Page 7 of Five Days to Be Mine

“Why haven’t you eaten anything?”

“The Wilsons are great. They’re just a little over the top. They judge me no matter what I eat, and I didn’t want to put myself through that tonight. I wanted to have a good night.”

“By starving yourself?”

Mara takes her hand away from mine and pushes out of her seat.

I grab her arm and tug it gently. “No, stay here, pretty girl, and talk to me.”

“I’m not starving myself. I know I have to eat, and I do. I also know I’m fat.”

“Mara-”

She raises a hand to stop whatever might come from my mouth.

“No, but I’m okay with my body. I’ve done a lot of work on myself to accept that this is the size I am, and I am definitely not going to lose ten pounds, so some wanna-be Dom can top me.”

I stare at her. Her eyes are ablaze with anger, her pink lips are set and she’s crossed her arms. But her shoulders are back and she meets my stare unflinchingly. It’s a don’t-fuck-with-me stance I appreciate.

“That guy?”

“Yes.”

“He didn’t.”

“Oh yes, he did. But on second thought, he dropped it to three.”

“I wish I told Javier to be rough on him.”

Mara shakes her head but flashes me that quick smile. It lights up her whole face.

It’s now my mission to make her smile like that as often as possible.

“What I’m not okay with is being the centre of attention because they always make it about the food. How much I’m eating, what I didn’t eat, or in their opinion, what I should eat.”

“That sounds like a horrible work environment.” I offer my hand again.

“Tell me about it,” Mara places her hand in mind.

I rub along her thumb to her index finger. She sighs, and relaxes a little.

Chantel, one of our servers, approaches our table and gracefully lays down the appetizer plate and a tray with drinks.

“A club soda, Mr. Brennon.”

“Thank you, Chantel.” I accept my drink with a smile.

Mara takes a sip of her drink. “Okay, this is good.”

“Good. If they are so awful, for one, why do you work with them and two, why did you come tonight?”

“The first one is they gave me my start right after college. I’m a floral designer, but I do want to work independently. That’s not in the cards, not yet. And secondly,” she leans forward, her luscious breasts spilling onto the table, “Evan, have you seen this place? I wanted to see it. I was eager to discover something different.”

I laugh, loving how my name sounds from her lips. “It is a unique experience.”

“How did it come to be?” Mara sets her drink down, and offers her hand to me.

I raise my eyebrows, liking the gesture and hold her hand in mine. It’s my turn to squirm slightly, but I hope to cover that up by taking a canapé from the tray and holding it to Mara’s plush lips.

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