Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“It’s okay. I’ll get everything to go for you and put this in a to-go cup.”
“I’m sorry, Precious Girl. I’ll go pay.”
She could tell he was worried. Feeling completely selfish, she crossed her fingers behind her back, wishing that his boss would feel better quickly and it wouldn’t affect their plans for his day off. Maya darted into the kitchen to package his food for him to take.
“Thank you, Maya.” Deke leaned down to kiss her before taking the packages from her hands. “Call me when you get off work tonight. We’ll plan our day tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thanks again for the flowers.” She followed him to the door and opened it so he could navigate through with his hands full.
“I’m sorry Deke couldn’t stay for lunch, Maya,” Mateo offered.
“It’s okay. I should go help Guille in the kitchen. Can I put my flowers in your office for safekeeping?”
“Of course.”
Chapter Five
When she reached her car that evening, Maya called Deke. It went straight to voicemail. Disappointed, she started her car and backed out of her parking spot. A wild thought went through her head. She could go see him.
After checking her watch to make sure the mall would still be open when she got there, Maya headed that way. With her flowers buckled safely beside her, Maya navigated through the light traffic to the mall. She had no idea where the Stuff-It store was located inside.
Taking a wild guess, she parked in the front and ran in to check the map displayed just inside. Maya hurried up the escalator and found it on the second floor. She broke into a run seeing a tall figure pulling down the security fence around the store entrance.
“Deke!” she called.
“Maya? Hi. Did I miss a call from you?” he asked.
“Yes, but that’s okay. I wanted to surprise you.”
“You did that.” Deke swept her into his arms and hugged her close. “Come inside. I’ll show you around.”
“I’d love that.”
As she stepped inside, Maya looked around at all the stuffies displayed around the store as he finished securing the barrier. Dressed in all sorts of outfits, they all looked like they were headed to a party. “This is so much fun.”
“I thought you’d like it here. Pick out a stuffie and we can put him together,” Deke suggested.
“Oh, you have to be tired of making stuffies,” she forced herself to say.
“I could never be too tired to make a new friend for someone. What do you think? A traditional bear or something crazy like a penguin?”
“Tawny would eat a penguin, I’m afraid.”
“Who is Tawny?”
“He’s my lion stuffie. He’s very fierce.”
“Ah. Maybe we could appeal to his tender side. What do you think about making him a tigress friend?” Deke suggested, pointing to a gorgeous black-and-gold tiger with very long eyelashes.
“Oh! I think he’d love her.”
“Let’s get started then.”
Twenty minutes later, Maya stroked the tigress’s soft fur in delight. “How much do I owe you?”
“Twenty kisses.”
“No, Deke. I mean real money.”
“I’ll start you a punch card, so you won’t forget.” He stepped behind the cash register to pull out a fancy card. “I’ll stamp this every time you give Daddy a surprise kiss.”
“A surprise kiss?” she repeated.
“Exactly. It’s always fun to get something as a surprise.”
“Like my flowers?” she suggested.
“Exactly, and your stuffie. Twenty surprise kisses will make me feel happy, over and over again,” Deke told her. “You could give me one now, and I’ll pretend to be surprised.”
Maya rushed forward to press a kiss against his lips. She was as daring as she could be, dipping into his mouth with her tongue to make it last several long seconds.
“That was a surprise,” Deke told her with a grin. “Let me mark that one on your card.”
While he carefully initialed her card, Maya gathered her courage. She blurted, “Would you like to come to my apartment to meet Tawny and help me introduce Tawny and my new stuffie?”
“I would love to. That tiger needs a name,” Deke pointed out.
“I know. I haven’t thought of a perfect one yet. Maybe Tawny will have a suggestion.”
“I like that idea. I’ll finish closing up here and then we can be off.”
“Don’t rush. I like looking around in here,” Maya told him.
“All the Littles do. And the kids, too,” Deke shared as he pulled the cash drawer from the register.
“Do you have a lot of Littles come in every day?” she asked.
“A lot of adults come in alone to make a stuffie. I’ve always figured that at least a few are Little.”
“And you never found your Little here?” she asked, trying to quiet that uncomfortable feeling inside her tummy.
Deke set the till down on the counter and pulled her close. “I’d never felt anything like the way you pulled me toward you. I never dated a customer who I met here. If there were Littles here, my Little wasn’t one of them. I had to wait to find you. You don’t have anything to worry about with me working here, Precious Girl.”