by Sarah Tork
My clutch! I forgot it!
“Forgetting something, princess?” Liam asks, holding out the clutch. I march up to him and try to grab it; but he pulls his arms back, holding it up into the air. He’s tall, probably about 6’3, towering over me even in my six-inch heels.
“Give me my property!” I snap, flailing my arms into the air anyway; I’m making a statement that even though he’s tall, it isn’t going to stop me. “I won’t stop thrashing you until you give it back!”
He smiles snidely, as if he knows something I don’t. “You think you can tire me out? Think again!”
“Not only can I tire you out, but I’ll kick your ass in the process too!” I jerk my body closer to his, trying to pay no mind that his dress shirt is still ripped at the side, showcasing his sculpted stomach. I just won’t look there. It’ll be hard, but I think I can…I hope I can. “You might as well give up right now; it’ll be easier for the both of us.”
I jump up, but his arm extends higher. My body is coming dangerously close to smothering his, and his back is to the SUV.
The potential situation that could happen would be very dangerous. But at this moment, I couldn’t give a shit if my entire body collides into his, feeling every ripple, every obviously-hard muscle, having my entire body melt into his. Yeah, I don’t care if that happens; I have one mission on my mind, and that is to retrieve my clutch.
“Easier for you, you mean,” Liam states, amused. “I was actually just going to hand it to you, considering the foul statement you made upon leaving the car; but now that I’m thinking about it, I think a punishment would be more suitable to that horrendous lie you belted out in public about me. You’re lucky I don’t pursue a more suitable resolution; but after dealing with my brother, I’m feeling a little generous, and will give you this one time.”
I jerk my body closer to his, feeling that if there is less distance between us, I’ll have a better chance of grabbing the clutch out of his hands.
“Give me my shit back,” I hiss. “Now!”
“Your shit?” Liam repeats as if he thinks it’s funny. “Is that any way for a lady to speak?”
“Yeah, well, like I told that psychopath Demetria back at Xander’s hotel room: I’m no lady!” I inform him breathily, on the brink of collapse after exhausting myself by jumping up and down. I cast a glance at him; he’s barely panting, actually, not panting at all! He’s just standing comfortably while I do all the work; Liam is chilling.
Tall people have it easy! There, I said it.
“You’re so lucky you’re tall, or else…” I screech breathily, barely jumping a few inches. My feet are killing me now.
Liam smirks knowingly, not lowering his arm. “Or else, what?”
Steam escapes my ears at his smirk; I feel a burn electrocute inside each of my legs, giving me the push I need to get my clutch back. I prepare, “This!”
I hurl my body up into the air with such ferocity, Liam’s surprise has him stumbling back to keep the clutch out of my nearing hands. He smirks at me mid-air, knowing I’ve failed again. As soon as my heels touch the ground, something goes wrong. My foot slips, and I stumble forward into Liam’s hard, muscled chest. My hands instinctively clasp onto his shoulders for stability. He grabs my waist with the clutch still in his hand.
“Whoa there,” Liam murmurs as I stare at him, feeling flustered. His deep-blue eyes harden; it isn’t an angry expression, but something else, something that travels deep down inside me that will soon burst into a fit once my body detaches itself from his.
Gulp!
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, inches from his face, his hands not letting go of my waist. Snap out of it. The seconds that go by are making this into a bigger problem than I need. I do not need to be feeling all hot and bothered over another Barns. They’re related; the menace gene is probably in the both of them.
I don’t even know him and this is happening. Shit.
And the award for the most stupid girl in the world goes to…Me!
My hand lets go of his hard shoulder and I hold onto the car for support, as my body painfully detaches itself from his warm, hard, muscle-bound stretched body. “Sorry,” I murmur again, not looking him in the eye. He lets go of my waist and holds onto the car, pushing himself back up. As soon as we’re both back in standing positions, he holds out my clutch. I take it from him with no contempt. “Thanks.”
