Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Great, let’s go,” I said as I grabbed Krista and Heather’s hands and practically ran from the party.
“What was that about?” Krista asked when we got outside.
I dragged in a few deep breaths. “Christ,” I said. “I hate men. The guy asked me to kiss him. I thought it would be harmless, but I swear he wanted to take me right there on the dance floor.”
Krista rolled her eyes. “Men are pigs, especially when they’ve been drinking.”
I looked at Heather. “Where were you?”
She blushed and looked away.
Krista scoffed. “About to have a threesome with two guys.”
My mouth fell open. “What?”
Heather laughed. “Just because some of us are saving ourselves doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t play and have fun.”
“You’re either going to end up pregnant, or with some STD,” Krista said as we hooked arms and started to walk down the street toward my car.
“There’s something called a condom, Krista. You should try one,” Heather said. “You need a good pounding to jolt you out of your virtue.”
A strange feeling crept up my neck as I glanced over my shoulder and back at the party. My eyes scanned the outside and porch, but thankfully, I didn’t see the skeleton ringmaster guy.
Facing forward again, I shook off the feeling and counted down the days until I got to go home and see my family.
And Ryan.
Ringmaster
I watched her walk away with her two friends. My mouth still tasted of her. It wasn’t enough. I wanted more. The sting of her rejection burned, but I needed to remind myself that she wasn’t like her whore of a friend, Heather. Morgan was a good girl.
And good girls were always worth the wait.
Chapter One
MORGAN
Christmas Eve Night – Present Day
I stood and stared at the building in front of me. The Coming Soon sign was the first thing I’d seen when my older brother Blayze removed his hand from my eyes. My gaze went to the store name, and I was pretty sure my breathing stopped.
A La Chic Boutique – Owners, Georgiana Crenshaw and Morgan Shaw.
I’d told Georgiana, Blayze’s girlfriend, that if I ever opened my own boutique, I wanted to call it something with the word “chic” in the name. We’d been in England at the time because Georgiana was writing a fashion piece for Vogue and had invited me to come over with her for a week. I had jumped at the chance since she was interviewing one of the top up-and-coming designers, Lady Mary Douglas.
Georgiana had replied with, “How about A La Chic Boutique?”
“I love it!” I’d squealed, writing the name in my dream journal. It was something I’d started when I was only ten. My mother’s idea. She had given it to me on my tenth birthday while we were out riding. It was a place to record all my dreams, she’d said. And I had written down a lot of dreams over the years, but becoming a designer had always been the most enduring one.
Of course, there’d also been the dream of having Ryan Marshall, my brother’s best friend, fall madly and deeply in love with me. But I learned how to push that dream away.
The feeling of warm tears on my cheeks pulled me back to the present.
“Morgan? Are you going to say anything?” Georgiana asked.
As I wiped the tears away, my brother wrapped his arm around me and said softly, “Not to rush you and this experience, but the snow is coming down harder and I can’t feel the tip of my nose anymore.”
Leave it to Blayze to lighten the mood. I looked at Georgiana with what I was sure was a dumbfounded expression. “A boutique? You really want to open a boutique and have me be your partner?”
Georgiana nodded and let out a soft chuckle. “Not only my partner. I want you to design a line of clothing that’s exclusive to the store. Morgan, you’re crazy talented and your work needs to be featured. Mary agrees.”
Oh. My. Gosh. I pressed my hand to my mouth as a sob slipped free, along with more tears. I looked back at the building in shock. Was this even possible? Could all my dreams literally be coming true right now? Well, almost all of them. There was still the Ryan dream. I was still secretly head over heels for him. That thought was for another time though.
“If you need time to think about it, I completely understand,” Georgiana said. “I know you have a semester of school left and—”
“Yes!” I screamed out. A group of people walking by all turned to stare.
“She’s just excited about a new clothing store coming soon,” Blayze stated with a bemused expression that said he was sorry for my crazy outburst.
I wanted to throw myself at Georgiana. “Oh my God, yes! Georgiana, this is my dream. I never imagined it would come true so soon. I don’t know what to say. I mean, I’m broke, and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to help pay for this.”