Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
“Pigs,” I mouth. “Hi.” I smile to the next customer. “How can I help you?”
“I’d like the pair of Ming lamps please?”
“Oh, they’re divine.” I walk over and put a sold sticker on them. “I’ll just run out the back and grab the boxes.” I walk out to the back room and begin hunting down the boxes, Helene is on her hands and knees emptying wine bottles.
Jonty comes around the doorway. “Those idiots are here but don’t worry, I told them tickets are sold out.”
“Who?” I put my hands on my hips. “Have you seen the boxes for the Ming lamps?”
“Prescott and his stupid friends.”
“He’s here?” My eyes widen.
“With whom?” Helene snaps.
“The prince and whatnot. I told them to leave but Prescott refused, told me to go get Alora.”
“Jonty.” Helene slaps him hard on the arm. “Are you fucking insane.” She marches to the front door. “Hello,” I hear her over-the-top gush. “How lovely to see you again, Edward. Come in. Come in.”
“She’s pathetic.” Jonty rolls his eyes.
Boom, boom…boom goes my heart.
What is he doing here?
I take my time as I try to find the boxes for the Ming lamps, which have somehow miraculously vanished into thin air. I hold my fingers to my temples as I inwardly freak out.
Calm down…it’s fine. Everything is fucking fine.
“Hello.” Edward walks into the back room. He’s wearing a perfectly fitted navy suit and a cream shirt; his hair is just-fucked perfection and can we have a moment of silence for the scent of his aftershave, it’s dancing around me naked.
Dear lord.
“Hi.” I force a smile, suddenly the store feels way too small for his energy. His presence penetrates every inch of space.
“What are you doing here?” I act casual as I concentrate on the shelving.
Where are these fucking boxes?
“I came to say hello.” He leans against the shelving with his shoulder, his hands in his suit pant pockets.
“Hello.”
“Thought I might pick up one of those mystery boxes.”
I glance over at him and he gives me the best come-fuck-me look of all time.
How does he know about them…wait a minute, does he watch my morning videos?
“You don’t need to buy a mystery box.” I keep looking for another troublesome box, true to its name its designation is a complete fucking mystery.
“You’re going to give it to me for free then?” He raises an eyebrow as his eyes hold mine, and the air crackles between us.
Okay, stop.
Everything that comes out of his mouth sounds so sexual…. Or maybe it’s just that I really, really want to have sex with this bastard.
“Edward, I’m very busy tonight.” I find a pair of boxes, too small for the lamps but who cares at this point, I’ll stuff them in if it kills me.
“Too busy for me?”
I look back over to him; his dark eyes hold mine as he leans against the shelving.
Never.
“Umm.” I hesitate as his closeness causes every cell in my brain to misfire, not a single coherent thought.
“Well?” He reaches over and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “Is there anything I can do to…. Help?”
Tear my clothes off.
I swallow the lump in my throat. “Umm.” Again…. No words. Nothing. Just complete and utter deer-in-the-headlights dumbass.
He breaks into a broad smile; the bastard knows he has me flustered.
“I’ll go look around the store.” With a last long smolder, he walks out the front and I drop my head into my hands.
Fuck.
How is this man so ridiculously hot? It’s criminal, no woman on earth could find a box in these conditions.
“Oh my god, oh my god.” Helene comes around the corner like a hornet, she peeks through the blinds. “His hot guard is with him.”
“Which one?”
“The one that looks like Jason Statham.”
“That’s Philippe.” I pass her the boxes.
“Well, Philippe is delicious and I am totally screwing his brains out.” She shoves them back. “I have my own boxes to look for.”
“No you are not,” I whisper angrily. “Nobody is screwing anybody.”
“What is wrong with you?” she whispers.
“What is wrong with you?” I fire back.
“Where are the boxes?” Jonty sticks his head around the corner and widens his eyes. “What the hell are you two doing? There’s a thousand people out here waiting for boxes at the cash register, you know?”
Having a heart attack, if you really must know.
“Sorry.” I rush back into the store, crap…he’s right. People are everywhere, and from the corner of my eye I catch sight of Edward’s friends walking through the aisles as they look around, Theodore, Nicholas, and that other friend of theirs, I forget his name. They are all wearing suits, chatting away while looking all orgasmic.
He brought his friends to my store; do they know anything about me or our history, has he told them…what the hell does this mean?
I feel the blood begin to drain from my body as I realize something. The Prince of Monaco is here… and we have no fucking cheese.