Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Betsy
I’m not a blusher. Never have been, thank goodness.
But I won’t lie. My skin feels like it’s on fire the whole day after what I did to Silas in the storage room.
I can still feel the bite of the concrete on my knees, the scrape of his zipper on my skin, the velvety weight of him in my mouth.
I swear every customer who comes in this afternoon can see what we did painted across my face.
Silas isn’t helping much, the way he keeps looking at me across the store with a heat in his eyes that’s so blatant I’m surprised the clothes on the racks don’t go up in flames. It’s a relief when he finally flips the sign to closed and locks the door.
He spins around, his back to the door, and gives me a look so dirty I feel it in between my thighs.
It’s his fault I’ve been turned on all day.
The man is far dirtier than I anticipated with all the Southern charm he leads with.
I don’t think I’ll ever get his voice out of my head telling me to get on my knees.
Silas grins, like he knows exactly where my head has gone.
“Something wrong, storm cloud?” he drawls, sauntering up to me, cocky as hell.
I lift my nose in the air. “Nope. Not a thing.”
His chuckle pisses me off and makes me want him even more. Damn him. He puts one hand on the rack of clothing behind me where I was organizing the go-backs and leans in, whispering in my ear. “You know, you just have to ask and I’ll return the favor.”
My pride can’t make my lips form the words. My stupid, stupid pride. I can’t let a man see that I want him. Crave him. Nope. Been there once and got burned. Why would I give another man that kind of power ever again?
“Hmm.” I make a face and then shrug. “I’m good.”
Silas isn’t convinced. He dips his head even further and licks my neck before sucking my overheated skin into his mouth. I gasp and his responding chuckle vibrates through his chest.
“I tell you what. You go on a run with me right now and I’ll return the favor. I’ll reward you handsomely.” He pulls back to wag his eyebrows at me. “Your legs won’t work, guaranteed. From me, not the run.”
I swallow hard. Well, shit. That sounds…like heaven. The multiple-orgasms part, not the run, just to be clear.
“I hate running.”
“You’ll love coming on my face though,” Silas is quick to rebut.
My eyes widen. Damn. He’s a dirty talker too? He’s not offering a date. He’s not breaking the rules of our engagement in any way. And after working all afternoon while I’m turned on, I’m intrigued enough to risk running in this heat. Surely, it can’t be that bad, right?
“Fine.”
Silas grins and he looks so sweet and innocent I can’t help my own lips tilting up in an answering smile. What is it about this Mr. Nice Guy that just does it for me? He’s far too sunshiney. Proper.
That should annoy me.
Instead, I find myself drawn to him.
“Fine.” Silas grabs my hand and pulls me through the store so I can grab my purse. “Follow me to my house?”
I halt. “Wait. I don’t have clothes to run in.”
He hands me one of our logo’d bags. “I took the liberty of putting together a workout outfit for you. And you’re already wearing tennis shoes.”
I look down at my feet. He’s not wrong. The tennis shoes looked good with the athletic dress this morning, plus the idea of having comfortable feet all day had sealed the deal on my footwear choice. I guess I’m out of excuses.
“Okay…”
Silas chuckles, pushing on my lower back and escorting me out of the boutique. I wait in the heat while he locks up, getting more and more worried.
“I have sweat dripping down my back just standing here.”
Silas shakes his head with a grin. “You’ll be fine. We won’t go fast or far. And the trail by my house is mostly in the shade.”
I wince as we walk toward our vehicles. “It’s not the sun, it’s the humidity.”
“Sweating is good detox,” he coos as he opens my driver side door and helps me in.
He’s got an answer for everything. He shuts my door and I crank the air-conditioning, which cons me into thinking maybe it won’t be so bad after all.
I follow him through the Square and out into the countryside south of town.
He pulls up to a house that looks a lot like Nana’s with the three gables and the shutters around the windows, except it doesn’t have flowery pillows on the chairs on the front porch.
And there’s far fewer hanging pots of flowers. Just one dead one.
He jogs around to help me out of my car, his hand in mine as he leads us into his house. The guy doesn’t even lock his door. Jesus. “Welcome to my house!”
