Chapter 23
NORA
“I CAN’T wear this.” I call out to Kinley and Allison on the other side of the leopard skin curtain hanging on a rope between them and the dressing room.
“Come out so we can see first. I’m holding your purse and shoes hostage until you do.” Allison calls back, and I hear Kinley snicker.
This morning, I looked through all the clothes I have with me and couldn’t find anything cute enough for a date to a fall festival. I went downstairs and pulled Allison aside to ask her what girls around here usually wear to something like that.
When she grabbed my arms and squealed, I almost ran from her, but she only laughed and said, “Girl shopping!”
The next thing I know, they are pushing me into the crowded western boutique down the street from the inn, and now I’m in a suede asymmetrical skirt that goes from the top of my knee on one leg to my hip on the other side. The fringe adds the illusion of length, but I can still see a lot of skin.
A low-cut, skin-tight, burgundy velvet vest showcases the space between the globes of my boobs. It’s sleeveless, and the top button sits under my boob line. It’s very sexy and flattering, and I like it, but I’ve never worn anything so revealing.
Don’t get me wrong, I want to look sexy for Tuck, but I don’t want to give the ‘jump me now’ vibe. Even though every night when I go to bed, I’ve got myself off to the thought of his kisses, and I’m hoping to get more than kisses tonight, I don’t want to be too obvious. Or look too easy.
“Yeah, we’ll be the judge, come out so we can see.” Kinley snips from her perch on the little couch outside of the dressing room. She was excited to come, but I can tell she’s exhausted.
Sucking in a breath, I push the sheet that is doubling as a curtain aside and step out. Allison is standing next to the leather couch that Kinley is sitting on, her stomach protruding more than it was last time I saw it.
Two sets of eyes travel down my body to my legs and back up to my boobs. Allison takes a step forward and is the first to talk. “Oh. My. God. You’re fucking hot, Nora.”
My chest, neck and face flush a deep red, and I cross my arms over my chest. “It’s really pretty, but it’s too low.”
“Uh-uh.” Kinley hums. “You’re gorgeous, Nora, and I know Tuck is going to have a heart attack when he sees you in this outfit.
” She scoots to the edge of the couch and stands up like a nine-month-pregnant woman before she walks to a rack and pulls off a cute jean jacket that’s half the length it should be.
“This will help with the chill in the air.”
Slipping my arms into the jacket, I turn to the mirror to see how it looks. I fidget with the vest, tugging it up a little, and stand with my back straight, sucking my stomach in. Then I pull at the skirt to see if I can cover more leg.
Allison is standing right behind me, and I can see her head over my shoulder looking at my reflection with me. She grips my shoulders and sets her chin next to my ear with a big smile and a wink. “You look gorgeous, babe. He’s gonna eat you up.”
Kinley is back with a western-looking belt with turquoise stones on the leather strap and a multi-strand silver necklace with a turquoise stone that sits right between my boobs. I look like I’ve stepped out of a magazine.
“Ooh! Boots!” Allison says and runs in another direction.
Placing my palm over the small triangle of skin showing above the band of the skirt where the two pointed panels of the vest come together, I look at Kinley. “This isn’t me, I don’t have the body to pull this off like other girls.”
Rolling her eyes, Kinley steps in front of me.
“It’s too bad that ex of yours was such an asshole, because most women would sell their souls to the devil to have the tits and ass you have.
I know I would.” She cocks an eyebrow with a smirk.
“And I’ve got news for you, my brother likes curves and has always said that women are supposed to be soft. ”
Moving my gaze over her shoulder so I can look in the mirror again, I square my shoulders and look at my reflection like someone else would.
It’s true, I’m a few sizes bigger than the girls that I usually see men go for, and my hipbones may not show, but from a curvy perspective, this outfit does make me look pretty hot.
With a deep breath, I smile and nod in agreement. “Okay, I’ll get it.”
Kinley smiles and leans in. “My brother is gonna lose his mind when he sees you. Also, I think you should know that he’s never been the type to do things like festivals and dates before, it’s not his style.” She smiles even bigger and winks. “I think you might have him wrapped around your finger.”
As another flush makes my cheeks hot, Allison comes around the corner with a pair of cowboy boots adorned with red stars stitched into the leather. Obviously not for working in, but they are beautiful, and they match perfectly.
They spent the day curling my straight hair, plumping my boobs in my new lace bra and making sure I have too much makeup on. If anything, I can say I’ve been felt up by a girl. By the way they were touching and moving the girls around, it was obvious they had done this for each other in the past.
My new bra has a matching thong that is more like a tiny scrap of lace. They picked it out at one of the other boutiques down the street. When I slid the soft lace over my skin, butterflies fluttered in my center as I wondered if Tuck would take it off of me tonight.
I have to admit, I feel pretty. I don’t remember the last time I felt pretty.
They left half an hour ago, after they stood back and nodded in approval, and I nervously look at my watch again. He’ll be here in the next half hour.
My computer dings with an incoming message as I’m smoothing my hands down the front of the soft suede skirt for the hundredth time. Not wanting to wrinkle too much, I perch on the edge of the bay window and open my laptop to my email messages.
Fingers crossed it’s a manuscript edit request from the new profile I set up. My heart sinks when I see the subject line of the email.
FOUND YOU
The email address it came from is unfamiliar, but telling. Only Matt would think it was funny to create an email handle that says ‘hellomouse@’.
