Daisy
The shop on the corner, the shop I never thought I’d actually turn into my dream, is slowly taking shape right in front of my eyes.
Bodhan’s men have punched a hole through to the café, much to Lucifer’s disgust, and are currently fitting a doorframe.
Delilah has poked her head through three times already, the first time with a coffee for me, the second time with cake, and the third to ask me why I’m wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
I know she was making a joke about me staying in the shop all night working…but that doesn’t stop the flush of guilt creeping over my skin.
She frowns, but is thankfully pulled back into the café when a customer asks for a latte.
Mechislav left shortly after we arrived when Eduard rang him about an issue with something that I don’t think I want to know about.
“Hey lady,” Kimmie’s face peeks around the corner of the new doorway. “Can I see you for a second?”
“Sure,” I smile and head through to the café. “What’s up? Everything’s okay, right?” I ask, suddenly worried about the baby.
Kimmie smiles and nods. “I just wanted to apologize for the other day. You were trying to figure stuff out with the shop and I hijacked it.”
I laugh lightly. “Don’t be silly! You had the best news ever and everything worked out with the shop anyway…” I trail off as Delilah approaches with a coffee for me while pinching her nose.
“I’m starting to struggle with the smells in this café,” she says. “How did you resolve the rent issue by the way?” She pulls out a chair and sits in it, looking at me expectantly.
I can tell she is already starting to put two and two together.
“I went to the freight yard and spoke with Mechislav directly about it. We came to an agreement.”
Delilah grins. “Right, an agreement.” She wriggles her eyebrows at Kimmie who tries to hide her smile behind her own cup of tea.
I bury my face in my hands and groan. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” I confess.
“Oh,” Delilah starts with a coaxing wink, but changes her tone when she realizes I’m serious. “Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?”
“It’s just…I didn’t expect…I don’t know.” I heave a sigh and Sammie appears from the kitchen and joins us. “How do you three do it? Being married to…you know.”
“What?” asks Kimmie.
“Three handsome hunks with massive junks?” Delilah cackles a laugh as Sammie swats at her arm.
Sammie turns back to me. “Babe, what’s going on?”
“I had sex with Mechislav after Delilah’s wedding,” I whisper.
“Okay,” Sammie manages while Kimmie splutters a mouthful of tea back into the mug. Delilah’s mouth opens in shock, which is odd, because of all of the women I’d expect her to be the least surprised.
“I just didn’t expect…whatever this is.” I gesture to the hole in the wall.
“The doorway you wanted for the shop?” Sammie asks, her gaze following my hand before sweeping back to me.
“Urgh,” I grumble. “I’m not even making any sense.”
“Oooooh,” Delilah says, flashing her eyes. “I know what’s happening here.” She points a finger at me. “You’re overthinking things.”
Her words feel like a slap, even though I know she doesn’t mean them cruelly. “What do you mean?”
Delilah sighs, while Sammie excuses herself to serve a customer. One of the cats, Rhodes jumps onto the table and sits directly in front of me. Staring at me with those eyes that see enough to make me uncomfortable.
“The guys are more than just what they do,” Delilah offers. “But I guess it’s intimidating.” She looks at Kimmie for confirmation.
“They are intense, but that intensity crosses over into how much they love us. How protective they are…the lengths they’ll go to to make sure we are safe and happy. It can be overwhelming, but it’s worth it to have someone worship you that way.”
“I never in a million years expected someone like Eduard to fall for me,” Sammie says, returning to the table.
“What if Mechislav decides a couple of years down the line that I’m not that for him?”
Kimmie snorts. “That’s not how the Federov’s work. Once they make a decision, it’s a done deal. If Mechislav has decided you’re his, that’s it.”
I think about it for a moment. What am I so afraid of?
“There’s just so much more in a relationship than…you know.” I whisper in a bid to keep it from reaching any customer ears.
Kimmie laughs this time. “Hey, that helps though, right?”
“Right,” I say, drinking the last of my coffee. “I need to get back in there. Bodhan was saying something about paint samples.”
I make my way through the new door into what’s soon going to be my very own bookshop. Mechislav was right. This is my dream. Maybe I’m just worried that if everything fails with Mechislav, then my dream of having my own bookshop will fall apart too.
I’m hunched over the counter looking at paint swatches and trying to ignore the memory of what I did last time I was on this counter, when Mechislav comes into the shop.
“Looking good,” he says, running his fingers over one of the shelves. When I turn to him, he is framed by the window with the window seat in it and my eyes go to the carved words there.
“It’s looking amazing,” I agree, trying not to let the sweeping feeling of butterflies in my stomach cloud my judgment about things.
He is formidable. And anyone who didn’t know him would be right to be scared of him. But I don’t feel scared of him. When I look at him, I feel calm and certain.
He raises an eyebrow, the question right there, everything okay?
I walk to him and lift up on to my tip toes, until my lips are just an inch from his.
“All the words,” I say, and press my mouth against his.
His hand comes around my waist and we kiss until Bodhan clears his throat.
“Sorry, Boss Lady,” he says. “But we need a decision on paint.”
I step back from Mechislav and turn to Bodhan. “Sure,” I say. “Seafoam.”
Bodhan nods and calls someone on his phone barking about how much paint he is going to need and can it be here within the hour.
“Seafoam?” Mechislav asks.
“Yeah. Calming, honest, not trying to be anything it’s not. It feels right.”
“Anything else you want to tell me?” he asks, a grin forming on his face.
“Not right now,” I say. “Perhaps we can talk over dinner?”
“I’d like that.” He nods, “Shall I pick you up at seven?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“You should definitely change though…” he says, patting my ass as I walk away.