“I’m sorry too; that behavior was out of order. I was…it’s just been a long night. I’m sorry for holding your bag away from you,” Liam apologizes softly.
And I feel every ounce of myself melt as my eyes connect with his soft ones. My entire body wants nothing more than to attach itself back onto his. I subtly shake it off; that isn’t going to happen, not in this lifetime. Liam Barns is Xander’s brother; those two come from a different world than mine. They are leaders (despite Xander’s hobbies, it has nothing to do with making money), and I am what I am.
A work in progress.
And that’s okay with me. I’m okay, even if something beautiful stands before me, with eyes that seem to ache as badly as my own. Perhaps he wants it too.
It’s a bad idea. We’ve both obviously been through so much tonight; our thoughts aren’t processing the way they normally would. We’re not all there tonight, and that’s why it seems like anything could happen.
Anything.
But it can’t.
And that sucks from a purely fantasy aspect. We’ve all had those moments when our body wants something that the mind disagrees with, knowing how bad of an idea it would be right after anything was done.
I glance around the place we are in for any bystanders watching the show. The street has few cars except for the odd taxi, and the sidewalks are empty. It’s getting late, and this area of downtown Ottawa doesn’t have many people walking about casually at this time of night. We are all alone.
“It’s been an eventful night to say the least, with the both of us affected to the maximum,” I tell him softly, with a hint of amusement. “It’s okay. We both said stuff, and did stuff, that wasn’t appropriate.”
“Me more than you; I practically kidnapped you. It’s just, I don’t know who you are and what you were doing with Xander; he’s known to have something up his sleeves at all times. I’ve just had enough of his games,” Liam explains, clearly exhausted.
That’s right. I was practically kidnapped; I should be angry, but looking into Liam’s eyes erases any sort of resentment I might have toward him for doing it. The only thing I feel about him is empathetic, and that’s because both of us have been through the wringer due to Xander’s obnoxious behavior.
“Well, I guess I just get it. I just went through twenty-four hours with your brother and his choice behaviors. I can’t believe he’s your brother. Who’s older again?” I ask Liam.
“I am, but only by ten minutes. We’re fraternal twins,” Liam explains as my eyes bulge in shock at that little tidbit of information. There are two of them, literally two Xander’s.
But they aren’t the same. One came out normal, from what it seems. Or maybe I’m wrong; perhaps they are both weird and Liam’s just better at hiding his behind-the-scenes activities.
Xander loves playing dress up in ladies’ undergarments. What is Liam’s thing?
And why do I want to know? It’s not like I’ll be participating in any of these kinds of activities with him.
Would I?
I shake it off.
“Wow, two of you. Well, thank God, you both didn’t turn out the same,” I exclaim, sounding relieved. Liam doesn’t say anything. “Or maybe you are the same as he is,” I say to him softly.
His deep-blue eyes harden again, briefly scanning my body as he leans back onto his SUV. “That depends on what different thing you’re talking about.”
A few seconds of silence pass by. I don’t know what to say to that innuendo; well no, I do know what I want to say; it just would have been stupid to.
“Well, let’s leave that a
mystery now, shall we?” I smile at him, feeling the power come back. I’m not a slave to my body after all. “I’m sorry you were dragged into all of this. I’m going to go now.” I turn and walk around the car to the curb, waving my arm into the air to hail a taxi over. I feel a hand pull my waving arm down. “What are you doing?”
“Let me give you a ride home,” Liam says softly, staring into my eyes, doing things to my body that made me feel a little antsy. “I feel terrible for how I treated you.”
I smile and shake my head. “Dude, it’s all good. I’m over it; I get why you did it. And I would feel more comfortable taking a taxi; I mean, I barely know you.”
He stares at me for a few seconds before nodding. He doesn’t know me either. I could be a Demetria in hiding, waiting to have my way with him and keep him forever tied up somewhere.
Demetria is totally one of those kinds of girls; even if I’m only assuming, I’m sure of it.
