by Alina Jacobs
"I'm not lurking."
"You are. If you weren't so attractive, it would be creepy," she teased.
"I mean I don't really have anything to add to this shopping expedition. I'm an engineer, not a designer."
"You manage to look nice," she said as the associate handed her blouses, soft sweaters, and skirts and blazers.
"Archer picks out my suits," I admitted.
"Your twin has excellent taste," she said, going into a dressing room.
Josie modeled every suit for me.
"I think this is conservative yet sexy," she said, posing in front of the mirror. "Perfect for a medical conference."
"You look great," I said, admiring the way the fabric hugged her curves.
"I can't believe how comfy it is," Josie gushed. "I always hated wearing business clothes because they were so scratchy, but this is so soft. Feel it!" she ordered, holding a sleeve out to my face.
"We'll have the alterations done in the next couple of days," the associate said after Josie had changed back into her old clothes. "I'll send it to your office, Mr. Svensson."
"My house is fine," I replied. I almost said our house. I wanted it to be our house.
The sales associate turned the iPad that doubled as a register around for me to swipe my card and sign.
Josie started to swear when she saw the total then turned it into a cough. "That is too much."
"You deserve it. You probably single-handedly saved my product launch," I told her as I swiped my credit card. "Besides, there's a lot of business that goes on at these conferences. You seriously cannot turn up looking like someone just scraped you out of a gutter."
"Do I look that bad?" she asked as we left the boutique.
"I mean, I don't have any complaints," I assured her.
"I know you don't," she said, bumping into me as she turned left and I turned right.
"Shoe store is that way," I told her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her.
"My shoes are fine!" she argued.
I looked down at her feet. There was a hole in the heel of one of her shoes.
"It was my stupid tiny house," she explained. "It has it out for me. I was going down the ladder, and my foot caught."
"You're lucky you didn't break your neck," I said. "Besides, why do you even need to be in there?"
"It's the only quiet place I can work without being interrupted. It's the tiny house or the bathroom, but in the bathroom all I think about was that time in the tub…"
"Thanks, now that's all I can think about," I said as I opened the door for the shoe boutique.
"Um, no, we need to go to a low-end discount shoe place," she said, balking in the doorway as soon as she saw the Louboutin sign in the window. "You saw how hard I am on shoes."
I gently shoved her inside.
"I can't believe Harrogate can even support a place like this," she whispered as we walked into the luxuriously decorated space. "It's so pretty." Josie patted one of the shoes on display.
"Whoa!" Josie said, turning to another display.
Whoa was my reaction. They were a pair of open-toe stiletto sandals that somehow turned into fishnet tights.
"That's… erotic," Josie said as we both studied the shoes. I wanted nothing more than to see her in them.
Focus. We're here for business professional wear.
"Is it crazy that I want those?" Josie whispered to me.
"Not crazy at all," I whispered back. "They would probably go very nicely with a shelf bra."
She turned her head into my chest to smother a laugh. "They totally would."
"Would you like to try these on?" the sales associate asked, coming up to us.
Yes, I thought.
"No!" Josie said, snickering. "I just need a basic black stiletto." She looked at me for confirmation.
"Get whatever you want," I told her.
"And a nude heel," she added.
Whoever had designed those shoes knew what they were doing, I decided as Josie walked back and forth in front of me, trying out the stilettoes. She looked elegant and sophisticated in them.
"I sort of want to wear these right now," Josie said as the sales associate carried the boxes to the counter. "But I don't think they go with lasagna stains." I handed the associate my card, and I knew Josie was itching to see the total.
"Don't worry about it," I told her, taking the bags and leading her out of the shop.
I'm coming back for you, I thought when I passed the fishnet stilettoes.
When we were outside, Josie looked down at her shirt then looked up at me.
"Want to go bra shopping?" she asked. "This is my only one left. My tiny house destroyed one, and Henry used another one as a slingshot."
I shook my head. "Henry needs to learn some personal boundaries. No one touches your bras but me."
"Well then, you and the tiny house are going to have to duke it out," she retorted.
"We should see if they have shelf bras," I said as we walked down the sidewalk.
She snickered. "For science?"
"For science."
"Somehow I don't think that's going to be sold in Harrogate," Josie said.
"Yeah that may be a bit much for the townspeople here," I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and tucking her next to me.
"I don't know. Ida might go for it," she said, laughing.
"That is an image I did not need in my brain," I told her, opening the door to the lingerie shop for her.
"It's probably a good thing," she teased. "You seemed like you were getting a little too excited!"
Josie did not model the lingerie for me. I was left holding the bag of shoes while she and the sales associate disappeared into the back room.
"You have to have a little mystery," the associate said.
I looked around the store while she was gone. They did not have shelf bras.
51
Josie
While I did love to shop, going to the boutiques with Mace brought back memories of Anke. I had spent money I didn't have when I was with her. The high totals at the cash register brought back the sick feeling of realizing I was stuck with a bill of tens of thousands of dollars. What if something happened and Mace wanted me to pay him back for all of these new clothes? But I tried to keep a happy face on through the shopping. Mace was a good guy. He was trying to do something nice for me.
