Chapter 17
ELLIE
I squirmed uncomfortably in my wet panties. Only an hour had passed since Ryder made me come harder than he had every other time over the past twelve hours. I desperately needed to change, but part of me liked the idea that I couldn’t erase what happened from my mind.
That is, until I realized that every single customer would inevitably smell my arousal.
Grabbing the sexiest pair of underwear I had in stock, I slipped into the back, quickly cleaned myself up, and pulled on the lacy thong that would barely cover an inch of my body.
But as I thought of what Ryder would see when he undressed me, I no longer cared about having my ass fully covered like I normally did.
He liked me in this dress, and as I stared in the mirror at myself, I wondered what he saw that I didn’t. I wasn’t stupid. I knew I had a pretty face, and despite my own misgivings about my appearance, I also knew I carried my weight well.
Still…I wasn’t the normal sexy.
I hated being so down on myself, but after years of feeling like the fat girl, I just couldn’t talk myself into believing that any man would prefer me over a thinner version of myself.
And there was no way to get these negative feelings out of my head. What I needed were my girls. Fast.
I sent out an S.O.S., asking Delaney to bring the coffee. I wasn’t at all surprised when Josie ran through the door not two minutes later, huffing and bending over, gasping for air.
“That was fast.”
“You—needed—here—water…”
I rushed to the back and grabbed her a bottle, thrusting it in front of her just seconds later. She gulped it down, holding her tummy the whole time. By the time she was done with her water, she was finally breathing normally again.
“Should you be that out of breath from running across the street?”
She shook her head. “I ran out of the shop, then remembered I left it unlocked. Then I ran out again, but had to go back because I didn’t flip the sign, telling customers I’d be back soon. Then I ran back again. It was a whole thing.”
“Clearly.”
“So? What was so urgent?”
“Well, I’m not going to tell you, then repeat it when Delaney gets here.”
Her jaw dropped in shock. “You mean to tell me that I ran all the way over here multiple times, only for you to hold out on me?”
“I’m not holding out on you,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“You won’t tell me until Delaney gets here. By definition, you’re holding out on me.”
“Because I don’t want to tell it twice!”
“You’ve known me longer!” she argued. “I was your friend long before Delaney came along. I bet she doesn’t even know your deepest, darkest secrets.”
“Neither do you,” I smirked.
She tried to argue, but nothing good came to mind. Finally, she just sat in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited impatiently for Delaney to arrive. Which she did, five minutes later.
“Coffee, coffee, and caramel latte, extra whip,” she said, handing the last to Josie.
Grumbling, Josie grabbed the coffee. “Fine, I forgive you and you’re officially in the club.”
“Um…what club? And why am I forgiven? What did I do?”
“Nothing,” I jumped in. “She’s just pregnant cranky.”
“Okay, now that we have coffee and Delaney is here, tell us what’s so urgent!” Josie pushed.
A smile crept over my face as I remembered the horrible date I was waiting for last night. “Well, I went to the bar to meet a date.”
Josie’s face fell. “Oh. So, this isn’t about Ryder?”
“And I was really not in the mood for a date after the way my day went. And yes, I realize that I was hung up on Ryder.”
“So, it is about Ryder,” Josie beamed.
“But I didn’t want to wait around for a man who returned to New York. I mean, that would be stupid.”
“Not as stupid as dragging out this story!” Delaney snapped.
But I didn’t rush it.
“So, I went to the bar, and while I was waiting for my date, a very unexpected surprise showed up.”
They both sat on pins and needles, waiting for me to elaborate.
“I was pretty depressed, thinking about this man I was supposed to meet. I mean, he seemed nice enough and he was handsome—”
“But he wasn’t Ryder,” Josie said, motioning for me to hurry up.
“And then this voice said to me, I heard somewhere that Friday was date night.”
They both stared at me, waiting expectantly.
“And?” Josie snapped. She nearly dropped her coffee as she grabbed the front of my wrap dress, dragging me toward her. “Who was it? Was it the date? Was it someone new? Who was it?” she shouted.
Very carefully, I pried her fingers from my dress, then straightened it out so my boobs weren’t showing.
“It was Ryder.”
“Yes!” Josie shouted, thrusting her fist into the air. “I knew it! He didn’t leave!”
“He stayed? He actually showed up?” Delaney squealed. “But he was leaving town. He was going back to New York!”
“He came back for you,” Josie said with stars in her eyes. “I knew it! I just knew it!”
“How did you know it when I didn’t know it?” I asked.