A taxi rolls to the curb after I wave it over. I open the car door and turn to Liam, but he rounds the taxi and speaks with the driver. I look through the passenger door’s window and see Liam hand over some money to the taxi driver. He finishes with the taxi driver and comes back around, stopping in front of me.
“Why did you do that?” I ask confused; my insides melting all over again. That’s nice of him, even though he sort of kidnapped me earlier. I really should be demanding bigger compensation than a free taxi trip home, but I’m not like that. “You didn’t have to do that. I have money.”
Liam caresses my shoulder briefly, looking into my eyes. “I did something horrible; it’s the least I can do.”
I can think of a few things you can do to make it all better…a lot of things.
Don’t blurt that out!
“Okay…thanks,” I say to him softly. “Bye.”
“Bye,” Liam replies. I tuck into the car and Liam shuts the door.
“Where to, Miss?” The taxi driver asks, turning in his seat.
I tell him the place and address. “You know where that is?”
“Of course,” he states, and shifts the car into drive. I look out the window and stare at Liam. As the car pulls away, I wave, and Liam waves back.
As we drive away, I turn from the window and settle with my clutch on my lap, finally feeling able to breathe for the first time.
There is only one slight problem: my body doesn’t feel at ease; it feels restless and antsy.
The taxi drives away from downtown, and I wonder how the rest of the night will go. I have to wake up early tomorrow to go have coffee with Dad, but the way I’m feeling right now, I don’t know how I’m going to fall asleep.
Shit. Those Barns brothers…both a problem in their own ways.
Thanks, Liam.
****
Twenty minutes later, the taxi pulls in front of the Inn.
“It’s all been paid for, Miss,” the taxi driver says.
“Okay, thanks. Have a good night,” I tell him, and pull the handle to open the door.
“You, too,” he says as I shut the door. I hear the car drive away once I open the front door to the Inn’s lobby. It’s quiet inside, the only sound coming from the rattle the air conditioner is making. I walk up to the front desk where the security guard has his feet up on the desk, and his back leaned into his chair. His eyes are closed.
“Hi,” I whisper, careful not to make him jump. His eyes snap open and he quickly peels his legs off the desk. He gives me a small smile. “I’m here to pick up my key for room 306. My name is Marisa.”
The security guard grins knowingly. “Yeah, some lively people dropped it off a few hours ago. They were interesting.” He pulls out my key card and places it on top of the desk.
“Yeah, they’re something,” I chuckle back, knowing exactly what he means. I take the key card off the desk. “Good night.”
“Have a good one,” he says back, then tucks himself back into his previous position. I walk down the long hallway to my room.
It’s quiet. If there’s anyone else renting a room they’re all sleeping.
Sleeping? How am I going to do that with the way I feel? I insert my key card into the electronic lock. It goes green. I pull out the card, open the door, and walk into darkness.
“Where is that light switch?” I murmur, walking into the room and closing the door behind me. I finally find the light switch, turn it on, and gasp.
What?! My eyes bulge out of their sockets at the state of my room. Things, lots of things, are scattered artfully around my room. I close my mouth and quickly march to my bed where there’s tagged clothing covering every inch of the bed.
All these clothes! There are jeans, shirts, skirts, dresses, and shorts, and they’re all clearly expensive. I check the tags on them; the price is cut off. But from the brands themselves, I can tell that everything on my bed could pay for my rent for the entire year. Beside the bed are three pairs of shoes: a pair of plum ballet flats, a pair of black Chucks, and a pair of leather boots with a skinny heel and a red sole.
OMG, is that what I think it is? I can’t believe this…I can’t breathe! I hold the boots against my feet; they are to the knee.
Why did he do this? I’m totally bewildered and skeptical. My eyes glance down beside my bed where a brand new, dark green, lush set of luggage sits. I carefully put the boot back beside its partner.
Oh my God! Luggage too. My hands skim the hard surface.
