He sighed, glancing over his shoulder. “If I get caught, it’s my ass on the line.”
“This is my business. I can’t let a woman run my life for me.”
He nodded, “I get it. Colleen hasn’t let me make a decision in twenty-five years. I didn’t even get to pick the color of my truck.”
I leaned on the counter, keeping my voice low. “That’s why we have to fight back. We can’t let our women order us around and tell us what to buy.”
“Hell no. It’s just not right.”
“Paint colors are first, but what’s next? Do we get to pick out the underwear we like?”
He pursed his lips at that. “Get it in my stocking every year.”
“Jeans? The shirts we wear? I bet you don’t even like having pockets on the front of your shirt.”
“No self-respecting man wears a short-sleeved shirt with pockets,” he muttered.
“So…are we going to let them continue to rule our lives, or are we going to stand up to them and take back our dignity?”
He stood taller, his face stoic for the first time since I’d known him. “Let’s do this.”
Thirty minutes later,I walked through the door of my office, setting the paint by the far wall. Ellie walked out, grinning at me.
“Didn’t make it out the door, did you?”
I wiped the strawberry milkshake from my neck, grimacing at how sticky I was. “I did make it out the door. Colleen was waiting for me.”
She laughed, her eyes twinkling brightly. “I hope you learned your lesson.”
“I did,” I grunted. “Dick, on the other hand…poor bastard. He’s gonna smell like piña colada for the rest of the day.”
23
ELLIE
I hoppedon one foot as I slipped my heel on the other. I was so late this morning, and it was all because Ryder attacked me in the shower, refusing to let me out until he made me come four freaking times.
It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.
“Coffee,” Ryder said, handing over my travel mug on the way out the door.
“Thanks!” I pressed a quick kiss to his lips, then ran to my Jeep, my heels clacking the whole way. I tossed my purse in the passenger seat, then placed my cup in the holder. By the time I backed out, Ryder was waving from his own vehicle, on his way to the law office.
Thank God he made coffee this morning because I did not have time to stop for anything. I had so much to get done today. My online store was finally up and running, but I still had items to add and orders to package and ship.
But as I turned down the main street to my shop, a sinking feeling in my gut told me this day would not be at all what I hoped for. My phone rang as I watched the sirens blazing in the distance. The crowd in the street was already the size of the Easter parade.
Grabbing my phone, my heart sank when I saw it was Maverick calling.
“Hello?”
“Ellie…I’ve got some bad news.”
“I’m down the street,” I answered, afraid that my voice would give at any second, proving how distraught I was when I didn’t even know exactly what had happened.
“You’d better just park and walk down. There’s no way you’ll get your vehicle through the crowd.”
“Yeah.”
