Chapter
Kimber
Three Weeks Earlier
I sighed as I hung up the phone.
The seventeenth time I had tried to call my sister, and still no answer.
Oh, mom and dad were going to be pissed way the hell off.
That was when the door to the bridal boutique opened and my mom came in.
She scanned the room until she found me, looked down at my phone that was still in my hand, and lifted one artfully shaped brow.
Knowing what she was asking, I shook my head.
My sister was late.
Not just late, but super late.
See, we were here at Bedazzled for our bridesmaids’ dresses last fitting before the big wedding.
The big wedding... wasn’t just a play on words.
Nope. Six hundred and seventy-four guests had been invited, and all six hundred and seventy-four guests had RSVP’d.
Holly Anne, the bride-to-be who was marrying my brother, just rolled her eyes.
I sighed.
Then I got up when my name was called and walked to the dressing room.
The lady who was helping us smiled, opened her mouth to speak, but my mother beat her to it, “You’d better have been watching your calorie intake like I’ve been telling you all your life. You will not ruin the family pictures, Kimber Diane.”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek.
It wouldn’t do anything to argue with her.
Nothing I ever said seemed to register in that messed-up brain of hers.
I sighed.
I looked at the woman who was helping us and asked, “Ready?”
She smiled, then she winked, “Honey, if I had a body like yours, I’d buy stock in calories. You do you, girl. Your mother is whacked.”
I snickered.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
She smiled, “Helena.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Helena... wait... you're the owner. Aren’t you?” I asked. I recalled my mother mentioning something about the owner’s name being Helena.
She smiled, “I am. I had two girls call out today. I know it’s because of your mother.”
I winced, “I’m sorry.”
She patted my hand, “Don’t be. I only have to deal with her for a few hours. I’m sorry for you.”
I sighed. She didn’t even know the half of it. Of the constant being torn down for my appearance. Or of the constant meddlesome thoughts about how a lady should eat, walk, talk, dress... it was enough to make me pull my hair out at times.
Almost as if Helena could read my internal thoughts, I watched as she pulled a piece of candy from her pocket and handed it to me with a cat who ate the canary look.
I giggled as I took it, unwrapped it, and popped it in my mouth.
Seven minutes later, I had the dress on, and when Helena asked if I wanted to see what I looked like, I vehemently shook my head.
No. No, I did not.
See, I loved cotton candy.
Loved it.
But this dress.... well... I might have loved cotton candy, but I didn’t want to be an advertisement for it.
And with the poofiness of this dress and the circa eighties poofed sleeves, and the white gloves she insisted we wear... Cotton. Fucking. Candy.
However, despite not wanting to have the image of what I looked like, a giant fluff of pink cotton candy , seared into my brain, my mother beckoned me out.
With a sigh, I walked out of the dressing room, walked to the pedestal, and waited.
I didn’t have to wait long.
“You didn’t diet at all!” My mother screeched.
I winced.
Helena smiled, what could only be described as a forced smile. I admired her already, and even more so when she said, “It’s the material.”
“The material makes her look like a giant ball of gum?” My mother sneered.
“I think she looks lovely.” Holly Anne said, trying to wade in.
My mother took a glass of champagne from the tray a lady had just carried in and said, “She would look lovely if she lost a hundred pounds.”
My temples were starting to throb.
Helena visibly bristled, “You need to have your head examined. Why, if she lost a hundred pounds, she would be nothing but skin and bones. That’s not healthy.”
Helena even waggled her finger in my mother’s face.
“I will not be talked to like this,” My mother said snottily.
“And I will not stand by while you talk about your daughter in this manner,” Helena said snottily right back.
Yep. She was becoming my hero.
“You will go get me your superior,” My mother snapped.
Holly Anne groaned.
I snickered.
My mother’s eyes shot fire as she glared at me.
I would no doubt be paying for that later.
“If it wasn’t for your daughter and your soon-to-be daughter-in-law, I would have you removed and banned from my store. Now, if you can’t behave, then you will be asked to leave. Got me?”
My mother didn’t reply.
That was a first.
After Helena made sure the dress was just right, she helped me out of it.
“You need a dress, for any reason you come to me. Okay?” Helena said after she put my bridesmaid dress back in the pink bag.
I smiled, then nodded, “I’ll tell them I’m cotton candy girl.”
Her eyes widened, then she giggled.
***
Three hours later, I was finally in a slouchy sweater, yoga pants, and I was watching my all-time favorite show.
And I also made no apologies for the medium meat lovers pizza I had just demolished.
Just then, my phone pinged with a text.
K – I have the flu.
K – Gah. Take a chill pill.
K – The dress will fit.
K – Unlike yours.
Me – You better hope it fits. Mom was on a tangent.
K – She needs a good fucking.
Now, that I had to agree with. Maybe it would help her.
Or, at the very least, have that stick that’s shoved up her ass removed.
Mom – Kimber, dear, I just heard from your sister. She had the flu. Next time, don’t bother her so much.
I sighed.
Seriously?
I wasn’t the one telling me to call her and text her over and over and over again.
But alas... I didn’t say anything.
Because after so long, you get used to being the quiet one who takes and takes and takes.
I shook my head as I queued up my DVR, and then proceeded to perv on Dr. Conor Rhodes from Chicago Med .
