“We need to talk about tonight,” I blurted out then bite my bottom lip. I mean, I'm okay with making out but sex…I wasn’t sure about that.
“Listen,” he said, grabbing my face while holding me up by his waist and the wall. “We don’t have to do anything. We can go slow.”
“Okay,” I whispered, feeling the tension leave my body.
“Okay,” he whispered back then kissed me softly on my lips then my nose. My hands went to his shoulders and his to my ass then he slid me down and smiled. “I’ll see you at my house. The key will be on your car key ring and I’ll bring pizza back for dinner.” He kissed me quickly and was gone before I could get out of my Asher fog and remember that he’s a caveman and I should really question why the heck that turns me on.
The rest of my day was quiet. I packed a bag with enough stuff for a couple days. Me and my dad hung around and I told him about the lawyer. He offered to take me if I wanted him to. I asked him how he felt about me and Asher and he said that he trusted him. It made me feel better that my dad approved. I was just going to have to try and take things slowly.
I spent the rest of time begging him to teach me how to ride a motorcycle. Once he agreed, he had to go to bed so I decided to go into town. I wanted to look around at some of the antique shops to see if they had anything interesting.
I found a small side table that had a large round top with three legs that curved up and in. I couldn’t wait to get the old white paint off it and to see what kind of wood was underneath.
After I stowed the table in my car, I wandered into a small boutique on the square in the center of town. The window display is what caught my eye. They had a cool metal mannequin that would look perfect in my dream closet. When I walked in the store, there was an older lady behind the counter talking on the phone.
As soon as she saw me come in, she gave me a smile and a wave then went back to her conversation. Looking around, they had large and small mannequin stands. They also had all kinds of cool handbags, scarves, socks, jewelry and other odds and ends that women don’t really need but want anyways. I was in the back of the store looking at a mannequin stand. It was a metal frame painted pink with no head or arms. It was just the torso in the shape of a dress with a long pole out the bottom and three legs like a Christmas tree stand. I loved it. I could picture it in my dream closet or even just the corner of my bedroom.
“Can I help you,” I heard a small voice ask. I turned my head and a woman my age was standing next to me. She was about my height. Her long, blonde hair was pulled away from her face with a clip and she was very pretty, even with faceless makeup. She had on a pair of dark jeans and a green wrap shirt and cowboy boots.
“Yeah, how much for this stand?” I asked her, smiling.
“This is one hundred and twenty five,” she mumbled like she didn’t want to actually talk to me but was forced to because of her job.
“Really? Wow, I love it. Don’t you love it?” Her head flew up and she looked me in the eye for the first time. They were light green with a ring of dark green. She had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen besides Asher’s.
“Yeah, it’s nice,” she said so quietly that I almost didn’t hear her.
“I'm November,” I said, sticking out my hand. She hesitantly shook it.
She looked a little surprised before she answered. “I'm Liz, are you Mike’s daughter?”
“Yeah. You know my dad?”
“He and my dad were best friends,” she says quietly. I see the look of sadness cross her face and I realize that she said were and not are.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Liz. This is an amazing store. I can see where my pay checks will be going,” I say, trying to change the subject and hating that she looks so lost. She laughed and the sadness was replaced with pride and her whole face became stunning.
“Me and my mom own it. We just opened a few weeks ago. I grew up around here so if you ever want me to show you around, let me know,” she said. Then she froze when we heard laughing from behind us. Two women were there. One I recognized from the bar.
“Oh, how cute. Liz is trying to make a friend,” the taller of the two girls said.
“Some people never grow up,” I mumbled under my breath, shaking my head. Having dealt with my mother, who was just like these women, I did what I always did. I ignored them. “I don’t know many people in town. We should get together and have coffee sometime.”
She looked a little surprised but recovered quickly. For some reason, I was proud of her. I got the feeling that she usually let what people say get to her.
“Um…sure. That would be nice. I’ll give you my phone number when you finish shopping,” she said, turning and going through a curtain into the back room of the store. I looked around for a few more minutes and the girls were still in the store. I heard them whispering and could make out Asher’s name a few times but I couldn’t be bothered with them so I went to check out. I found a very pretty scarf that had a bold paisley print in lots of bright colors and I also found a pair of wide silver hoops with a cool design etched into them. I set my stuff on the counter and the woman looked up to me.
“Did you find everything okay, dear?”
“Yes and I would also like to buy that stand in the back. The pink one,” I told her with a smile, thinking about my new treasures.
“Sure. I’ll have Liz pull it out for you.”