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“Are you okay Wren?” I can feel Maverick’s deep voice vibrate through his chest. I nod dumbly, still wrapped up in his yummy scent.
“You can let her go now, Mav.” Xander grinds out. It sounds like he is angry. Did I piss him off by jumping away from him? At least I think it was him. I caught the scent of something different from Maverick’s scent right before the finger touched me.Shit. Don’t piss off the investors who can help you, Wren.
I push away from Maverick’s chest, straighten, and begin to fiddle with my fingers. I hear him mumble something too low for me to understand under his breath. “I’m sorry. You startled me and I’m a kind of clumsy blind person. Can we maybe sit down and talk so that doesn’t happen again? I don’t want to keep you two from anything.” I go to turn around, arms outstretched to feel my way, when Xander’s stern voice stops me.
“You're going the wrong way. The tables are this way. May I take your arm to guide you?” I stand there in a bit of shock. Did he just ask to guide me? No one ever pays me any mind. I’m usually just an object in their way, so they move around. I must be taking too long to answer because he gives a small clearing of his throat, almost like he is nervous but continues. “I figured if I can guide you, we can get there a bit smoother and without any accidents.” My cheeks heat and I nod my head, holding out my arm towards his voice.
Of course, he just wants to move this meeting along faster. He slides his arm under mine and his shoulder meets mine as he steps into me. If I wasn’t positive, he didn’t see me as anything but a potential investment. I could have sworn he had just sniffed me.Do I stink or something?I took a shower this morning. I haven’t done a single thing that could have made me sweat enough to smell. As I think this, a small bead of sweat slides down my spine. I’m even more nervous than I thought I was.
Oh god. This meeting is not going to end well for me.
Chapter thirteen
Xander
I wrap her arm around mine, stepping in closer, inhaling her lavender and coconut scent. She smells so fucking delicious; my cock hardens even more than I thought possible in my dress slacks. I imagine swiping my tongue across her flesh to test my theory that her skin might taste as good as she smells.
I can tell my little bird is nervous. She must sense the big bad wolf is in the room with its prey. I’ve been watching, waiting, and hunting for a month and now that I have a small opening, I’m taking it. I know she is sweet, maybe even a little innocent, and I want to keep her that way in most aspects of our life. Like our not so savory side of business, no way in hell do I want her near that, but I would love to corrupt her in the bedroom.
All the ways I want to have her run through my mind and I barely hold back a groan as I guide her over to the empty tables we were just at. I pull out a chair, releasing my grip on her arm to place it around her waist, moving her to sit as I gently push her in. From the corner of my eye, I see a small blush tint her cheek, making me smirk to myself. Crossing the table, I take my seat next to Mav and directly in front of my little bird. I want the best view of her I can get. I finally get to witness her beauty without a camera lens separating us.
We sit in silence for a few minutes, no one saying a thing. I know I should start the conversation, but I enjoy watching her squirm in her seat, knowing she is being watched. I wonder if she knows we watch her every day, every chance we get. I’ve seen her jump out of her skin at small noises we accidentally make when we are at her place. Is it because she is afraid of the men who let her walk free after hearing a murder, or is it something else? Someone else?
Wren chuckles nervously before placing her hands on the table, then moving them to her lap just beyond my view. Probably to fidget with her fingers, a nervous tick I notice. “So, I’ve never had a meeting like this. I know you probably want to know why you should invest in my bookshop and what I can offer, right? Or do you have other questions?” She tilts her head down again in a submissive gesture, making me want to move it up once again. But I don’t want to scare her again. She should always hold her head up, proud, and powerful. She is a god damn goddess. Little bird is a beautiful barely five-foot-tall woman. Tiny compared to me and the guys, but I like it that way. She has honey blonde hair that runs down her back in natural soft curls when it’s loose. Her eyes are a dull milky white color lined with faint scar lines that rim the edges of both eyes. We have looked into it and everything points to some sort of chemical burn.
Of course, then we look for women who have had chemical burns in the past, but nothing comes up. Wren seems to be a ghost. Maybe she changed her name. All of this is leaving me with more questions than answers about my curious little bird.