“Because I could see it in the way you talked about him. He’s your forever!”
I scoffed at that because we were a long way from anyone being my forever. “Guys, you’re missing the best part.”
“Did he kiss you?” Delaney gasped.
“Did he say he needed you?” Josie asked.
“Ooh! He proposed!” Delaney said, jumping up and down.
“Guys!” I shouted over their excitement. “Would you just listen?”
“Well, you’re taking too damn long!”
“Okay, then I’ll skip all the buildup. We had sex.”
They both stared at me, their faces falling.
“That’s it? You had sex?” Delaney asked. “That’s all you’re giving us?”
“Well, I was going to tell you about how we talked about his sexy tattoos, and then I told him I really couldn’t see them because they were covered. And then he told me he could take off his shirt and show me, but I told him he couldn’t do that in public.”
“And then?” Josie asked, practically on the tips of her toes. “What happened? Woman, you have to tell us!” she shouted.
“And then he said he could show me someplace more private,” I grinned.
“You said yes?” Delaney grinned.
“Actually, I believe I stood from my stool and downed the last of my drink, suggesting we should leave.”
They both squealed in excitement.
“Was it phenomenal?”
“I bet he’s a great kisser.”
“Did you make love or did he throw you against the wall?”
“What’s his shoe size?” Josie screeched.
I held up my hands to ward off further questions. “Orgasmic, every surface possible, and…huge shoe size.”
Josie jumped up, dancing around in circles as she shouted happily. “I knew it! I knew it!”
“You have that post-orgasmic glow,” Delaney sighed. “I miss that.”
“Yeah, well, it didn’t last long this morning.”
Their faces fell at the revelation. “What?”
“I put on his shirt while I went to make coffee, and when I returned, he snapped at me for wearing it.”
“What an ass!” Delaney shouted.
“I always hated him,” Josie growled.
“He’d better have a good reason!”
“Something about his old girlfriend always wearing his shirt and it reminded him of New York,” I said, sighing heavily.
“That’s a horrible excuse.”
“Brought up his ex? Classy,” Josie said.
“I know! And then I didn’t know what to think. He apologized for getting angry, but honestly, it killed the moment.”
“As most guys have a perfect talent for,” Delaney said.
“But then—”
Their eyes lit up again.
“When we were about to leave, he started snapping at me again.”
“Dump his ass,” Delaney said.
“What a douche! I’m gonna kill him!”
“Exactly! And when I yelled at him for getting angry, he basically told me he was pissed because he couldn’t fuck me right then. That my dress was driving him insane and he needed his cock in my pussy!”
“I take back everything I said,” Josie grinned. “You need this man between your thighs.”
“He’d better have made up for his shitty attitude.”
My cheeks flushed as I remembered how soaked I was when I arrived at work.
“You didn’t! Right before work?”
“Well, he got me off, and then…” I cleared my throat, keeping the rest of the details to myself. “Anyway, let’s just say I had to clean myself up quite a bit when I got here.”
The screaming was going to draw the attention of the police if they didn’t lower their voices. But I was too happy to care about any of it right now. For once in my life, I was freaking happy, and nothing could stop the smile stretching across my face.
Everything was perfect.
Getting off now.
I grinned down at my text, wondering if his response would be something like, I’ll have you off in five minutes. Or something equally seductive.
I’d given his reaction this morning a lot of thought and decided there was no point dwelling on it. So what if he didn’t want me wearing his button-down shirt? It was one small thing that meant nothing in the big scheme of things.
I’ll meet you at your place.
Okay, not exactly the reaction I was hoping for, but he was meeting me. That was better than no response at all. Grinning, I locked up the shop and headed to my Jeep, waving at Remi as he drove by in his squad car.
In a matter of minutes, I was home, not thinking of anything other than the skimpy underwear I had on, and what his reaction would be when he saw it. I uncorked a bottle of red, pouring two glasses, then carried them into the living room to set the mood.
Just as I was debating whether or not I should slip off my heels, the doorbell rang.
“On,” I murmured to myself, thinking back to how he described my heels as fuck me heels.
Swinging the door open, I drank in his muscular form—the way his shirt molded to every inch of his skin. How his pants hung on his hips perfectly, emphasizing his ass while also fitting just right.
“Hey, handsome.” I tugged on his hand, instantly pulling him into my body as I pressed my lips to his. My fingers had a mind of their own, working their way up through his thick strands of black hair, twisting them just like I did last night when he had his mouth between my legs.
God, I wanted him again.
“I have a surprise for you,” I whispered against his lips.