Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Emily
When Katie entered 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 were arguing all night.”
“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 have been dying to see.”
“And why was he with his friends so late?”
“He lost track of time. They played cards and drank, 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.”
I really wanted to say, “I told you so.”
“He said he can’t spend every second with me and needs his friend time. I told him I understood that and 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 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 with Cliff go? 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 said he was 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 he had feelings for me and confirmed them last night. He also said that there’s no denying the attraction between us.”
“Poor sucker.” She laughed.
“I’m going into the back and grabbing 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 who 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 went off.
“Your phone went off,” I spoke as I held it up.
Sprinting over to the counter, she grabbed it from my hand and became excited 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 and 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, which 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 an eternity before speaking.
“Nice. Do you have it in a small?”
The one I was holding up was a size 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 the other girl 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 ran 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?”
“Oh, of course.” Her smile brightened as she took the dress from him.
“Do you always buy your sister dresses?” I asked sarcastically.
“It’s for her birthday if you must know. She pretty much told me that I could buy it for her.” He smiled.
He paid in cash and fixated his eyes on me while Katie folded up the dress, wrapped it in tissue, and placed it in the bag. The way he stared at me made me feel a little uncomfortable, not in a scary way, but in a sexual way. When you looked at him, he was the type of man you just knew was more than a god in the bedroom. The way he carried himself with such composure and confidence spoke volumes. His tousled brown hair, masculine jawline, perfectly chiseled cheekbones, and the five o’clock shadow gracing his face were intoxicating. Snapping back into reality as Katie handed him the bag, I told him to have a nice day.
“You better go have that finger looked at. You need stitches.” A cunning smirk crossed his face as he walked his six-foot-two-perfect body out of my shop.
“Umm. Can I die now?” Katie looked at me with seriousness.
“He was pretty cute.” I replaced the Kleenex on my finger with a new one.
“Pretty cute? Are you serious, Emily? He was drop-dead gorgeous!”
“Don’t you have a boyfriend?” I smiled as I threw my purse over my shoulder and began to walk away.
“Yes, and where are you going?”
“To get some stitches. Hold down the fort while I’m gone.”
“Good luck!”