The young woman entered and shut the door, glancing around as if to check there was no one hiding amongst the dresses. Alli knew instantly that she needed discretion, a trait Alli excelled at. After all, a bride likes to surprise everyone on her wedding day, and they also liked to share titbits of information about their family relations, and often the groom, which were not always suitable for common knowledge.
“Come through. I was just about to put the kettle on. Do you want a cup of tea?”
“Oh, well, I can’t stay long. I’m having dinner with my brother, but he just went over to the hardware store to get some hinges.”
“Old Terry likes to talk. I’m sure you’ll have time for some tea. We can talk while I make it.”
She hesitated and then followed Alli through to the little kitchen. “I don’t want to put you to any bother. Especially since I’ve come to ask if you can refund the cost of this.”
She took out the silver comb and placed it, in the box, on the small table. Alli looked at it and then looked at the young woman. “Melanie?”
“Yes,” she said quietly. “My brother came and collected it this morning. It’s too extravagant.” Her fingers stroked the finely crafted silver.
“He must have thought you were worth it,” Alli said gently.
“He would spoil me all the time if he could, but we can’t afford it. I’ve already cost him so much.”
Alli wondered why Melanie felt that way; did Kian make her feel that she was expensive to keep? No. There was more to it than that. But she didn’t ask; it wasn’t her business.
“Look, Melanie. I can refund the cash if that’s what you want. But won’t he be upset if you return his gift?”
She hesitated, and Alli knew the answer already. But still Melanie persisted. “Yes. But he’ll need the money for plumbing soon. If he can’t get any work, then we will be broke.”
Alli poured the water into the cups, stirring the tea while she assessed the young women in front of her. She wore a pretty floral dress, complete with a long tear, which had been neatly stitched up, making it almost invisible to an untrained eye. Handing a cup to Melanie, she inquired. “I see you’ve had a tear in your dress.”
Melanie looked down, her hand going to the tear. “Oh. I thought no one would notice. It’s my favourite dress, but I tore it when I went into the woods.”
Alli took a step towards Melanie, saying reassuringly, “I wouldn’t have noticed, but it’s my job to check that seams are neat and invisible. You develop an eye for the finest detail.”
Melanie cast a look behind her. “It must be wonderful to work with all of these beautiful dresses.”
“It is, although I am so busy it’s stopped being as enjoyable as it was.” She sipped her tea, questioning that her motives were true, and not based on her feelings for Melanie’s brother, before she asked, “Did you stitch the tear yourself?”
Melanie ran her fingers along the neat seam. “Yes. I enjoy sewing, I find it very therapeutic.”
Alli made a decision right then. “Melanie, I know how we can help each other out. I need help in the shop.” She saw the look of horror pass over Melanie’s face and moved to reassure the nervous woman. “Alterations, that sort of thing. It will free me up to deal with the client side of things. We can do it on a trial basis, say a month; if you don’t like it, then that’s fine. What do you think?”
Melanie looked at Alli with wide eyes. “It would be perfect. But what if I ruin one of the dresses?”
“You won’t. To start with, we can work together until you are confident. But I can see you are a talented seamstress, and I can teach you all I know.”
“Yes,” Melanie said, standing up taller, looking very pleased with herself. Then her smile broke through and she beamed. “Yes!”
“Excellent.” Alli felt relieved. She had solved one of her problems, now all she had to do was solve the one about her engagement.
“Will you come and tell Kian with me?”
Alli hadn’t expected that. “I’m not sure I have time.” She looked at her watch; she was supposed to meet Graham in less than an hour. She had not left herself much time to shower and change.
“It won’t take a moment.” Melanie looked so young and vulnerable that Alli felt sorry for her. She told herself she needed to check that Kian treated his sister well. Because she was worried he was the reason Melanie lacked confidence in herself.
“Sure. I can spare five minutes.” She could pop back to her apartment above the shop, which also doubled as a further workroom and storage area, later to get ready for her date with Graham.
Alli whizzed around, switching off the lights, locking the cash register, and bolting the back door before she followed Melanie out into the street, which was now quiet. Alli liked this time of day; the hustle and bustle of the main road through Bear Creek was replaced by a kind of serene calm. She smelt the mountain air, feeling regenerated by it. The day’s troubles passed out of her mind for an instant, leaving her more relaxed.
“What’s it like to live on a farm?” she asked Melanie as they walked to the bar.
“Well, it’s not technically a farm yet. There are no animals.”
“What about the open air? No cars or loud music.”
“It’s so much better than where we lived before. We had to stay in the city until I finished school, and Kian had to work as many hours as he could to scrape the money together for the ruin he bought.”
“Did you both want to move here? I thought a young woman like you would prefer the city.”
“No. I longed to come here. He had told me about the place; he passed through town before he took me on.”
“Took you on?”
“Yes. Well, you can tell he’s a good deal older than me. He was abroad when my parents passed away. I went into foster care and he had to fight to get me back. He’s the only family I have.”
“That’s quite a thing to take on, a young teenage girl.”
