Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
She’s a tiny woman, but her strength amazes me when she shoves the door open. “Oh my God, Elle. You look amazing!”
“There’s no way I’m wearing this outside… in front of people.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and taps her foot on the floor. “Okay, talk to me. Why do you dress the way you do?”
I point at the clothes I removed. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”
She looks at me. “You really don’t know?”
“So they’re a little big.”
Lilian waves her hand up and down my body. “A little big? Your clothes hang off you and hide this beautiful body.”
“I’m not beautiful,” I insist.
Lilian is shocked. “Elle, you are beautiful, and more important, you’re beautiful inside and out.”
I grab the oversize dress shirt I took off and hold it in my hands. “Growing up, my mom always had me on a diet. No matter what I did, she thought I was too big and I needed to lose weight.” I hold the shirt up. “Eventually she gave up on me losing weight and convinced me that I needed to hide my body.”
Lilian comes toward me. She doesn’t say anything. She wraps her arms around me and holds on. When she pulls back, she wipes the tears from her eyes. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Elle. I know it’s not the same, but I’m telling you that you’re beautiful. Just the way you are, you’re beautiful.”
I reach over and hug her. When I pull back, I let out a breath, and it feels like I lose ten pounds of grief.
Lilian looks at the dress I have on. “Look, you’re beautiful in whatever you wear. I’m sorry if you think I’m trying to change you. That’s not what I was doing. I’m sorry.”
“No,” I say as I grab her hand. “No. Thank you, Lilian. You’ve been good to me since the first day I walked into Blaze Whiskey. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have the job. I owe you.”
She shakes her head. “You don’t owe me anything. Look, I’m not sure what’s going on with everything, but what I do know is that you deserve to be happy.”
I suck in a breath, trying to hold back my emotions. I turn away and look in the mirror. “You know, it does look good. Maybe I can wear it.”
She claps her hands together and looks hopeful. “Only if you want to. I mean, you look beautiful, but if you’re not comfortable in it…”
Her voice trails off, and I turn side to side, inspecting the way I look in the mirror. Honestly, when I look at it now, it’s completely respectable. It’s not too short or too low, it’s just not like what I usually wear. I point to the dress. “Are you doing this because you think Hudson will like me like this?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I’m doing this because I think you’re beautiful, and I want you to feel beautiful, that’s all.”
I run my fingers along the silky material of the dress and look at myself in the mirror. Even the sandals I’m wearing look good with this. “It does look good, doesn’t it?”
Lilian smiles. “It looks really good.”
I pull back my shoulders. “I’m getting it.”
Lilian just smiles widely. “Good. You deserve it, Elle.”
“I do,” I tell her, and for the first time in a long time, I believe it.
Chapter 19
Hudson
I type out a text and send it to Ellie. “Send me a picture.”
This is the third time I’ve texted her today, and each time, she’s sent me some bullshit picture. One was a pencil on her desk. Another was a picture of the parking lot at Blaze Whiskey, and one was out the window. Of the three, that last one was probably the best because I was at least able to make out her reflection in the window.
I know there’s something bothering her. She was out of the house this morning before I was out of the shower.
She stayed and worked at the office today, telling me she had some report she needed to get done. But now it’s after work hours, and she’s not home.
I’ve tried not to worry, and the only thing that is stopping me is the fact that she at least texts me back.
I stare at my phone, and when it shows she’s read my message, I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been on edge today. Even after I jacked off in the shower this morning, I still have a healthy case of blue balls. But it’s not that. It’s something else, and it has me on high alert. I know this feeling, and it means something bad is coming.
I’d probably feel better if Ellie was home, but it’s not like I can make her do something.