Naughty or Nice

“Okay, see you soon,” I say, grabbing the handle for the door.

“Hey,” he says and pulls me back to him. “I hope you didn’t think you were going to get out of here without giving me a kiss goodbye.”

“I guess not,” I say, feeling myself blush.

He presses his lips to mine, and I feel his need all the way to my toes. Every time he touches me it’s like my body is a battery being charged up.

“Have a good day, beautiful,” he says before he releases me and I get out of the car.

My legs are wobbly as I walk to the door and then I glance back I can see him through the window watching me. God, I want to run back to the car and into his arms, but I force myself through the door. This might be a volunteer job, but they still rely on me to be here when I say I will.

“There you are,” Ann says, rushing over. “Are you okay? I was worried sick.”

“I’m fine. I’m so sorry I left you shorthanded.”

Ann is really sweet, but she’s not the type of person I’d gush to about my night with Brian. I actually don’t have anyone I’d tell, but it doesn’t make me sad. I like that I can have my secret and keep him all to myself. Plus, saying it out loud somehow cheapens what we shared. Someone might look at it and turn their nose up because I slept with him on the first date. But it didn’t feel that way to me. It feels like I’ve known him my whole life, like he’s an old friend that’s come back to town and I get to meet him all over again. It’s new and exciting, but it’s also familiar and real. Maybe his talk about soulmates last night wasn’t so far off the target.

“No, it’s okay, you’ve just never been late. Plus, we got a litter of puppies dropped off this morning and I need help putting them into the system.”

“Let’s get to work,” I say, and I follow her to the back of the store.

We work for a few hours and I think about Brian every minute of it. I check my phone every now and then and see he’s left me messages saying he misses me and he’s thinking about me. God, why did I resist him for so long?

As if the universe is trying to remind me, the bell on the front door chimes and my brother Mark walks in. I swallow hard when I see him because he’s clearly pissed off.

“Where were you all night? I waited for you to come home,” he barks at me.

I look around, but there’s no one here but me. Ann left to go grab some more food from the storage unit out back.

“I, um…” What am I supposed to say? It’s what he wanted me to do.

“You fucked that rich guy, didn’t you?” He looks me up and down in disgust. “You just whored yourself out so easy. I bet he made you all kind of promises, didn’t he?”

“Mark—” I say, but he cuts me off.

“I waited around until some guy showed up talking about fixing the furnace at Grams’. Like that was going to fucking happen. That’s my house, you little bitch, and you’re lucky I let you live there rent free.”

He comes closer and my heart pounds in my chest. I’ve always known that Mark was dangerous when he gets to this point, but with a wall behind me I have nowhere to go.

“But I guess since your pussy can be used as payment, I’ll just pass you around my crew at work and let them pay me your rent.”

“Please, Mark, stop it.” My voice is shaking now because I’ve never seen him this angry. He’s been a jerk, but this is a whole new level. One I never thought was even possible for him.

“All you had to do was give him a good time and then leave. Now you’re not coming home and he’s talking about calling off deals with Slate. You either don’t know how to suck a dick or your pussy isn’t worth shit.”

My mouth falls open in shock for a moment. His words are like a slap to the face. “What?” I stutter. “I didn’t say anything.” I hold my hands up in defense as I take a step back. “You’ve got to believe me. I stayed with him, but I didn’t ask him to fix the furnace.”

“Save it for Slate.” He reaches out and grabs my hair at the base of my neck. “You’re going to have to convince him, not me.”

He drags me out of the shop and into the snow, and all I can think about is how my hope and desire have just gotten me killed.