I tried to concentrate on finishing up the last touches on the marketing rollout. The swag was already at the conference center. The website would be live tomorrow, and the video had Mace's voice dubbed over. For once something in my life was going right. I had this strange feeling like everything was going to be okay.
Until I went up to Mace's office and Anke was sitting at my desk. I felt my eye start twitching, and I held a finger over it. Mace looked up at me when I walked in.
"Just seeing if you had any final comment on the video," I said. "Otherwise it's going up on the website."
He stood up and came over to me. "It looks great." He reached for me, and I looked over and caught Anke's eye through the glass. She winked at me.
What was her angle? She always had an angle. It didn't seem like she was going after Mace. And I hadn't seen her after Garrett, Hunter, or Archer.
"You're not upset about the clothes, are you?" Mace asked. He looked concerned. I wanted to kiss him to reassure him, but Anke was right there. Somehow after all she had taken from me, I didn't want to share this with her.
"It's fine," I said with a sigh.
"It's a gift," Mace said. "You've done a lot. You deserve it."
"I hope it goes okay," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Owen's been showing it around," Mace said. "People seem impressed. I think it's going to go very well."
I was glad he was confident. Though, after all Mace had done for me, I felt like I hadn't done enough for him. I wanted to make sure his life was going as smoothly as possible. And I knew what I still needed to do.
Ida waved to me w
hen I walked into the general store. "Any news?" I asked, grabbing a bag of candy and setting it on the counter.
"I did talk to my sister," Ida said. "She of course does not want to sell."
"If you could just get everyone in a room together," I begged. "I could pitch the big idea to them."
"Maybe canasta night?" Ida mused. "Art likes to bring his latest cider creation. Everyone will be a little tipsy. I'll try to convince my sister to come. The old bird's been grouchy lately."
"Thanks," I said. "I know you don't like the Svenssons."
"I love the Svenssons!" Ida said, clapping a hand on her chest. "They're the best kind of eye candy. It's just a woman has needs, you know?"
It was late when I arrived back at the estate house. I wanted to finish sending an email and opted to go to the tiny house instead of the main house.
I stripped off my top as soon as I walked in. Though I was still a little twitchy about the clothes, I had to admit having high-quality, comfortable business clothes was something I was looking forward to, especially now that I was going to have to spend the next three days at a conference. Speaking of which, I texted Marnie to make sure she had time to hang out.
Josie: Are you coming to the conference?
Marnie: Part of it. I can't wait to see you!
Marnie: Greg's been talking up your marketing presentation. He wants you to come do marketing for him on some real estate development. He doesn't want a repeat of Frost Tower
Josie: I thought that turned out great though?
Marnie: Eventually, but it could have gone south and he doesn't want that to happen again
Josie: I guess after this marketing thing is done, I'll need something to do since Anke is now Mace's assistant
Marnie: I cannot believe the nerve of her. Is she trying to make a move on him?
Josie: She claims she isn't. I think she's after one of Mace's other brothers
Marnie: Good luck! Haha! I wish she would try her crazy tactics on Greg. I could use some amusement
I jumped when I heard a knock on the door. Mace was standing outside of the tiny house. He was so tall and the tiny house so small, that even though he was on the ground, his head was about at the height of the door.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"Or what? You'll huff and puff and blow my house down?"
"I don't think I'd even have to try that hard," he said, ducking to come into the tiny house. It wobbled when he stepped inside. "This house looks practically unstable. I'm shocked it hasn't collapsed yet."
"I guess I'll just have to huff and puff and blow you instead," I said. Mace looked as predatory as the big bad wolf. He came in and pushed me against the wall. His hands were everywhere, pulling at my clothes, tangling in my hair, hot on my bare skin. He pushed up my skirt and ripped my panties off.
"You can't keep destroying my stuff," I gasped as the zipper on my skirt ripped.
"I just bought you new stuff," he said then kissed and sucked at a freed breast. I grabbed for leverage on the railing to hold the ladder in place while Mace, still kissing me, undid his pants. The railing pulled out of the wall, bringing a tuft of insulation and splinters of wood with it. Mace ignored it. He rolled on a condom, then he pushed me back against the wall. I held onto him as he slid his cock into me.
The tiny house rocked as Mace found a rhythm. The lights shook, and the house creaked ominously. I cried out as he hitched me up higher, angling me so his cock rubbed my clit every time he thrust into me.
I kissed him to silence the screams. The house was not that soundproof. Mace responded by fucking me harder. I distinctly heard some of the wood paneling give as I came over the edge, Mace finishing close behind.
"We might have to move this into the main house," Mace said, kissing my temple and plucking bits of insulation out of my hair. "I'm not sure your tiny house can take much more."
52
Mace
"I'm surprised that tiny house hasn't collapsed yet, what with all the abuse it's had to take," Archer said to me the next morning. We were at the Department of Child Welfare for Harrogate. Henry was having a supervised visit with Payslee. I knew Archer was trying to keep me from completely losing my mind.
