Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Not long after Mark takes Cynthia home, the near frantic client, Ms. Parker arrives with her wedding party’s dresses and her own wedding gown.
Unzipping several garment covers, I can see at a glance it’s not the end of the world.
A little torn lace here and a few muddy paw prints there. Her gown is the least damaged and I have trouble seeing anything wrong with it, but she insists we have it all dry cleaned and repaired by tomorrow afternoon.
The dry cleaner opens at eight, and they pick up and deliver. I can have the alterations and repairs done in about an hour.
She leaves a little more at ease, but I can tell she has the wedding day jitters on top of this small drama.
Seeing her out of the store, I sigh loudly before puffing air out of my cheeks.
The lights dim and pulse as a sheet of lightning flashes across the sky, but I don’t mind.
I love the rain and wild weather.
As long as I have enough light to work by, I’ll be fine.
I think again about Brandon. About everything that happened today.
Maybe I was reading just a little too much into it all.
Maybe I saw and heard what I wanted to because I was so hurt, convinced that yet another eligible man was being snapped up and I was missing out.
I flick off most of the store lights, making sure to leave the display window lights on.
The lightning flashes wildly outside and I can hear the ancient building creak around me as the wind starts to howl.
There’s something more wild than the weather out there too.
I can feel it.
Dark, piercing eyes.
Watching me.
Waiting.
Without even thinking about it, without even knowing why. I calmly unlock the front door to the store and head back over to my work.
Doing a little waiting of my own.
Chapter Eight
Brandon
Another car, another person.
It makes my jaw flex with impatience.
Is this a god damned all night wedding store? How many more people could come and go…
But I recognize the woman, it’s the other owner. I forget her name, but she and her husband run the show.
I’m across the street and a few doors down, but even from here, I can tell she looks like hell.
Sick. Unwell.
I feel my hands grip the steering wheel tighter, hearing the plastic creak as I make a disapproving sound.
I don’t want Ashlee near sick people. And right now, I don’t want anyone near her.
She’s mine and I’m here to tell her so.
If only everyone else would just go away and leave us alone, so I can tell her how feel.
Maybe pick her up and just throw her over my shoulder after all.
I smile at the thought, relieved when I can finally see her again through the storefront windows but still annoyed that she’s not alone.
Ashlee thinking it’s me getting married is the only reason I can come up with for her brushing me off like she did.
After giving it some thought, tracing the outline of her on my phone screen as well as picturing her riding my thick cock as I almost bring myself to climax in my truck. It’s the only logical thought I’ve had all day.
I know she’s not taken. I know she’s ripe to be filled with my seed and I know she’s more than interested in what’s inside my pants.
There’s no other reason why she’d act like she doesn’t feel what I feel between us.
None I can think of anyhow.
If she thinks I’m the one getting married though, she’s not the kind of girl to get involved like that.
But I’m not getting married, and I’m kicking myself for letting her think I am.
Time to set things straight.
Time to lay it all on the line.
Stake my claim and show her just who she really belongs to from now on.
My frustration eases when I see one last customer come and go, and a light go out, meaning Ashlee is all alone in the store which is officially closed for the day.
She mentioned she lives upstairs, but I can still see her moving about in the store, switching off some more lights and turning others on as darkness falls.
There’s some unseasonal rain too, heavy and thick on my windshield which starts to obscure my near perfect view of her.
I growl with annoyance. Distracted too by the thought of heavy rain on the active job sites my company has.
This isn’t easy, but it beats me going home without her. Having nothing but the memory of her torturing me isn’t how I want to live.
I’m staying right here, keeping a watchful eye over her and what’s rightfully mine. Rain or shine, I’ll need to come up with a way to see her up close. To explain everything to her.
Ashlee’s all that matters now, everything else can just fucking wait.
The rain gets heavier, and lightning flashes brightly in between rolling thunderclaps.