Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
The air passing down my throat burns when I remember the garments I only wore at Domino’s request. I should have left them in my old home and forgotten about both them and the man, but a part of me still worries that if he finds me, it will be easier to appease him if I put on a skirt and stockings.
“I’m not traumatized, or anything, definitely not by the clothing, but I’m still deeply embarrassed by the degree to which I chose to shelve my discomfort for someone else’s pleasure. At some point, it just felt inescapable.”
My heart trembles at the way Creep listens to me. I want him to know I didn’t just brush off his honesty with a ‘too bad, so sad’. I needed to answer with a truth of my own. “I’ve been homeless for almost two months at one point in my life, and I know what it’s like to feel… not your best while being aware that it’s perceived by everyone around you.”
In the corner of my eye, I see Creep nod. “I would take your secret to the grave, don’t worry,” he says, and I believe it.
I might even be a little bit emotional about the sincerity in his voice and the way he accepts something I carry as such an embarrassing secret.
He really has massacred his nails, and while I don't want to point it out, I decide for him that unless he objects, I'll paint them black. I had a customer who bit her nails a lot and not actually seeing their surface was helpful for her to break the habit.
I love how he lets me pamper his hands without question even when the nail polish comes out, he has zero objections. The black looks good on him. Goes with his eyes, and hair, and the pale skin.
His transformation into a hot rocker guy is nearly complete, and I smirk, leaving the nails to completely dry as I offer him a small cookie when his stomach gives a loud growl. “I know, I know, we’ll go to breakfast soon.”
“Sorry, I don’t want to rush you. I like… spending time with you,” he says and glances at me as if I’m the eighth world wonder.
He’s so sweet. So gentle. And while he’s capable of killing a man, and he’s a member of a biker club, there’s something fragile about him too. Something I ache to protect. “Don’t worry, I think we’re both hungry. We just need another ten minutes or so.”
His skin has already soaked up all the cream I applied earlier, so I get some more and dab it over his face. He has dark circles under his eyes, so I reach for the discreet concealer I sometimes use myself after particularly bad nights, but I end up stalling. I don’t want to get my hand slapped away.
His eyes dart to the tiny bottle, then back to my face, and while he doesn’t ask the question, I know it’s there.
I clear my throat and unscrew the concealer, showing him the dense fluid. “Sorry… I was just thinking that maybe, if you had nothing against it, I could try to put this under your eyes, so you look refreshed?”
“Oh. That’s what it’s for?” His eyebrows raise and he looks at me expectantly. “Do what you think looks good. I… I’m not very stylish, but I could learn. It was also really nice when you washed my hair yesterday. I appreciate you doing this for me.”
The things he makes me feel… I don’t even know how to describe them, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone this earnest in my life. It’s refreshing.
Safe.
“I’m asking because it’s makeup, and a lot of guys… well, feel very strongly about it. I don’t want you to get annoyed with me.”
Creep shrugs with the kind of smile that appears on your face when taking the first bite out of a freshly baked croissant. “I don’t care what people think. Only what you think. There might be limits to what I’d want to do for you to consider me attractive, but we’ve definitely not found them yet.”
I’m glad he mentions limits, since I don’t actually want him to do things he finds unpleasant just to gain my affection. Things that challenge him? Sure, I’m flattered he’s willing to work on those for me.
After I dab the concealer under his eyes to blend it and leave him looking jaw-dropping, I get up, unable to stop grinning. I could see he was attractive from the start, but now he’s the ugly duckling turned swan, all sharp angles and dark eyes. I fan myself.
“You look absolutely stunning,” I say. His ego needs the boost, and I’m ready to provide him with as many compliments as he needs to believe he’s hot.