by Sandi Lynn
“By the way, how was your date last night?” Katie asked.
“You had another date last night?” Evelyn spoke as she walked into the shop.
“It was nice, and yes,” I looked at her, “I had another date.”
“Same guy as a few nights ago or a different one?” Evelyn asked.
“Same guy as the other night and his name is Cliff.”
“Have you slept with him yet?” Katie asked as she hung some blouses on the rack.
“Nope. But I think tonight is the night. I’m horny and we’ve been on three dates already, so I think it’s time.”
“So what’s his story?” Evelyn asked.
“He’s been divorced about a year because his ex-wife cheated on him and he’s a real estate agent.”
“Does he know you’re not looking for anything serious?” Katie said.
“Yes. I made that very clear the first night we went out. He said he was just getting back into the dating game and he wasn’t looking either. So, we’re just enjoying each other’s company.”
“Is he the one you met on Match?” Evelyn asked.
“One of the ones I met on Match.” I smirked as I rested my elbows on the counter.
“Good luck.” Katie smiled. “I hope the sex is everything you want it to be. Unlike the past few guys you slept with,” she spoke with a twisted face.
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” I shuddered. “It’s sad when you have to finish the job yourself after they leave.” I rolled my eyes.
Both girls busted out into laughter.
Katie Collins was my best friend and assistant manager. We met sophomore year in high school and had been glued to each other’s side ever since. She attended NYU with me for the first year and then decided that college wasn’t for her. Since she liked retail so much, she decided to make a career of it and work at Nordstrom as a sales associate. She didn’t mind because she was on a mission. A mission to find a rich man to marry who would take care of her financially. She had been in a relationship for the past nine months with a man named Alex. He didn’t have much money, but she was okay with that because he was on his way to becoming a lawyer. She was a beautiful girl who stood five foot five with long auburn hair, jade eyes, and an overflowing personality that people loved.
Evelyn Rose was another friend of mine who was an up and coming designer. The two of us met at Parsons and had been close ever since. She’d been trying to break into the design business, and she was the reason I decided to help out struggling designers and carry some of their lines in my store. Men loved her five-foot four stature, lean-as-fuck body, long black hair, and baby blue eyes.
Chapter 2
Emily
Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped my long blonde highlighted hair in a towel, slipped into my robe, and started getting ready for my date with Cliff. As I was applying my makeup, a text message came through on my phone from him.
“I can’t wait to see you again tonight. I hope you had a good day.”
Looking down at the message, I sighed.
“Looking forward to our date.”
He replied with a smiley-face emoji, which drove me nuts. If there was one thing I hated more than anything in the world, it was those damn emoji’s. Rolling my eyes, I finished putting on my face, dried my hair and threw some loose curls at the end, slipped into my little black dress, sprayed on some Joe Malone perfume, and went into the kitchen to pour a glass of wine before he picked me up.
The doorbell rang, and when I opened it, he was standing there with a bouquet of yellow roses. Suddenly, a sick feeling took over in the pit of my stomach.
“Wow, you look amazing. Not that you don’t always look amazing, but tonight, you look extra amazing.”
“Thanks.” A small smile graced my lips.
“These are for you.” He handed me the roses as he stepped inside.
“Roses. Wow. They’re beautiful. You shouldn’t have but thank you.”
“I was walking by the florist earlier and saw them in the window. They made me think of you, so I had to buy them.”
“Why would yellow roses make you think of me?” I asked as I placed them in a vase of water.
“Because they’re bright like the sun and that’s what you remind me of.”
Either Cliff was being serious, or he was just trying to make sure he got laid tonight. I was going with he wanted to get laid. He took me to Daniel for dinner and dropped a ridiculous amount of money on food and drinks. When we reached my apartment building, he placed his hand on my cheek and brushed his lips against mine.
“Was that too forward?” he asked.
“No, not at all. Would you like to come up for a drink and maybe have sex?”
He let out a deep breath. “Thank God you asked. I was hoping we’d have sex tonight. I really want you.”
As soon as we stepped inside my apartment, I kicked off my shoes and led him to the bedroom. Instantly, his hands were all over me. Up and down my body, grabbing onto my breasts and kneading them through the fabric of my dress while his mouth devoured my neck. I brought my hands up to the buttons of his shirt, unbuttoned them, and slid it off his shoulders. His body was okay. I liked my men a little more built, but he wasn’t all that bad. He reached around and unzipped my dress, letting it fall to the floor as he lightly grabbed hold of my shoulders and stared at my body.
“Wow. Your body puts every other woman’s body to shame.”
“Uh. Thanks.” I reached for his belt and unbuckled it.
He struggled with unclasping my bra and it was starting to get on my nerves, so I took his hands, put them on my hips, and unhooked it, tossing it to the floor. His mouth instantly roamed to my chest and his lips clamped around my hardened nipples.