He takes me on a quick tour. Hardwood floors, a dated kitchen, but new paint on the walls. It’s sparsely furnished but what he does have is good quality and looks comfortable.
“Mom was forever coming over here and dropping off decor that I didn’t ask for.
She said the place didn’t feel like a home, but I was saving all my money for renovation projects.
The bathrooms are all updated. Next up will be the kitchen, but I have to get the boutique operating on its own two feet before I can sink money into that project. ”
I spin around, impressed. It’s two stories and clearly over twenty-five hundred square feet. Until the prospect of moving in with Nana, I figured I’d never own my own place, let alone a house this big. “I think your home is lovely.”
Silas pulls me into a hug that feels…nice.
We stand there with our arms around each other for several long moment like we’re friends, along with being fuck buddies.
It’s a nicer hug than my ex ever gave me, which kind of makes me sad.
I put up with so much in that relationship and still got the boot.
“Can we just take a nap and call it a jog?” I ask into his chest. His rumble of laughter makes me smile.
He untangles from me and manhandles me into facing the hallway leading off the living room. “No. Go change, storm cloud.” And then he swats my ass. Hard.
I yelp and give him a death glare. Which he completely ignores by looking at his watch pointedly.
“Ticktock.”
I flip him off but move to the bathroom to change.
I look like an Instagram fitness girlie when I look at myself in the mirror in the clothes Silas packed for me.
I don’t look like myself, even with the shaggy hair, purple nails, and the piercings running up both ears.
I tilt my head to the side and purse my lips.
I don’t look bad though. Just…different.
Silas is already stretching when I join him in the living room. I don’t bother. This run is going to hurt no matter if I stretch or not.
“Let’s get this over with,” I deadpan.
“Just what I like the women in my life to say,” he drawls in return.
Silas is all smiles as he leads me outside and to the trail that starts across the street from his house.
The trail is dirt, and true to his word, a canopy of trees creates much-needed shade.
It’s still like ninety degrees out with matching humidity.
Basically, I’m discovering that Mississippi is its own sauna in August. And this delusional jackass wants me to run in said sauna.
Silas moves me to the inside of the trail, away from the street, which is weird, but whatever.
He breaks into a jog and I copy his gait.
My arms and legs all surge into a motion that feels highly unnatural.
I’m sure I look like a gazelle on its first day of life…
all limbs and zero enthusiasm. The burn in my calves starts within the first minute.
The stitch in my side happens during minute two.
By minute three I have sweat streaming into both eyes, and I’m pretty sure this is how it feels to die in a house fire.
“Are we…almost…done?” I pant.
Silas turns to glance at me and instantly slows down to almost a crawl. “Um, I was hoping to make it a half mile before we turned around.”
“Great.” I have to stop talking and pant a few breaths before I can start again. My legs are starting to feel like lead weights. At least the burning in my calves is gone. “Is this…half…a mile?”
Silas is grinning at me. I’m not sure how he has the energy to use those smile muscles at the moment. “Not even close.”
I stop in my tracks, lungs heaving, arms tingling, and legs officially done.
Feels like you could fry an egg on my face right now.
Hair has fallen out of my ponytail to stick to my sweaty neck and scalp.
Even if a bear was chasing me, I’d give up.
I mean, we’re still in his neighborhood, but there might be a bear.
I haven’t really studied the flora and fauna of Mississippi.
“I’ll…wait…here…for you.”
Silas stops, backtracks to me, and pushes me until I bend at the waist. “Hands on your knees and breathe.”
I do just that, though I sway a bit. Silas holds me steady, which is the least he can do.
He’s the one who got me out here and endangered my life.
He waits patiently for me to decide if I’m going to live or die.
When I straighten up, he takes one look at my beet-red face and has the audacity to chuckle.
I don’t have the energy to do it, but I am flipping him off in my head.
Silas stoops over, grabs my hips, and throws me over his shoulder. I yelp, but when he starts moving and all I have to do is hang there like a limp noodle, I keep my mouth shut. He walks us all the way back to his house like this. I’m embarrassed to see we only made it one block away.