Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“That sounds crazy. The police were involved. Where did she get the idea you were interested in her?” Tatiana asked suspiciously.
“I don’t like the insinuation that I led her on, Rainbow. I never contacted her or responded to her other than the first time, I thanked her for reaching out and let her know that after looking at her profile and reading her message, I knew we wouldn’t be a good match.”
“She was vocal about the tattoos then, huh?”
“No. She didn’t say anything about them. Beth was, however, very negative about everyone and everything. Her attitude turned me off immediately.”
“And she hid in your truck? How did she know where you worked?”
“The police discovered that she’d combed through the website, looking for any shred of information. Six months prior, a friend of mine had mentioned coming in for a tattoo and named the shop.”
“That’s determination,” Tatiana said, shaking her head. It seemed almost too much to believe. “But you remembered her name and recognized her.”
“It was a long ugly incident. Her parents were trying to get her placed in a program to get her some help. I was subpoenaed to court twice. From her conduct in the court, everyone thought I’d been involved with her. Proving that she was delusional was difficult and stressful. I left town shortly after that and ended up here.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
“I think I would have, eventually. I hadn’t thought of her for months. The need to look over my shoulder constantly had evaporated. I hate to say this, but I’d hoped either her therapy had helped or she’d found someone else to fixate on.”
Tatiana studied his face. She felt like she knew Maniac well after all the hours they’d spent together getting the business off the ground. There wasn’t a glimmer of deceit in his eyes. She flipped her braids over her shoulders and stood up.
“Thank you for coming to talk to me. I should have listened to you at the shop. I have some thinking to do and I’m tired. We’ll see each other at the shop tomorrow.”
“I don’t like this, Little girl. Don’t send me away.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she promised and walked to the door to hold it open.
Maniac stood and followed her to the door. He paused as if he would try to kiss her but continued out the door when she took a step back. “We’ll play it your way, Little one. Goodnight, Rainbow.”
“See you tomorrow, Maniac,” she said, deliberately not addressing his last statement as she closed the door.
Climbing into her small bed without her stuffies a short time later, Tatiana tumbled asleep, her mind as weary as her body felt.
Chapter Sixteen
“Wow! Did you miss laundry day, Tatiana?” Ellie asked. She was sitting on one of the benches outside Little Cakes as Tatiana walked up.
“Ugh,” Tatiana groaned unhappily as she looked down at her vanilla jeans and plain T-shirt that she’d had to wear to work. “Not really. I just didn’t have any fun outfits at home.”
“Where are all your clothes?” the baker asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.
“Maniac’s house.”
“Your clothes are there, but you’re not staying there? Sit and talk to me.”
Collapsing to the bench, Tatiana shared, “A strange woman showed up yesterday and announced she was Maniac’s Little. It was obvious he knew her but he acted very weird. I didn’t get any emotional vibes from him. He seemed to be on full alert. They went outside to talk when she insulted a customer.”
“That doesn’t sound like someone Maniac would be involved with. Do you think she’s telling the truth?” Ellie probed.
“I don’t think so. He had a very involved explanation that made sense. He’d found her through the kink community.”
“Oh! That’s tough. Clubs like Blaze are very welcoming. They’re also very cautious about who they accept though and most rely on referrals from existing members.”
“That makes sense. This was online.”
“Did you ever try online dating? There are all sorts of people out there. Some don’t have enough of a life so they spend their time trouting others,” Ellie said angrily.
It took Tatiana a second to follow her. “Oh, you mean catfishing others. Yeah, there are sucky people out there.”
“So, this lady? Could she be one of the sucky ones? You know—not in a good way?” Ellie waggled her eyebrows up and down comically.
Tatiana couldn’t help laughing at her. “How do you always make me feel better?”
“That’s my special talent. Well, that and creating cupcakes. Want to come in for one? My treat.”
“I think I need to get two. There’s probably not a better way to apologize for not trusting someone than with a Flirty Kumquat cupcake, right?”
“It better do the trick. If not, I’ve got plans for the next specialty one,” Ellie teased.
“What flavor is it?”
Ellie pantomimed locking her lips and throwing away the key.