“I was much younger when he got custody of me. So many checks—it wasn’t exactly a popular choice, a young girl living with her much older brother.”
“He looked after you, though.”
“He’s the best; I just wish he would put some thought into finding his perfect woman now. He longs to settle down, but I think he’s scared what I will think of anyone he brings home.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. He wants to provide me with a stable home life. But I want him to be happy. He deserves it.”
“Here we are.” Alli reached for the door of the bar. “Wait. Let’s put this in your hair first.” She gathered up Melanie’s long auburn hair, and then pushed the comb into it to hold it up. “There. It looks just right, shows off your shoulders.”
“Thank you, Alli.”
“No problem. Let’s see your brother and then I must get back and change. I have to see my fiancé tonight.” That word seemed foreign on her tongue.
“I didn’t know you were engaged. You don’t have a ring on.”
“Oh, damn. I left it in the cash register. I’ll have time to go back and get it before I meet Graham.” Although the more she thought about it, the more she realised she would rather spend time with Melanie and the elusively interesting Kian.
Chapter Six – Kian
He was walking along the street, well, hurrying; he had taken longer than he thought in the hardware store and he didn’t like the thought of Melanie waiting in the bar on her own. Too many men who might read the situation the wrong way. Only a single woman on the prowl for a mate would be in a bar alone. Yet as he crossed the street, he saw Melanie about to enter the bar. He stopped, his nostrils flaring, and a growing hardness in his pants. There, with his sister, was the only other woman he ever would need: Alli.
Pausing, he tried to get his thoughts straight and to allow his cock a chance to calm itself. The words her fiancé had used earlier, about fucking her, still reverberated around and around in his head. But now, he had been given a chance to make her see t
hat in fact he, Kian, was the man for her. However, he didn’t want to risk hurting Melanie.
Curiosity got the better of him and he carried on, entering the bar and looking around for the two women. There they were, standing at the bar; Alli was ordering drinks and his cock grew harder once more when he realised she was no longer wearing the ring she her fiancé had placed on her finger. There was hope.
Standing tall, his chest pushed out as he attempted to exude confidence, he crossed to where they were.
“I’ll get these,” he said, reaching for his wallet.
“No need,” Alli said, she quickly produced a crisp bill and handed it over. “And whatever Kian wants to drink.”
The barman looked at him expectantly, and he had to swallow his objection to being bought a drink by the woman he should be courting. In so many ways, he was an old-fashioned soul.
“A beer, please,” he said awkwardly, then to Alli, “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” She took a sip of her soda, and as she lifted her hand, he once again checked there was no ring on her finger.
“So how did you two meet up?” he asked, leading them to a table, trying not to touch Alli, not to ignite the flame between them. Not yet.
“I went to Alli’s shop,” Melanie started and then floundered.
The question out of Kian’s mouth had to be “why?”
Alli put her hand on Melanie’s and squeezed it briefly. He instantly knew she was covering for Melanie, but he let it go. “She came to tell me how beautiful the comb was.”
“Yes.” Melanie let out a long breath. “I wanted to thank Alli. The comb is so beautiful; it’s like a family heirloom.”
He smiled. “I am glad you like it.” Although he knew that was not the whole truth. “It looks so pretty in your hair.”
She put her hand up, running her fingers over the delicate flowers, which decorated the comb, a big smile crossing her face. “And things worked out so well. Alli is looking for someone to help her in the shop.”
OK. At that, he nearly spat out his beer. “You are going to work in a bridal shop?” He couldn’t hide the disbelief in his voice.
“Yes. Well, no.” Melanie clammed up.
Alli smiled brightly and said, “Melanie is going to be my new seamstress. I’m struggling under all the work I have to do, and when I saw how neatly she can sew I thought it would perhaps be a good idea.”
Kian looked from one woman to another. He needed them to get on well. If not, he would be forever torn in two by his protective feelings for them both. Naturally, he said, “I think it is a brilliant idea.”
Then he sipped his beer, feeling as if everything was right in the world. But he had forgotten that one of the women in front of him was not his; she had only earlier today promised herself to another man. And that man had just walked into the bar.
Chapter Seven – Alli
Why did it feel so good to be here with Melanie and Kian? She felt relaxed in so many ways, as if she didn’t have to try too hard. Yet she had to admit there was a delicious tension in her body too. That tension revolved round a deep-seated need to feel Kian’s hands on her body. Oh, and his lips too.
He glanced at her shyly, so different from Graham and his self-confident bustle. Damn, it was so wrong to think about Kian in such ways when she had kept Graham at arm’s length for so long. All she longed for was to be in Kian’s bed, with him inside her. She sipped her drink, feeling the need to fan her face in a bid to cool her ardour. But it would make her look so obvious.
But to someone else, she was already looking obvious. “Alli,” Graham said tartly.
“Graham. I didn’t see you there,” she said, startled, feeling uncomfortable at the way he looked at her and then Kian.
“I can see you are too busy to remember our date.” His eyes slipped down to her ring finger and noted the absence of the ring he had only just given her. “I see you have also forgotten you are my fiancé.”