“Jesus, you have the best-looking tits.”
He reached his arm around my back and laid me down on the bed, letting his fingers travel up my inner thighs until they reached the edge of my panties. Then they stopped. I lay there waiting for him to dip a finger inside me, but he didn’t. He just cupped me with his hand and rubbed me through my panties. His mouth was all over my breasts, my collarbone, my neck, and then on my lips. His kisses were sloppy, and I would have preferred he didn’t kiss me.
Grabbing the sides of my panties, he pulled them down, stood up, and took off his pants. His cock was nothing spectacular. It wasn’t big, but it wasn’t overly small. It was enough to get the job done. He hovered over me and stuck his cock between my legs. I wasn’t expecting that so soon. I wanted foreplay and lots of it. But he seemed ready and raring to fuck me.
“In my nightstand, I have condoms.”
“Oh. Aren’t you on birth control?”
“That is my birth control,” I lied.
I was on the pill, but I didn’t know him or how many women he’d been with since his divorce and I wasn’t about to take any chances. I always made them wear a condom.
“I see. Okay.” He climbed off of me, took a condom from the drawer, and slipped it on. “I normally don’t wear one.”
“Well, you wouldn’t want to get me pregnant, would you?” I smirked.
“No.” He leaned over and devoured my neck while he pushed into me.
After a few saddening thrusts, which I could barely feel, he pulled out of me and looked at his dick.
“I’m not really that hard anymore. It’s the condom; I’m not used to it and it makes it hard to feel anything.”
I silently sighed as I sat up, grabbed hold of his cock, and began stroking it firmly. He threw his head back as several moans escaped him. When he was semi-hard again, he thrust inside and moved in and out of me rapidly. Still, I felt nothing. Wrapping my legs tightly around his waist, I made him deepen inside me.
“Oh my God, you feel amazing, Emily.” He pushed in and out. “Are you going to come?”
I wasn’t even close, but I wasn’t about to ruin his confidence, so I had to fake the noises, tighten my legs, and pretend that I came. His cock started to soften again, but he wouldn
’t stop, and he finally came. He pushed deep inside me and halted as a loud groan escaped his chest.
Climbing off of me, he disposed of the condom while I climbed under the covers and he climbed in next to me.
“You were amazing.” He softly stroked my arm. “Sorry about the problems. I was really nervous.”
“It happens,” I lied with a smile.
He lay there on his side, his hand propped up against his head as he stared at me. The look on his face and in his eyes frightened me. He was falling and falling hard. Shit.
“I really like you, Emily, and I think tonight just confirmed it even more for me. The next time we have sex, I promise it will be better.”
“You’re a great guy, Cliff, but I told you I wasn’t looking for anything.”
“I know and neither was I. But you can’t deny the incredible attraction we have to each other.”
The hell I can deny it.
“I think you should go now. It’s late and I have to get up really early and be at the shop.”
“You don’t want me to spend the night?” His fingers traced my breast. “We can have round two first thing in the morning.”
“I’m really tired and I sleep better alone. But thank you for a wonderful dinner.”
“Sure. Okay. You’re welcome.” He climbed out of bed and slipped into his clothes.
I climbed out, put on my robe, and walked him to the door.
“How about dinner tomorrow night?” he asked as he placed his hands firmly on my hips.
“I’m sorry, I can’t. I have a thing with Katie I have to go to. I’ll call you when I’m free.”
“Don’t make it too long, I want to see you again.” He went for my lips and I quickly turned and gave him my cheek.
“Have a nice night, Cliff.”
After he left, I shut the door, went to the kitchen, poured a glass of wine, and took it to my bedroom. Reaching in my drawer, I grabbed my vibrator, climbed under the covers, and satisfied myself. What a waste of a night.
Chapter 3
Emily
When Katie walked into the shop, her eyes were swollen, and she looked tired.
“Good morning. Rough night?” I asked as I unpacked the new box of clothes that had arrived.
“Really rough night.” She walked around the counter and placed her purse underneath. “Alex and I got into a fight and we were up all night arguing.”
“About what?”
“The TV.”
“Okay. Care to elaborate on that?”
“He went out with his friends last night and didn’t come to my place until one a.m. He was supposed to be there by ten so we could watch a movie we both had been dying to see.”
“And why was he with his friends so late?”
“He lost track of time. They were playing cards and drinking, and he forgot about our movie date. It didn’t help that I sent him twenty text messages between ten and twelve thirty and he didn’t respond to any of them. He said his phone was on silent. So when he finally did text me back and told me he was on his way over, I told him to forget it and leave me alone. He showed up anyway and we got into a huge fight.”
“I’m sorry, Katie.”
What I really wanted to say was “I told you so.”