Why has he given me all of this? I know one thing: Xander doesn’t do things because he’s the generous type; that bastard wants something from me just like he had for the makeover.
Well, he has another thing coming if he thinks I’ll be doing anything for him.
I put my clutch on the desk, and sit on the chair to take off my heels. I then check my own bag, making sure everything is still in there just in case Xander asked the three to go on a scavenger hunt for some mementos. Everything is in check, but I do a double-take when I notice a large shopping bag on the other side of the bed. I grab it pulling it close to my body; it’s filled with tissue paper. As I push the tissue paper to the side, I gasp. I pull out a leather bag and check the brand.
DKNY, oh my God! My mouth drops as I inspect the bag. It has two parallel zippers that circle around the bag, and a tassel made of leather strips that are tied together at one end.
I can’t believe this!
I love it! I bring the bag to my chest and hug it; that’s right, I hug the bag as if it were my newborn baby. I know right now that the bag and I are meant to be.
We are one. And whatever that bastard wants in exchange for it, I’ll consider, if it’s harmless enough. The things we do for pretty things.
I squeal loudly; holding the bag’s strap, pulling it over my shoulder. I march to the full-length mirror on the wall to examine it in all its glory.
At first glance, I sigh loudly. So this is what love really feels like.
Screw Ben, screw Xander…and fuck it…screw Liam, too.
The thought of Liam and screwing takes over my brain from the amazing bag.
Damn it, don’t think about that…screw and Liam should never be in the same sentence for me, not if I don’t want to combust into flames.
I grab my clutch and pull out my phone. Chances are, there’s going to be some texts from the bastard-king himself requesting a few favors for the booty of clothes he gave me without me asking for them.
There is only one text. No emails.
I think of Ben…I hope he’s okay. Even though he is the one with the support from Mom and Gwen. I had no one to help me through the breakup.
I shake it off and open the text. It just came a few minutes ago.
From Xander: 1:29am.
You’re welcome again.
By the way, check your bathroom. Maria left a stunning surprise hanging on the hook.
I want pictures…and a few other things.
But that will be discussed later…
Sweet dreams my trusted little sidekick. Tonight wa
s so much fun.
Hug, kiss, hug…other things.
Other things? My eyes narrowed at the last few words. What the hell did that mean? I shake my head; it doesn’t matter. I’m done. I don’t owe that guy anything. These clothes and shoes and (gulp) the bag, they were given without my say so. I accepted the makeover this morning, but these things were given without my acceptance.
I’m not doing anything else for him. I’m already feeling cold down there because I’m sans underwear.
Speaking of underwear…I pull out a fresh pair of plain black undies from my carry-on and slide them on. I carefully pull off the dress and place it on the bed with the rest of the clothes.
So pretty…I stare at it all, transfixed for a moment. I break the stare when I realize that I have the bustier on; how am I going to get it off?
After a few minutes of playing with the back, I figure out a way to get it off. It’s like a bra, but with way more clasps down the back. I place it with the rest of the clothes and walk over to the bathroom wearing only my underwear. Hanging on the hook inside the bathroom is a dark green and blue, strapless, chiffon dress that flows down to my knees.
Oh my God! I stare at the beautiful dress that looks like it could fly by the panels of chiffon around the skirt. But why? I have no place to wear it. Dad’s party was a one-time thing; I have no other parties to go to, and I don’t know anyone in Toronto to go out with.
What is he up to? I play with the fabric for a few seconds; it falls soft and silky on my fingers. I decide I will worry about the dress tomorrow. I wash my face and all of Sammy’s hard work comes off. My hair, however, is hair-sprayed to oblivion, and when I touch it again it feels hard as rock. I’ll have to take a shower in the morning.
I carefully examine each piece of clothing before folding and putting it in the brand new luggage. I place the shoes on top. There is no more room for the dresses. I guess I will have to hold them on my way home tomorrow.