Alli got up too quickly, Kian caught her before she toppled forward, and the jolt of electricity up her arm did nothing to calm her nerves. “Thank you, Kian. If you’ll both excuse me, I had better say goodnight.”
“You don’t have to go,” Kian said softly.
“I think I do,” she said quietly, her heartbeat hammering in her chest so loud she thought he must be able to hear it.
Graham stood, his foot tapping impatiently. He really did treat her like a child sometimes. She said her goodbyes once more. “And if you can, come by the shop tomorrow, Melanie? About ten.”
“I will. Thank you, Alli.”
“Oh, I nearly forgot. Happy birthday, Melanie.”
“Thank you, Alli. For everything.”
Reluctantly Alli left, to face Graham’s temper. Not that it was ever that bad: he was more hurtful with his comments, which always seemed to be pitched just right, to gain maximum pain.
“So, do you have an explanation?” he said, not even ordering a drink, but heading straight for the door.
“I am not a child, Graham,” she said firmly. For some reason, being with Kian and Melanie had given her a bit of spark; she would not just roll over and placate him this evening. She had done nothing wrong, except in her head.
“Well, you seem to be behaving like one. What? Did Mr. Muscles roll back into your shop and give you a smile and you just pulled your ring off and forgot all about me and our arrangements?”
“I thought you knew me better than that.”
“So did I, Alison.”
Inwardly she cringed; he only ever called her by her full name when he was being superior. “Listen. We can go back to the shop and I can get the ring. I only took it off because it was too small. It made my finger ache, and I was struggling to sew. I was going to ask you tonight if you could get it resized.”
“Well, it’s either that, or you could slim down a little before our big day.”
She stopped, they had walked back to Bear Brides, and she had the keys in her hand. His words stung her so badly all she wanted to do was go inside and slam the door in his smug face. “That was hurtful.”
“I’m sorry, but you’ve made me cross.”
“Graham, I have explained why I am not wearing your ring.”
“And the reason you were in a bar with another man?”
“Because I had gone in there with Melanie, his sister; we were celebrating.”
“Celebrating what?” he asked suspiciously.
“She is my new employee.”
“Your new what?” His voice had risen, making him sound almost girlish. Once more Alli had to force herself not to compare him to the all-male Kian.
“I need someone who can sew, so I employed her.”
They were inside the shop now, with Alli switching on the lights so that she could retrieve the ring. Which she was imagining throwing back in his face.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Graham said, as he stood looking at the interior of the shop.
By now, Alli was spoiling for a fight. “Are you trying to tell me how to run my business?” she asked curtly.
“No. No,” he said, his voice softening, placating. “But when we’re married you will give all this up.”
“I will?” she asked, shocked at such a thought. Did he expect her to stay at home, play house, and be grateful for the handouts he gave her for housekeeping? Alli was used to her independence.
“Yes. Of course. I want us to start a family as soon as possible.” He came towards her, the lust-filled look in his eyes terrifying; he planned to start practising for a family right now.
“You do?” she squeaked.
Graham pulled her to him, his arms going around her waist. “Oh, yes,” he murmured. “So I want you to put that ring on your finger and I will introduce you to one of the many pleasurable duties a wife must perform.”
Her heart hammered in her chest. He leaned down and kissed her, his hand going to her breast and squeezing, not too unpleasantly. Yet all she could do was think of Kia
n’s large hands, and how much better they would feel on her body. It made her hate herself. Graham might be opinionated, and self-absorbed, but he didn’t deserve to have his fiancée thinking of another man while he made love to her.
By the time he had worked his way down over her collarbone, she had convinced herself that she just needed to give him a chance. He loved her; why else would he have proposed to her? But when his hand slid up her skirt, brushing her thigh and working its way higher, she almost leapt up to the ceiling.
“Not here,” she said breathlessly. “People will see.”
“Let’s give them a good show, then. I bet that big brute you were sitting with would like to watch me fuck you. He had his eyes all over you, but he ought to learn that you are mine. And he can’t afford you.”
She pushed him back. “I think we should leave.” What she really wanted to say was, “I think you should leave.” Yet the ring he had bought her caught her eye once more. Surely, he was just acting jealously because he thought she was flirting with Kian, which she hadn’t been. But he had just proposed, so maybe she should give him another chance. She couldn’t throw her life away because of a man she had just met. No matter how much her body begged her to.
Graham pulled back from her, and waited impatiently while she switched the lights off and once more checked the doors were locked. Then he walked in front of her, out of the shop, and stood looking up at the outside of the building while she locked the door. She had seen that look before; he was appraising the building for what it was worth. That was Graham—everything had a price.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Let’s go. Although I have to say, Alli, you know how to dampen a man’s spirit.”
Good, she thought rather ungraciously. She really did not want to go back to his place and have sex for the first time. She hadn’t showered or changed because of her meeting with Melanie and Kian, a fact she could not share with the pouting Graham. All she really wanted to do was curl up on the sofa with a takeout and a movie, with his arms around her, holding her close.
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