“He said that he can’t spend every second with me and he needs his friend time. I told him that I understood that, and I would never keep him from seeing his friends, but we also had a date, and he promised that he would be over at ten.”
“How did he respond?”
“He was sorry, and I was being unreasonable. We argued until three a.m. and then he left. I haven’t heard from him since.”
I walked over and clasped her shoulders.
“I’m sure he’ll call you later, but until then, do not, and I repeat, do not let him destroy your emotional state. If he promised to be over at ten and failed to do so, that’s his problem. He was in the wrong, Katie, not you. You have done nothing wrong but to call him out on his broken promise. Don’t let him make you think you were in the wrong. Now do you understand why I avoid relationships at all costs?”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. Picking up her phone, she checked it, and I immediately snatched it from her hands.
“No checking to see if he texted you. You will survive until he comes to his senses.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “How did your date go with Cliff? Did you sleep with him?”
“Dinner was great. The sex was awful. He couldn’t stay hard.”
A soft laugh escaped her lips. “Why? What did you do to him?”
“He blamed it on the condom and then he said he was really nervous. We won’t be seeing each other again.”
“Why? Because he sucked in bed?” She smirked.
“That’s one reason, but the other is because he said that he had feelings for me and last night confirmed them. He also said that there’s no denying the attraction between us.”
“Poor sucker.” She laughed.
“I’m going to go into the back and grab another box of clothes for us to put out. I’ll be right back. Try to hold it together while I’m gone.”
“Very funny.”
Grabbing a box of clothes from the back, I carried it up to the front and set it on the floor next to the sales counter. The soft ring of the bell that hung above the front door made me look up and take notice of the incredibly sexy man that walked into the store.
“Hi, welcome to Emily’s Edge. Can I help you with something?” Katie’s face lit up as she practically ran over to him.
“I’m just looking right now. Thank you,” he spoke.
“OH MY GOD!” she mouthed as she turned and looked at me.
Rolling my eyes, I noticed her phone, which was sitting on the counter, went off.
“Your phone went off,” I spoke as I held it up.
Sprinting over to the counter, she grabbed it from my hands and became giddy with excitement as she saw she had a text message from Alex.
“Go in the back and take care of your relationship.” I smiled at her.
Taking the box cutter from the counter, I began to slice open the box and my finger somehow got in the way.
“SHIT!” I yelled.
The sexy man, who was looking at the dresses, turned and looked at me as I wrapped my other hand around my wounded finger.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a low but husky voice.
“Yes. I’m fine. Just a little cut,” I spoke as I grabbed some tissues from underneath the counter.
“May I take a look?” He walked his designer-suit self over to me.
As he approached closer, I couldn’t help but focus on his incredible sinfully beautiful chocolate brown eyes. Not the light chocolate kind, but the dark.
“Are you a doctor?” I gulped.
“No. Just a concerned customer who flinched when the sales associate shouted ‘shit’ in the middle of the store.”
“Sorry about that. Instant reaction. Anyway, thank you for your concern, but I’m fine.”
“If you’re fine, let me see.” He smirked.
I sighed as I removed the bloody tissue from my finger, and it was still bleeding.
“It’s still bleeding,” he spoke.
“It hasn’t clotted yet. I’m a slow clotter.”
“That actually sounds gross, but I’ll take your word for it. If the bleeding doesn’t stop soon, you may need stitches.”
“I thought you weren’t a doctor.” I smirked.
“I’m not, but my sister is, and I’ve been around her long enough to know some medical stuff.”
“Ah. Okay then. Are you sure you don’t need any help?” I asked.
“Actually,” he looked at his watch, “I’m very limited on time. My sister, the doctor, was in here the other day and she saw a dress she liked. She said it was cream-colored, knee-length, spaghetti straps, and had a light pink flower that was attached to the waist.”
“Oh, I know which one you’re talking about.” I walked over to
the rack that had all of Evelyn’s designs and pulled it out. “This is the one she’s talking about. It’s a one-of-a-kind design.”
His eyes raked over the dress and then met mine, staring at me for what seemed like eternity before speaking.
“Nice. Do you have it in a small?”
The one I was holding up was a large, so I put it back on the rack and looked through the other two next to it.
“I do. I have one left.” I smiled.
“Great. I’ll take it.” He took the dress from me. “Do you think that the other girl who is working here could ring and wrap it up? I would hate for you to get your blood all over my sister’s dress. I’m not sure I could explain that one.”
“Shit.” I looked at my finger as blood was running down it through the tissue.
Running back to the counter, I grabbed another tissue and wrapped it around my finger as I called for Katie.
“Sorry about that,” she spoke with happiness all over her face. “Oh no, what did you do?”
“Box cutter. I’ll be fine. Can you ring this gentleman up, please?”