Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
Alexei had it too. And sometimes Roman did as well. She wished they were here. That was the only thing this trip was missing. Alexei would be grumbling at them all, while secretly enjoying himself and Roman would be analyzing everything, working out what would be the most beneficial things to buy her.
“Yes?”
Salem had told her that she could let her Little out here and no one would judge her or worry. But there was still a part of her holding back.
She might have some trust in Salem, Alexei, and Roman.
But that didn’t mean she had trust in anyone else.
Tamsyn stopped about two feet away from him. Well out of striking distance.
But he crooked a finger at her and then pointed at the floor in front of him.
“Right here.”
With a large sigh, she moved forward. “What is it? Do you want something?”
“Yes. Now, are you sure your foot is all right?”
“Yes, you checked it earlier, remember?” And it felt fine. All good.
“All right, tell me if that changes. Now, I want for you to listen when I tell you something. What did I say before we came into the store?”
“Uh, I do believe you said that you wished they made the car parks bigger.”
He sighed. “After that.”
“That I’m supposed to stick close to your side at all times and not wander off. And that I have to obey you.”
She’d only listened to that with half an ear, though. It was all a bit boring, really.
“And what did you do?”
“Skipped off.”
“Right. So now you’re going to have to sit in the trolley.”
What? No fair.
But he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her into the seat at the front of the trolley.
Whoa.
Next, he put the straps over her so she couldn’t slide down.
“But this is no fun! I can’t touch anything from here.”
“You also can’t run off and get lost.”
“I wasn’t going to get losted. I have a very good sense of direction. Maybe you would get losted, not me.”
All right. Seemed her Little was coming out whether she wanted her to or not.
“Maybe if you behave yourself, you can get down,” he told her as he pushed her.
Wee!
Actually, this was a bit fun. For a start. After about ten minutes of being pushed around she started to get bored.
And she desperately needed to pee.
Salem started looking at all the clothes. He asked her a few times for her opinion, but honestly, she had little interest in what she wore.
When he got into a conversation with an employee about which pinafore dress would be warmer, she knew she had to make her move.
After all, she was a ninja. She could sneak out of this death contraption before he noticed she was gone.
All she needed was to undo her belt.
Ta-da!
That was easy.
Free! She was free!
She could do anything she wanted and the first thing she wanted was to pee.
It took her a while to find a bathroom. And she heard her name shouted in the distance, but she ignored it as she raced into the bathroom.
When a girl had to go, a girl had to go.
As she exited, there was a large man standing there. He would be handsome, if he wasn’t so cold looking.
He had his arms crossed over his chest. He wore a navy blue shirt and black pants. His dark hair was cut short. And he was scowling.
Hmm. He might be attractive if he didn’t frown so much.
Immediately, she found herself frowning back at him with her arms crossed over her chest.
He wasn’t going to out-frown her!
His eyebrow rose in surprise. “Brave little thing, aren’t you?”
“Maybe you’re the brave one,” she stated.
“What are you doing here on your own?”
“I’m not here on my own,” she stated. Did he own the place or something?
He moved his gaze around pointedly.
“I don’t see anyone, do you?” he asked.
“Well, obviously he’s not here.”
“He isn’t? Are you sure he’s not imaginary?”
Huh. How rude!
Where had this man gotten his manners from? The recycle shop?
He needed to return them for a refund.
“Considering he’s storming toward us right now, no.”
The guy turned toward Salem just as he reached them.
“Tamsyn! What are you doing over here? Why did you wander off?” Salem demanded, running his gaze over her.
“I had to pee.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have brought you to the bathroom.”
Tamsyn tilted her head to the side. “Um, you were busy and I didn’t want to disturb you when I can go myself. I was fine until I ran into this guy. Be careful . . . he hasn’t got many manners.”
The guy gave her another stern look. Sheesh. Did he ever smile? It would lighten up his whole face and make him look years younger.
“Salem, I didn’t know you had a Little.”
Well, I do.” He frowned at her. “You didn’t listen very well when I told you not to wander off.”