"I wish the judge had just thrown her in jail," I muttered.
"Considering how much she apparently doesn't like Svenssons," Archer said, "we probably had the best possible outcome."
"I don't want to leave," Henry whined. He had been ill behaved the whole morning.
Payslee was in a glass-enclosed room. There was a table with a sad little basket of toys on it.
"Well hello, Henry," she said when I walked in carrying him. Henry ignored her, tensing in my arms. "I haven't seen you in years," Henry's mother said. "Didn't you miss your mama?" I set Henry on the floor. Archer was pacing outside the glass-enclosed room.
"Come here, Henry." Payslee's voice had that angry edge that all of my father's wives ended up developing, the outcome of too many ill-behaved boys, too little money, and not enough time, energy, or resources to go around. "Henry, your mama is talking to you," she yelled. "Why don't you come and tell me how your day was?"
I clenched my fist. Henry shrank from Payslee.
"Don't you ignore me, boy!" Payslee raised up her hand like she was about to hit him.
"That's it!" the social worker said, throwing open the door. "This is a supervised visit. You do understand that, Payslee, correct? This is all being videotaped."
The tension in the room sent Henry over the edge, and he started screaming like someone had set his favorite toy on fire.
"We have to end the supervised visit for Henry's safety," the social worked informed me, ushering Henry and me out of the room.
"Of course," I said smoothly, but inside I was relived. This was one more mark against Payslee.
"Surely the judge will see she is unfit," I said to Archer while Henry screamed in my arms.
Archer winced. "He's almost purple. Are you sure he's okay?"
"He's just stressed," I answered. "He was up all night."
We watched as Payslee stomped out.
"That's my son," she yelled at us as she left. "I will have him back!"
"I just don't understand why she wants him back so bad," I remarked to the social worker.
"Probably money," she replied, sounding disgusted. "But I'm requesting that she takes some parenting and anger-management classes before another visit with Henry."
Another reprieve.
"You know, there are people who genuinely want to be better parents," the social worker said. "And then there are people like her. I'm just mad we're wasting resources on her when they could be better used helping someone else."
"On that note," Archer said to me, "I'll see you in New York."
"Are you coming to the conference?" I asked him as we walked out the door.
"A good chunk of my hotels are booked solid for conferencegoers," he told me. "Of course I'll be there."
"Schmoosing and boozing," I said, slipping on my sunglasses.
"You'll have so much fun you'll want to move back to Manhattan," Archer said.
"I don't know. It's a little hectic for me. I like a slower pace," I said.
"You are so old," Archer said, adjusting my tie from where Henry had yanked on it. Now that we were out in the sunshine, my little brother had started to calm down.
"You want to go to the park?" I asked him. Henry shook his head. "A snack?"
"No," my little brother said.
"What do you want?"
"To see Josie," he said as I wiped off his face.
"Well isn't that convenient?" I told him. "Me too. Great minds think alike."
Josie was in the conference room. Boxes sat on the table, and the marketing team was laughing and joking.
"Anything else we need to add? It's your last chance," Josie said as I walked into the room. Henry ran to her, and she picked him up, cradling him to her chest as she talked to me. "We've been testing the website. The swag
and brochures are on-site. Plus we have the iPads for the people manning the tables to do demonstrations on."
"It all looks great," I told her and the rest of the team. "Thank you all for your hard work. I have a good feeling about this. We'll let you know how it goes. Willow, Josie, and Adrian will be at the conference in case there are last-minute changes. The rest of you, go get a drink and expense it to us, please. I really appreciate all your work. It looks fantastic."
"I haven't seen you in forever!" Josie told Henry after the team had left for a bar.
"He's had a rough day," I explained.
"How was it with, you know?" she asked.
"Over before it even began," I replied. "Seems like there's another extension."
"That's good," Josie said, smiling.
"Yeah," I said, watching her nuzzle Henry's nose and make him laugh. "It's good."
53
Josie
"My new clothes arrived!" I announced, waltzing into Mace's bedroom that evening with the bags of clothes on hangers.
"The tiny house let you leave without ripping anything?" Mace teased.
"Please! I didn't take them anywhere near the tiny house," I said. "They're all staying here."
"I have another surprise for you," Mace said, wheeling out a brand-new suitcase from his closet. "I didn't want to risk you showing up with all your things in some sort of grocery sack."
"I'm shocked you think so little of me," I told him. "I would at least use a garbage bag. Not a cheap one either—one of those stretchy ones that smell like marzipan and have the plastic ties." I looked over the suitcase. It was nice, with a built-in hanging bag to store my suits.
"I have a little surprise for you," I said.
"Did you find a shelf bra?" he asked, the corners of his mouth quirking.
"No shelf bras in Harrogate, but they did have this nice little surprise. Close your eyes," I said. Mace closed them, and I took off my skirt and went to stand in front of him. I took his hand and put it at the V where my legs met.