There’s a new addition I don’t remember; a mahogany electric fireplace facing two arm chairs and a glass coffee table. “This is a nice touch,” I tell him. “It’s new.”
“Is it?” he says. “I’d never been here before until very recently.”
I still don’t quite understand why we’re here.
“Mrs. Davies closed down her business a week ago. She’s retiring. When I saw the ‘for lease’ sign, I had an idea. I’ve heard women complain about it over and over again… there aren’t any decent clothing stores in Westbrooke,” he says. “I thought it might be a good investment. The lease is pretty cheap,” he goes on. Then a beautiful smile slowly traces his lips. “The only thing is… I know nothing about women’s clothes, or running a clothing store for that matter.”
I smile,finallyclueing in. So I’m not the fastest greyhound on the track, but I finally see the little carrot he’s dangling in front of me.
“I thought to myself,” he continues, all smiles. “Who do I know who knows everything about women’s fashions, and who just happens to have experience in retail?”
I smile, speechless. He’s offering me a job. I’m brought back to last night, when I told Momma I could never work for Blake Taylor. But damn, that carrot he’s dangling is my dream job.
“I was chatting with your mom a few nights ago,” he tells me. “She told me you decided not to go to Chicago.”
“Yeah, the whole idea was stupid,” I confess. “Kayla was right… I was running away.”
He inches closer slowly, erasing the distance between us. All those familiar desires fill me again. “I’m glad you changed your mind.”
“What does all this mean for us?” I ask.
“It means I want you to stay here,” he says. “I want to be with you. I want to give you everything you want; the home, the cute kids, the fulfilling career. I want you to be happy, Maeve, and I know that if you’re by my side, I’ll be happy too.”
My eyes are full of tears, and I can’t speak. I can’t utter a single syllable. He’s made me too happy for words.
He wipes a tear off my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “You and me, we’ve had it rough,” he says. “But now’s our time. Our time to be happy.”
With those words, he presses his mouth against mine. I get lost in his kiss and the taste of my tears on our lips. He pulls me in closer against him, and wraps his hands around my rear. He tears his mouth from mine. “And what would make me real happy right now is to have you.”
I smile. “Yes, please.” I tilt my head to the back of the room. “Right in there, on the velvet bench.”
He pulls me into one of the change rooms. He sits on the red velvet bench, and I straddle him. He pulls at my t-shirt and peels it over my head. My long hair is a mess around us. “Look at us,” he breathes. I turn my head and study our reflection in the gilded mirror. “Fuck,” I whisper. “You need to take me from behind so I can watch us.”
His laughter tickles against my shoulder. “You’re so kinky… I love it.”
I undo the fly of my jeans and pull them over my ass. Damn, this is hot. I sit on him again, facing the mirror, wearing nothing but a black lace bra, panties, and white socks. He cups my breasts and bites my shoulder. “I love you so hard,” he breathes. “Sometimes I can’t stand it.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I fucking love you so much, I can’t stand it either.”
A wicked grin stretches across his face as he studies our reflection in the gilded mirror, and slowly peels off my panties over my ass. “You and I have a love hate relationship,” he says. “Always have.”
I smile up at his reflection. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
