Putting a silk blouse back on the rack, Megan turned to him. “Yeah, I’ve been planning on it for a long time.”
“Hmm,” he said, scratching behind his ear. “So, look, I wanted to talk to you about us.”
Drew’s mouth opened to say more, but she held up a hand to stop him. “You don’t have to do this, Drew. In fact, please don’t.” She put a hand over her chest, begging her heart to stay in place. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you and I was a complete bitch. You have every right to hate me for it.”
Megan wouldn’t be able to take the whole it’s not you, it’s me, bit. She wouldn’t be able to put on another brave face for the world while she was shattered into a thousand tiny pieces inside. She also didn’t want to keep seeing the pitied look he was giving her right then.
“You’re a great guy and maybe one day you’ll be able to forgive me and we can be friends.” The thought of being friends with him and watching him with another woman made her sick to her stomach, but she went on. “You just don’t have to do this now… or ever.”
Megan turned her back to him so he couldn’t see the tears welling up in her eyes. She pretended to fold shirts, but honestly, she had no clue what she was doing. She wanted this encounter over with already. Drew could find his sister a shirt somewhere else.
“Megan, being friends with you is the furthest thing on my mind,” he said.
“I understand. I’m not saying—” Both of his hands rested on her shoulders. Great, she thought. That was all she needed. To be put through more torture.
“Look at me,” Drew said, tugging for her to turn around, but she pulled against him. “Look at me, please.” When Megan still refused, his hands left her body, leaving her shoulders feeling cold and empty. “How many brothers do you know that buy random gifts for their little sister?”
Actually, he was the only man who came into Dazzled to shop. Was he just rubbing it in that he was such a great guy and she screwed up so badly? She didn’t need any help with that. Megan knew what an idiot she was without outside assistance. Shrugging her shoulders, she still didn’t face him.
“My point is, I was willing to walk my ass into a chick’s business and ask for your help because wanted to see you.” He walked around until he was in front of her. “I didn’t know how else to get your attention, so here I am again, trying to get your attention.”
Her head shot up. “Why?”
“Because you’re beautiful. Because every time I saw you, you were smiling like you were happy just being alive. Because you open your heart to this town like it’s your family. Because you’re the first woman in a long damn time I couldn’t stop thinking about when I went home at night.” Drew took a step closer and stopped. “I don’t blame you for accusing me. Hell, if it would have been the other way around, I would have cuffed you and taken you to jail.”
“No you wouldn’t have,” Megan said, shaking her head and feeling brave enough to take sporadic glances at him. She wasn’t quite ready to look him in the eyes just yet. “If you don’t blame me, then why didn’t you stay with me when you promised me you would?”
She wanted to slap herself for asking. It made her sound needy and she didn’t want him to know how desperately she really did need him.
“Since the day you passed out on the sidewalk and I had to give you CPR, not knowing if you were going to make it, I figured it would be best if I stayed away. But I couldn’t do that. This was my fault. I am the one who put you in danger. If you didn’t know me, you wouldn’t have been involved in the first place. I’ve been through it before and I couldn’t take going through it again. Not with you. I wouldn’t make it if I had you and lost you because of my damn job.”
Drew looked away and rubbed both hands over his face. “Thing is, there hasn’t been a day gone by that I didn’t want to be with you. I tried to forget about you and let you live your life, but I can’t. And I’m sorry for being a dickhead and leaving you alone, but I swear to you that I will be there from now on if you give me the chance.” He stepped closer to her and lifted her chin until her eyes met his big, beautiful brown eyes. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted and never could have imagined.”
Megan’s eyes must have shown her shock because he smiled. Despite the fact her throat felt like it was about to close up entirely, she spoke. “Do you know what you’re saying?”
“I’m saying, since you stumbled into my life, I can’t imagine a life without you in it.” Drew wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. “I want to spend the rest of my life being there when you need me, no matter if it’s fixing a broken window or cooking an edible meal. I would gladly spend my life making up for all my screw ups.”
“But with me?” Megan shook her head in confusion as her heart pounded wildly and tears filled her eyes. “You do realize that life with me isn’t how life would be with a normal woman.”
“With or without your powers, Baby, there’s nothing normal about you.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you exactly the way you are.”
Megan’s heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t sure if she was about to have another heart attack or not, but did he say he loved her and wanted to spend his life with her? “I don’t know what to say.”
“All you need to say is you love me, too,” Drew stated, kissing the tip of her nose as he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.
“Just say it!” Lillie yelled from the backroom. Megan smiled at Drew. She imagined Lillie giving Emily a play by play of everything being said.
Could this be real? Could she truly have the life she’d dreamed of? Megan took in his face and the love showing in his eyes. This was real. He was real, and she’d be damned if she let him slip through her fingers again. She might be a freak, but she wasn’t stupid.
