Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“Falling in love. Hoping that Brick Langston is going to be your knight in shining armor?”
“Of course not,” I muttered, but didn’t meet her gaze. “I have a boyfriend that I’m going home to when this is over with, remember?”
“Right. The boyfriend who sold you.” Suzie grunted, stirring something in a bowl as she eyed me. “Does he make you smile and hum like that too?”
“Ralph makes me happy. We have a future together,” I said blandly. The truth was that I hadn’t thought of Ralph all week. Hadn’t called him either. We hadn’t talked since his last surprise visit and since then he hadn’t gotten in touch with me at all. Not even a message on social media.
“And you and Brick don’t have a future?”
My hands started to shake, and I looked up sharply. “Weren’t you the one who warned me of the dangers of having romantic delusions? Now you want to keep planting that notion in my head?”
“So you are falling for him.” Suzie smiled in triumph. “I know what I told you, little girl. That’s because in all the time that I’d known Brick, he’s never once defended a woman. Never cared about her feelings. Never tried to do anything to make her happy, at least outside of the bedroom. He’s done all three with you.”
It would be a lie if I didn’t admit that her words made me feel…something. I loved to see Brick softening towards me, and hoped that it meant something, but that kind of thinking was dangerous. I did not want to get hurt. “Has he ever invited a woman to live with him for a month?”
Suzie shook her head. “No.”
“That’s the difference. He’s just around me more. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Why are you so against the thought of a romantic ending? Why are you so against the idea of falling in love?”
I sighed and discarded the shoes. “There is no such thing as a romantic ending. Falling in love only ends in pain. What Brick and I have is chemistry and passion, and it’s going to burn out at some point. My parents were in love. They had all that chemistry and passion, and you know what it got them? Crying and fighting every night. I used to lay awake and listen to my father assault my mother every night. She’d scream no and fight him, but she never left him either.”
Suzie’s eyes widened in horror. “That’s why you were a virgin, isn’t it?”
“I loved my mother, but I don’t want to end up like her. With Ralph…we may not have passion and love, but he cares about my future, and I can build a life on that.” I stood and nudged the shoes away with my foot. There was no way that I was going to find a way to wear them. It was back to the black pumps.
“Ralph doesn’t care about your future, darling. He cares about his money. What is it going to take for you to see that?” Suzie shook her head. “You can’t be so afraid of finding love that you get trapped in a passionless and loveless relationship, darling. You won’t be any happier than your mother.”
My heart ached at the thought, but before I could dwell on the unhappy thought, there was a knock at the door. With a frown, I adjusted the skin-tight cream-colored dress that I was wearing. I prayed that Suzie wasn’t making anything with red sauce.
One of the employees for the building stood on the other side with a box. “This was delivered to the front desk,” he said and held it out to me. “Mr. Langston wanted to make sure that you had it for tonight.”
“For tonight?” I frowned and accepted the box. “Thank you.”
As I shut the door, Suzie shouldered her bag and pointed to the pot. “You let this boil, and it’ll be ruined. Simmer until you pull the steak out of the oven, okay?”
“Uh-huh.” I was barely listening as I put the box on the counter. What would Brick send me that would be for tonight?
“If you burn the sauce, it won’t be my fault,” Suzie muttered. “There’s some bacon in the fridge. For some reason, Brick wants it for breakfast pizza. Honestly, I don’t even know where he got that idea.”
I smiled to myself as Suzie bustled out of the condo. Tugging at the tape, I pulled it off and opened the box. Inside, there was another box. Gold and white stripes with an ornate label. Erotic Elegance. Flipping the lid open, I pulled out the fabric inside.
Black crotch-less sheer panties and a matching bar that hid absolutely nothing.
Immediately, I grew wet.
Apparently, Brick had some interesting plans for tonight.
I wasn’t wearing any panties under the dress, so it was easy enough to slip on the new garments, but I needed to exchange the bra. I unzipped the dress just enough to pull the straps down and unhook my bra. From the corner of my eye, I could see the sauce starting to boil. Cursing, I turned the heat down and stirred it with one hand while I stripped off my bra. Finally, I slipped the new bra on, managed to hook it in the back, and pulled my dress back up.