“The hell are—"
Vin comes steps up onto the platform and covers my mouth with his free hand as he smiles widely at Adelphine. “You mind writing up the bill for me real quick?”
“Of course.” I don’t miss that she gathers up my discarded clothes into her arms before disappearing into a backroom.
As soon as she leaves, I sink my teeth into his palm. Vin pulls his hand away with a muffled curse. “Now you’re making that lovely woman your accomplice?”
“She knows how to read a room. And a bigger bill is good for all of us.”
“This isn’t what I agreed to,” I grind out through clenched teeth, pulling away from him. “You don’t get to play dress up doll with me.”
“We negotiated, remember? It’s your fault for not taking this off the table when you had the chance. I don’t want people seeing you in rags.”
Those familiar feelings of inadequacy are rising back up. “Just because clothes are from discount stores, doesn’t make them rags.”
He sighs, obviously exasperated. “It does when they have holes and ripped seams because they were already well-used when you got them. This doesn’t need to be as hard as you’re making it. Let’s pretend you’re a brand new Zaya, one that wears nice clothes, drives a car with advanced safety features, and does what her husband tells her to do.”
“Is she married to a brand new Vin?” I glare down at him. “Because that’s the only way I see it working out.”
A calculating smile twists his lips. He takes a step back off the platform so I tower over him and his face is level with my waist. “I like you in dresses, by the way. They provide easy access.”
His hands slide up my thighs, and I slap them away. “Maybe the new Zaya isn’t the type of girl who believes in public displays of affection.”
“Maybe the new Zaya is whatever type of girl I want her to be.” His hands grip my thighs as he lifts me up. My hands go around his neck by reflex so I don’t tip over backwards. He backs up toward the chair and sits down, tightening his arms around me when I attempt to pull away. “Maybe I’ll have her right here in the middle of my godmother’s store.”
“Stop it. She’s going to come back…” His lips touch my neck, and the words turn into a soft sigh. My hands press against his chest so I can feel the steady beat of his heart against my palms. “You can’t do just do whatever you want.”
“Watch me.” His mouth nips a trail along my jaw until his lips brush against my ear. “This doesn’t have to be hard. We can make it so simple and so easy. Just enjoy ourselves for a year without turning everything into a fight.”
“Vin—”
He presses a finger against my lips, silencing me. “The next time I get you alone it’s going to be just like this, with you in one of these fucking dresses. Only no one’s going to be there to stop me from pulling your panties aside and plunging up into you. Then I’m going to fuck you so slowly that you’ll be begging me to let you feel every inch.”
My hips grind down against him, only the thin fabric of my panties and his jeans separating us from each other. Part of me wants him to rip off these brand new clothes and screw me right here in the middle of Le Clotherie.
I need to know that this situation makes him as crazy as it does me.
Gripping his hair with my fingers, I force his head closer to mine. I kiss him softly, just because I can. “Do it.”
There is a creak of floorboards behind us, and Vin has me back on my feet about one second before Adelphine sweeps back through the thick black curtain. The knowing look on her face makes me wonder if she made the noise on purpose.
She drops half a dozen bags onto the floor next to Vin and hands him a bill to sign. Taking it back, she kisses him gently on each cheek. “Be good.”
Then she grips my hands and presses her cheek against mine in an air kiss. “Make him work for it. That boy needs a challenge.”
Blushing, I back away from her. It is weird as hell to be hugging Vin’s godmother when my panties are soaked. “I’ll do my best.”
“We’re going to be late.” Vin picks up the bags and hustles me out of the shop. I barely have time to say goodbye to Adelphine as he pushes me out the door.
As he cheerfully loads the bag in his trunk, whistling to himself, I try to figure out which part this is on the rollercoaster of our relationship. He pings so quickly from one extreme to another that I can barely keep up with him.
Then I ask myself why I’m trying so hard to figure this out. Whatever exists between us has always been beyond reason. This temporary peace doesn’t mean that anything has fundamentally changed.
I’ll enjoy the peaks, because the inevitable plunge will come in its own time.
Thirty-Two
I’ve never slept as well in my life as I did last night.
Not that Zaya would know that. I was up before her and sitting on the couch with my vape in one hand and my phone in the other by the time she rolled out of my bed.
My bed.
I thought I would hate having her in my bed, even if it had been my idea for her to stay with me in the first place. Leaving her alone in that dilapidated old house wasn’t an option. Not that her grandfather would provide much defense against a home invasion, but at least he was lucid enough to be a witness. Her brother is still
