Page 4 of Taken By the Bad Boy
“He followed you into your bookstore, pursued you until you were cornered, and then proceeded to kiss you until you couldn’t think straight or even know your own name?”Emily asked.
Mae glared at her friend.“Stop it,” she whispered and looked around to see if anyone was paying them any attention, which they weren’t.
She scored the top of a box from the delivery, and looked in at the titles she had ordered from the recent releases.Mae always kept a display for weekly best-selling releases.From time to time, she’d have to change every title.More often than not, several titles would remain, and she’d have to change one or two.They were on the bestseller lists.
“Come on, you’ve got to admit this is exciting.Caleb is into you.”
“No, he’s not.”
Emily let out a frustrated growl.“That guy never allows a woman to sleep over.Not only did you stay the night because you had to sneak out the next morning, but he pursued you.You can ask a lot of women in this town.Caleb Dowd never pursues a woman.”There was a beep, and Emily glanced down at her watch.“That’s me, and I’ve got to go.I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah, I’ll be here.”
Her friend laughed.“Oh, and before I leave, you might want to know that Caleb wants to know what we’re talking about right now.”
“What?How do you know that?”
“My husband is co-owner of their tattoo parlor, and he texted me.Caleb is going out of his mind wondering what you’re talking about.He wants to know if you’re talking about him.”
Mae got to her feet and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.“What did you tell him?”
Emily smirked.“That it’s time for the two of us to start playing matchmaker.”Her friend winked at her, and then turned on her heel to leave.
Mae continued to hold a couple of books.At first, she didn’t know what to do.Everyone in town knew what a bad boy Caleb was.He was not known as the settling-down type.
She didn’t want to just have random hookups.Last night had been a mistake.She wanted what Emily and Pete had been able to find.They loved each other so completely and she would love to have something like that.She tried not to think about it, but the more she thought about her and Caleb, she knew it was a mistake.
After finishing off the display, she took the boxes out to the recycling bin and made her way inside, straightening up the shelves as she went.
Her grandfather used to take such good care of this shop.Even before her grandmother died, she would do the same.Mae knew it broke his heart as they started to struggle.He was too afraid to make changes.His real belief had been that people would start to value tangible goods, like books.Mae understood the need for an e-reader with the number of books it could store.Especially if you worried about dust, book bugs, and stuff like that.Not to mention space.After growing up at this bookstore, there was just no way she would ever enjoy an e-reader.She had always been a paperback girl—holding it in her hand, feeling the weight of the book, knowing when it was coming to an end.
Also, the smells.Used books, new books—all had a particular smell, and she was addicted to them all.She couldn’t get enough.
During the day, she helped several customers, processed orders, and even handled the online orders as well.People came in, bought books, sat down, enjoyed coffee, and started to read their purchases.
She made little changes to the shop, to help make it modern and brighten up the place.Her grandfather had loved beige and painted the whole shop that color, with a brown carpet.Mae had changed it to a vibrant magnolia, and a black carpet.The main part of the shop, where customers could have coffee, had a wood floor.It felt warm.
She used the window displays to their full potential.She had two windows, either side of the main door.Each season—or each bestseller—would bring about inspiration to change them.Right now, they were approaching the end of summer, and she already had plans for autumn.It was going to be a lot of fun.
However, although she was thinking about the future window displays and orders she needed to place, how inviting she could make her shop, her mind kept drifting to Caleb and their night together.She couldn’t get him out of her head.The way his hands felt as he touched her, running down her body, making her feel so many different emotions.She loved the feel of his hands on her body.He’d not asked for permission, at least not verbally, but Mae knew she had begged, just a little.
She didn’t even know why she had gone to the bar last night.One foot in front of the other had found her right there at the bar, without a single care in the world.Then, she was in Caleb’s company, going home with him, and sneaking out the next morning.Did she regret it?She honestly didn’t know what she did and didn’t regret anymore.Running a hand down her face, she did know she had to come to grips with her thoughts, because she was so distracted.
Also, it didn’t help that thinking about Caleb was also making her very horny.
****
Caleb had spent theday trying to convince Pete to tell his wife to invite Mae for dinner.Pete refused.
Emily didn’t.
After closing his shop and telling his friend he hated him, which wasn’t true, he went and hung out near Mae’s shop.
The lights were still on, and the sun was fading fast.It wouldn’t be long before the streets were aglow for Halloween.The town would get a little crazy during the month of October.It was where he made a great deal of money, with the random drop-ins.
Halloween Point knew how to take advantage, and there were a lot of people worldwide who loved to celebrate the ghoul season.Much to Caleb’s surprise, Halloween never seemed to go out of style, and he figured that was due to all the horror movies that came out.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he didn’t care about the town gossip.He couldn’t get Mae out of his mind—the feel of her body against his own, even the tightness of her cunt as he slid inside her.
