s new. On one hand I’m thrilled that she seems on board with this new direction in our relationship. When she invited me to stay the night for the first time, I was hopeful that it meant we could move forward. But this is completely unexpected.

The saleswoman’s eyes sparkle. “How generous. Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Surprise me,” Ariana purrs before dragging me toward the dressing rooms.

Before long the saleswoman reappears with an entire rack of dresses. My eyes widen at the amount of clothes. There’s no way I can let Ariana try on all of that. We’ll be here all day.

“These are some of our newest arrivals. There’s a cashmere sweater dress that I think you will love.” Meredith parks the rack next to the dressing room Ariana has claimed.

By the wolfish expression in her eyes, I have a feeling Meredith loves the prospect of a very large commission.

For the next ten minutes, Ariana tries on outfit after outfit, coming out of the dressing room to model each one. My head drops to my hands in agony as she reenters the dressing room for the fifth time.

None of this makes sense.

Underneath the door I see a dress hit the floor. Ari steps out of it and I’m hit with an image of her naked behind those doors, her beautiful body reflecting in all the mirrors.

My lips curl up into a diabolical grin.

I have no idea what kind of game my wifey is playing but I know something that would make it a lot more fun for me.