Page 56 of Crazy Thing

When she breathes like that, I’m reminded of the way she moaned when my fingers were inside her. I’m left fighting off yet another visceral reaction.

Shit. I’m batshit crazy for this girl. How much longer till I’m institutionalized?Can’t be much longer now.

Ziggy turns to leave my office, but I stop her right before she reaches the door. “Hey.”

She spins to face me and waits for me to go on.

I hold out my credit card, and she frowns, taking it from my hand. “What’s this for? Another coffee run?”

With a subtle smile, I shake my head. “Go buy yourself a nice dress, and be sure to RSVP fortwo. You’re going to that charity event with me.”

22

ZIGGY

“Oh, these are really nice,” I say to my little sister. “I should have come to you for some work clothes.”

Daphne beams back at me, eyes shining with modest pride for Wisteria & Grace, her adorable vintage boutique, right here in the heart of Starlight Falls.

I’m so impressed by her successful small business that I’m now blatantly pestering her for tips and advice. I’m hoping she can at least help me make some cute flyers for my shop, like the ones she has posted all over town. Her store hasn’t been open as long as mine, but she’s already doing really well.I’m so proud of her.

In any case, I’m here following Darius’s orders, shopping for an outfit. Dress shopping was the last thing I expected to be tackling today, but now that I’m here, I’m finding it quite refreshing to be out of the office. And away from Darius’s weird moods.

One minute the man is glaring me down like he can’t stand me. The next, he’s finger-banging me to high heaven.And the next, he’s giving me a promotion and a pay raiseandhis credit card.

This whiplash will be the death of me.

In any case, Karli is taking a break from studying at the library, so she was eager to join us here at the clothing boutique. Timothy and his boyfriend, Zack, dropped by also, and for some reason, they brought cheap champagne. There are no customers in here shopping at the moment, so we’re all sipping on the alcohol out of small red plastic cups. Well before the appropriate drinking time, I might add.

“What did you say your budget was again?” Daphne asks, excitedly sifting through vintage gowns on a clothing rack.

Karli skips around the shop, waving Darius’s credit card over her head. “Limitlesssss…Let’s load this bitch up.”

Groaning and shaking my head, I snatch the credit card back from her. “Okay now. Let’s not get carried away.”

“Ugh! Boring.” Karli leans back against the front counter and a weird look comes across her face. “You know, I’ve never seen Darius hand a woman his credit card before. Especially theblack card. Wowzer. I think my brother has a little crush.”

I snort out loud, nearly dropping the hanger that I’m holding up in front of the mirror. “What? It’s just a business expense. The credit card means nothing.”

“Smart move,” Timothy muses, slowly nodding his head. “Getting to write-off the money he spends trying to win over the girl.”

I sigh, realizing I’m not going to outrun the Darius comments. “Is this all you guys do all day long? If so, I’d really like to switch jobs for the week. I’ll stay here and get tipsy all day. You guys can go work for the grumpy dictator.”I take a small sip of the champagne. I’m not really a champagne girl.

“The grumpy,smoking’ hot, richdictator,” Timothy corrects.

“Yeah well, sign me up if he’s handing out credit cards.”

It’s official. This group wears me out almost as much as Darius does.

“Oh jeez, you guys,” I whine, annoyed that everyone is ganging up on me. “Darius isnotinterested in me.”

Daphne pauses her dress perusal long enough to share a look with Karli across the shop. They both burst out laughing.

“He’s my boss,” I insist. “That’s all.”

My boss who finger-banged me on a rooftop over the weekend before eating me like a ripe cantaloup. But heaven knows I don’t plan to divulge that teensy, tiny detail here today. And I’m not telling them about my promotion, either. Because they’ll blow that out of proportion, too.

Seriously. They’re reading way too much into this. It’s probably because of the bottle of bubbly they popped earlier.

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