He’s laughing at me.
Laughing at me because I’ve been stupid enough to think I could keep moving and he wouldn’t catch up with me.
Everything is catching up with me. Cars don’t just keep going without regular maintenance.
Money doesn’t just keep coming. Life doesn’t stop happening.
And apparently, Matt doesn’t stop looking.
Why won’t he leave me alone?
I’ve racked my brain for months trying to answer that question, and the only thing I can think of is the paperwork he religiously made me sign every few months.
But it was only bank accounts and stock stuff.
He’s a lawyer, so I assumed he would just have my name removed from everything after I left.
He doesn’t need me for any of that stuff.
Damn it!
But why does he keep following me? Is this some kind of psychological game meant to make me crazy enough to go back to him?
Setting my fingers on the keys, I almost reply to tell him to fuck off. But what if it’s a trap? What if he’s just testing to see if I will reply so he can confirm it’s my email? I curl my fingers into my palms, and they hover over the keyboard.
I’m not sure what to do.
Is he here? My heart beats harder as I think about all the relationships I’ve built while I’ve been in this town. In the past four weeks, I’ve been welcomed into the fold, like part of a family. I don’t want to leave them. I like it here.
My thoughts go to the man who has been front and center in my mind for weeks, even before he showed me the warm, squishy parts of himself. Before I fell for him.
I have fallen for him. Every time I’m around him, feeling his warmth, his kisses, his protection, I become more attached to him. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve stopped thinking about my next move and started wondering when I’ll see him next, feel him next.
That’s where I messed up. I let my heart distract me from the reason I’m here. With shaking hands, I set my laptop on the bench and grab my duffel from under the bed. I’ll just have to rent a car, I can come back for mine when it’s repaired.
My heart sinks in my chest when I think about leaving my only belongings in the world behind, but I can’t wait anymore. If Matt does know where I am, I can’t just sit here on my thumbs waiting for whatever stunt he’ll pull next.
What I have in this room, my meager belongings, will easily fit into my duffel and my backpack, and I dump all my clothes from the dresser onto the bed to fold them.
So many emotions are swirling inside me right now. I don’t want to leave Tuck, he’s become a light in the dark tunnel of my life, but it’s not fair to him that I’m just a bundle of drama and bullshit with a big pretty bow.
After stuffing folded clothes into my duffel, I step into the bathroom to grab toiletries off the counter.
At this point, I’m just running on fear, shock, and paranoia after reading the email.
My thoughts are spinning, my emotions are crashing like waves, and my anxiety is making my head spin and my arms and hands tingle.
Out of frustration, I toss my bottle of foundation into the sink.
The plastic cap pops off and flies across the room, and the glass bottle clatters on the marble a few times before it comes to a stop in the basin.
Taking a deep breath, I lean forward and set my palms on the counter, letting my head hang as I squeeze my eyes to stop the tears of anger that want to fall.
Before I finish my first deep breath, I hear a sharp knock on my door and Tuck’s deep voice. “Nora, are you okay?”
My heart beats even harder, and I suck in a deep inhale through my nose to stop the sting of tears. I was looking forward to our date tonight, a normal girl going on a date with a normal guy. But I’m not normal, am I?
In manuscripts and books I’ve read, there is a turning point in life when a character walks blindly into a situation that changes the trajectory of their life so substantially, for the worst, that it lives deeply in their minds and hearts as the worst decision of their lives.
The night I met Matt was the turning point for me. He sat down across from me in that little coffee shop as I was studying for an exam, and when I looked up, his smile made me forget my stress. His whiskey-brown eyes were focused on me like I was the only woman in the world.
If I had known he was going to stomp on my heart and ruin my life, I would have collected my books and walked away right then. I’ve wondered many times what life would have been like had that moment in time been different.
All the work that Kinley and Allison went through to make me look nice is all for nothing. I can’t go out now, not if Matt might be out there somewhere watching or waiting.
Realizing that I’m just stalling the inevitable, I know I just have to leave. Tuck’s voice pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts through the door.
“Nora, sugar, if you don’t open this door, I’ll have to break it down, and Allison will be pissed at me.”
The concern in his calm voice is noticeable, and I hurry to the door to pull it open.
Standing there is the most handsome man.
His dark jeans are pressed into a sharp line up the front of both legs, and the royal blue button-up is also pressed and wrinkle-free.
He’s rolled the sleeves up his muscular forearms to expose the veins running like rivers under his tan skin.
His beard is trimmed short, accentuating the sharpness of his jaw, and he’s wearing a black cowboy hat that I’ve not seen him wear before. His gaze is crawling up my body, heavy with something that is definitely not just approval, his eyes wide.
A mumbled, “Christ,” passes his lips before his eyes meet mine.
In one hand is a bouquet of red roses wrapped in pretty lace cellophane. No one’s ever bought me roses before, and my heart swells with happiness. His cologne mixed with the soft scent of the roses wraps around me.
In his other hand is a long box, I think the picture on the side is of a vase. If I weren’t so panicked right now, I would recognize the sweet gesture. He bought me a vase for the flowers, knowing I wouldn’t have one.
He looks so good. And Sexy. Intense guilt flushes my chest, neck and face.
Tilting his head a little, his gaze moves over my face before he says, “You okay?”