***
Fifteen hours later, I was trying with all my might not to fall asleep.
Why do you ask?
Remember how I said that I would be paying for snickering in the boutique? Yeah, my form of punishment is taking place during her How To Be A Lady Course .
Remember that scene from The Princess Diaries where Mia is tied to a chair with scarves?
Yep. You recall the scene correctly.
I am currently tied to a chair with scarves while my mother is hosting her Stevenson Luncheon, and the chef just brought out the crème Brulé.
But what my mother doesn’t know, and that the chef just silently communicated to me with a wink, was that I have my very own dessert of crème Brulé in the kitchen.
And the moment I got home, I savored every single bite.
Yes. I know what you're thinking... why do you endure the things that your mother does?
How does one walk away from the only thing they’ve ever known?
***
It was two weeks later, and I still didn’t have an answer for that.
And it was also three days later, and the company I had applied to... well... I wouldn’t be accepting their job offer.
The owner had wandering eyes.
And blonde-haired, blue-eyed women with tits and ass, well... most men only saw us for one thing.
And I would be damned if I allowed any man to see me in that way.
Yes, I used to not think like that.
But three years of therapy had really helped me.
Therapy had also helped me to understand my body was different and to embrace it.
So, there I was, stuffing the chili cheese fries in my mouth in the outdoor seating area of Palmero’s when a group of the most gorgeous men on the face of the planet walked by.
Feeling eyes on me, I kept my head down.
And then didn’t know that one man in particular had turned his head to keep his gaze on me.
And he just caught me licking the ooey goodness from the tips of my fingers with my tongue.
Grey
Good goddamned.
The woman who was sitting there... fuck me.
She had the palest blonde hair I’d ever seen.
A shade so rare that I knew it had to come from a bottle... but... something about this woman told me that it didn’t.
And neither did the voluptuous ass I could see.
And neither did the tits. Tits I wanted to lay my head on and use as a pillow. Tits I wanted to fuck.
And then... I wanted to bang my head against a brick wall.
Cause my eyes had just traveled up to her face.
There I was, fantasizing about her body when my gaze should have been firmly settled on the face that belonged to the stunning creature before me.
Her light brown brows were perfectly arched.
A set of lashes that I knew, from that hair color, held mascara.
They were long and full.
But they didn’t deter away from seeing the most stunning pair of eyes anyone has ever seen.
There was blue.
And then there was blue.
A blue so hued in color that little flecks of white seemed to burst forth.
Eyes that I wanted to stare into for the rest of my life.
And then her head tilted down to her food.
And not once had those eyes ever come to mine.
Come on, baby. Gimmie another glimpse of them. Please.
And when she obviously didn’t hear my whispered plea, I looked at her perfect button nose and then that mouth.
Holy. Fucking shit.
Lips that were plump. Lips that were soft. Lips I wanted to feel pressed to my own. Feel them as they traveled over my body, learning every inch of my skin. Lips that would wrap around my cock.
And when she poked her tongue out and licked at the cheese and chili on her fingers... I wanted to feel that tongue trailing up my co...
It was the feel of someone resting their arm over my shoulders that I clued the fuck back in, “Brother, she’s so out of your league, they’d have an easier time proving Pluto is still a planet.”
I jammed my elbow in Wolf’s middle.
“Oof.”
I smirked, “Serves you right, fucker.”
Wolf taunted, “Not to mention you're over forty... that girl... that’s fucking jailbait, brother.”
“Didn’t know you were that kind of man,” Jury taunted.
“Your mother thought I was last night,” I quipped back.
His smile dropped instantly. “Take that back.”
I shrugged, “Call her and see.”
And the fucker literally pulled his phone out of his pocket, hit some buttons, and brought it to his ear.
“Hey, Mom. Got a question?” he said.
We waited a beat.
“Yeah, so Grey said you thought he was a certain kind of man last night. Is that right?”
I couldn’t hear what was said, but the fact that his face lost all color and the murderous glint that hit his eyes, yeah, she totally backed me up.
“You son of a bitch.” Jury growled as he lowered the phone from his ear.
“There are children here. Language.” Nuke teased.
“You are dead to me.” Jury warned.
“I think that for a person to be dead, they can’t still be breathing. And yep, looks like he’s alive and well to me.” A soft, sultry voice said.
I looked over my shoulder in time to see a figure walking away from me.
A figure that had me fantasizing about things I wanted to do to her and for her to do to me, not even a few minutes earlier.
You know that saying, the one where it goes, you hate to see her leave, but you love to watch her go?
Oh yeah. That. Right there. Porn material. Spank bank material. The kind of material that you are caught staring at by your significant other, and have to sleep on the couch.
My body moved before I could tell it not to.
I was two steps in when the head that belonged to that body turned, and I caught youthfulness and a smirk before she walked around the corner, disappearing from view.
Yeah, she was younger than me, by a fuck of a lot.
But... when you know... You fucking know.
As long as she was legal... dear whatever powers that be, please make her legal.
Just then, Xander’s phone rang.
He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen, and then he smiled.
But it was that soft smile that he only gave one being on this planet.
Nola.
His world. His wife. His ole lady.
“Hey, baby. What’s up?” he asked.