“I love you, too,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. For the first time in her life there wasn’t anything she yearned for because finally, she had it all.
With that, cheers erupted from behind them. She turned to find her two best friends grinning from ear to ear. Lillie was handing out tissues and dabbing her own eyes. Drew lifted Megan into his arms.
“Girls, lock up for us, will you?” he instructed. Emily and Lillie nodded and waved them away. “You’re taking the rest of the day off. We have some making up to do.”
“You know I have a bad heart, right?” Megan teased as her pulse picked up speed.
“Your heart is safe with me,” Drew said, carrying her out the door and into their new life.
Epilogue
From a distance, he watched his daughters laughing as they walked side by side on the streets of Hope, Oklahoma. Daughters he’d watched grow into beautiful, strong women though he would never have the chance to tell them that. No, he wasn’t allowed to tell them their mother was from Earth but their father wasn’t.
If Draken would have followed the orders he was given, they wouldn’t have had the chance to grow into adults. He had made plenty of mistakes since his time on Earth, but he would never think of his girls as one of them. They were deemed experimental failures by leaders of his planet. Had their mothers lived, it would have been considered a success and his people would’ve slowly infiltrated Earth and repopulated his dying species.
Two things determined whether to proceed with repopulation or not. First, for some reason, all the babies were born female. If they were going to survive as a species, they needed both male and female. Second, the mothers died in childbirth. It pained him to think of it. The women he chose weren’t random. He cared for the three of them. Molly, Megan’s mother, he even came to love.
He watched his girls hug each other goodbye and go their separate ways, leaving Megan alone on the sidewalk. She tilted her head back and looked up at the evening sky as snow began to fall around her. Her boyfriend, Drew, rounded the corner and smiled when he spotted her. That was a man in love. Drew stopped a few feet from her, soaking in the sight while he waited for her to notice him.
When she
did, she reached out for his hand, but Drew shook his head and kept his hands in his coat pockets. Draken sat straighter on the bench, waiting to see what was going to happen. If Drew broke her heart again, he would have to teach that boy a lesson he was surely never to forget.
Letting his senses hone in on the pair, he listened.
“What’s wrong?” Megan asked, turning fully to Drew, giving Draken a clear view of her face.
“You’re beautiful,” Drew said, his voice shaking.
“Uh, okay? What’s going on?” she asked again. Draken could hear her heart pick up speed even though she was more than fifty feet away.
“You know I love you, right?” Drew asked.
“Yes, I know.” Megan took a step closer and looked up to his face. “You’re freaking me out. What’s wrong?”
A puff of steam came out of Drew’s mouth as he exhaled into the cold air. “The first time I saw you, you were right here in front of your shop, smiling at your window display. Watching your red hair blowing around you and those legs, damn those legs… I felt like someone punched me in the gut. I knew right then, I would do anything to make you smile at me like that. I wanted to you to be mine.”
Megan pulled a glove from her hand and wiped away a tear. “And I am yours.”
Drew smiled and bent to one knee as Megan gasped. “Every day I get that smile. Now, I want that smile forever. I want you forever.”
“Drew, are you… are you…”
“Megan May McAlister, let me be your family. Marry me?”
Megan laughed through her tears and vigorously nodded her head. “Yes, Drew. Oh my gosh, yes!”
Drew pulled a box out of his pocket. Megan’s hands covered her mouth as he pulled out the ring. He tugged on her hand until she held her fingers out and he slid the ring on her hand. Draken zoomed in his vision to get a better look at his daughter. Her eyes were filled with happy tears and the tip of her nose pinked with the cold and the crying. She had never looked happier or prettier.
Megan tugged Drew to stand and jumped in his arms. He spun them around, the snow swirling with the motion. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you more.”
Draken breathed a sigh of relief.
One down. Two more to go, he thought as he stepped into an alley and disappeared into the night.
Acknowledgements
My team, Paula LaFevers, Teresa Morris, Liz Hallford, Breann Glass, Cristina Carter, and Shelia Rhodes, thank you so much for everything you did to make Super Chick a better book. I don’t know what I would have done without your support.
Thank you to the fantastic indie authors that have listened, helped, and supported me on my crazy journey of being an author.
Sarah at Sprinkles on Top Studio thank you for saving the day and giving Super Chick a great cover.
Tiffany Fox at Beyond DEF for cleaning up all my messes without taking away my voice. You are fantastic at what you do. Thank you.
About the Author
Amber R. Polk was born and raised in a small town in Eastern Oklahoma. Since then, she moved to Colorado, back to Oklahoma, and now resides in Western Arkansas. Although her husband disagrees, she will always consider herself an Okie and proud of it. She is a great cook (don’t fact check with her children) and loves spending her time getting kicked off go-cart tracks for aggressive driving. If you have any questions or comments you can find her on Facebook (she’s always there).
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