Chapter 10
Tomorrow comes and goes.
Day after tomorrow goes by too.
Two weeks pass, and by now, I’ve grown a beard and a stellar obsession with seeing her, and I’ve made new friends, namely the male librarian who ate up my story.
I’m homeless and like to read romance, so he lets me be.
In the corner on the fourth floor, I sit with an open book, but I can’t read it because I have to stay alert and watch the yard.
It’s well past the lunch hour, and my stomach growls.
From my pocket, I get a protein bar and chew on the nasty shit health gurus swear by.
Bitch, please, I want steak and potatoes with a damn salad, and I want Isla to cook it for me.
But no, I chew on shit that sticks to my teeth and watch the yard.
A group of girls exits the science building.
They wear little plaid skirts with stockings, hats, scarfs, gloves, and warm jackets.
They’re all brunettes with long hair, but I can tell Isla from miles away.
She laughs and carries books, and immediately, I know she’s forgotten all about me. I was her one-night stand.
A slice of her life, a bit of rest and relaxation from her strict father, who happily pays for private Catholic school even though it’s way outside his budget.
I respect a man who wants what’s best for his kid, although I disagree with the sheriff because I think he wants what he believes is best for her.
I hate that Isla appears to have carried on with her life.
While I’m pining after her, she’s strolling around campus as if she didn’t change my fucking life only a few weekends ago.
A nice man would accept her decision and leave the girl thriving in her sheltered community. I’m not nice. I’ll remind her I exist. Jar her memory a little and see how she moves on with her nice life then.
She walks toward the library with a small smile on her pretty face. Fumes might seep out of my ears.
I wait.
No rush.
Which floor will she visit?
I’m betting on this one.
From this corner position, I don’t see the entrance, so when she rounds the stacks and walks toward me, head down, perusing a book in her hand, I stand. “Hi, Isla.”
She stops dead in her tracks, the book drops, and she runs toward me, jumps me, and starts kissing me all over my face.
She knocks my hat off, yanks my hair back, and slams her mouth over mine.
I hold her up, hands under her fine big ass.
I give it a squeeze and kiss her back, my tongue in her mouth, kissing her like crazy.
She comes up for air first and pulls back, her gaze roaming over my face. “What are you doing here?”
“Educating myself.” I set her on her feet, and she sits at the window, eyes on the novel in my hand.
“You read romance?”
“Most ardently.” I quote the dude from the story who got the girl even after being a total asshole. Mr. Darcy gives me hope.
“Where are you staying?”
“Motel Six.” Unfortunately, I’m on the job, and while on the job, I lie low. She’s the job.
Isla twists her scarf and removes her hat, her eyes not meeting mine. “I’m sorry about my dad.”
“It’s fine. I don’t worry about him.”
She snaps her gaze up. “If he knew you were here, he’d find a reason to arrest you.”
“He doesn’t know.”
“How long are you in town for?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On you.”
She bites her lip. Her cheeks are rosy and perfect, her nose is straight, not too small, not too large. Her mouth is lush and glossed with a yummy fruit mix I can taste. From my pocket, I get a small blue box, open it, and put it on my palm. I extend my hand to her.
She stares at the two-carat princess-cut diamond ring with double white gold bands, her face going pale, then at me, then at the ring again. I drop to one knee. “Marry me.”
Her hands fly to her mouth, and she bolts down the library stack.
I close the box, listening to her boots as they click over the floor. That’s fine. I’ll have to try again tomorrow. Boots sound again, and Isla rounds the corner. Long legs make long strides. I stand, and we face each other, and then I wait.
When she says nothing, I say, “You should know I won’t take no for an answer until I’m certain that’s what you want. Right now, the way you greeted me tells me you want me. I’m yours.” Fuck, I’m good at this. Gonna read romance for the rest of my life.
“My dad will disown me. All this,” she spreads her arms out, “will be cut off. Gone. This is my last semester.”
It’s October now. “Is that it? You’re afraid he’ll cut you off and you won’t have a place to stay and he won’t pay for the semester?”
“Yeah, the tuition is late this year, but Dad got promoted to sheriff, so he’ll come up with it. I mean, I work in the summers, but it’s not enough to cover all this.”
I smile. “Is that all?”
“Don’t dismiss me like that. This is important to me, and we aren’t well off enough to own cabins in the woods.”
Ouch. “I’m not dismissing you or your arguments.” I take her hand, flip open my box again, and take out the ring. I wait to slip it on. I keep waiting because Isla is definitely a thinker, and if I don’t give her think time and rush her, she could resent me later.
Minutes pass. She stares at the ring. By now, I could’ve slipped on a condom fifty times and annihilated half the population of this state.
Isla tilts her head. “Are you nervous?” she asks.
Is she fucking with me? “Yes, I’m fucking nervous, and I’ll have you know I’m about to shift from a dandelion into a dragon.”
She laughs. “It’s nice to see you nervous.”
She is messing with me.
Seconds tick by. I hear my heart drumming in my ears. She’s gonna refuse, and in an effort to reduce the blow, I step back and brace myself.
Isla smiles, and her eyes light up. “You had me at breakfast.”
Yaaaas! As quickly as possible, I slip the rock on her finger, grab the back of her neck, and plow her mouth with my tongue. Isla groans, her body goes limp, and I hold her up, eyeballing the space around us, trying to find a place to fuck her.
Desk, floor, shelves of books? Bookshelves it is.
I move us into the tight space between the stacks, spin her around, and bend her over.
While I unbutton my jeans, she lifts up her skirt and wiggles as if to drop her panties.
I don’t have time for that. I move her panties to the side and enter, throwing back my head, closing my eyes.
There’s heaven inside Isla’s warm pussy, and I’m gonna put a baby up in there someday, though not today or even next month.
I want her to graduate, do her thing, maybe get a job, maybe not—whatever makes her happy, I will do, be the man who will support her from now until death does us part. Goals. I have them.