She is kind, caring, and sexy as fuck, but I know she doesn’t see herself that way. I’ve watched as she stood there before getting in the shower, pinching, and poking her curves, sucking in her stomach to make her seem skinnier. I wanted to yell at her for even thinking that about herself. All I see is the perfect coke bottle shaped body that I’ve been dying of thirst to have a small little taste of.
She is a woman made to be worshiped at an altar. Men should be falling at their feet just to see her smile, but she hides behind her glasses and curtain of pull worthy hair. Thinking she is undeserving, but we see her and one day soon, I will show her what it means to be a queen.Maybe I will even buy her a crown.
“Well, usually we don’t invest in smaller insignificant bookshops as they tend to be a dying trend since almost everything can be bought online or read on a device so-umpf.” I slam my elbow into Maverick’s rib cage, making him bend over in pain. He glares at me as he adjusts his shirt, but I simply turn to face a now teary-eyed Wren. To her credit, she holds her posture strong and I see no tears sliding from under her glasses, but I can tell. She is trying so hard to stay strong in front of us, but I can see her defenses crumbling.
She gives a stiff nod before scooting back to stand. “But of course. I understand. Thank you for even considering me.” She goes to turn away as I send a threatening glare to Mav, letting him know if he doesn’t fix this I will be fixing his damn face.
“Miss St. James. I apologize but I didn’t get to finish.” She pauses but doesn’t turn around. Almost like she doesn’t believe him. “Yes, it’s true we rarely invest in smaller bookshops but-“ He pauses, waiting for her to slowly turn to face us again, but then I see it. It almost brings me to my knees, or maybe I want to rage, to destroy Mav for making Wren cry. This woman is making me feel things I long thought my cold dead heart could feel.
She quickly wipes at her cheek, but the damage is done. My weakness is seeing a woman cry, but when it’s my woman. Mav is my closest friend, basically my brother. We grew up together and have saved each other’s life a few times, but I most definitely want to punch him in the face right now. He must see the fury in my eyes because he snaps his head in Wren's direction before noticing the tears, too.
He curses under his breath before the usually suave man starts rushing out words. “Wren, please don’t cry. Look, we were already planning to invest in you. I swear, I’m just an asshole. I don’t mean to be, but I am. We saw you with the kids and it was a done deal. Plus, we’ve been sitting here for over an hour. We got to see that the place actually seems to be quite busy.” She just stands there, I’m sure, in a bit of stunned shock.
She starts to rapidly shake her head. “No, thank you. I don’t need your pity investment. I will talk to Mrs. Williams in the morning. She has already offered to help me. If you would excuse me, I have a small insignificant bookshop to run. I hope you can see yourselves out.” She then spins on her heel, hair flying out behind her as she places one hand out and begins to walk away.
I look over to Mav whose jaw is hanging open before he snaps it shut, grinding his teeth in frustration. He turns towards me, flinging his arm out in the direction Wren wandered off to, as if saying this is all her fault. I smirk, turning to leave, Mav mumbling under his breath about infuriating sexy blondes. But my mind wonders, coming up with a new plan to catch my little bird.
Silly little bird. You will be mine, even if you don’t know it yet.
Chapter fourteen
Wren
“Well, what happened Wren? Are they going to invest? They both had fuck me eyes the whole time they were here. Please tell me one of them asked you out and you're going to finally get some.” Amber lets out a dreamy sigh and I reach out, whacking her arm next to me.
“Amber. You are going to be a married woman soon. You can’t be thinking about guys you don’t even know like that.” I tell her, trying my hardest to keep a straight face, but she lets out a very unladylike snort, making me lose it, giggling with her.
“And to answer your question, no. I didn’t get the investment.” I take a deep breath, running my fingers over the title of the book in my hands. I’m sorting a new shipment that just came in for people like me. Blind readers. The ones who can’t see the joys in life but read them to try to feel what the hype is all about. I’m one of the lucky ones, if you can call it that. I was able to experience the colorful world and all the happiness it brought people for roughly twenty-two years of my life before that was stolen from me. Just like everything else in this world. My parents, my dreams and then my eyesight all because of him.
“Why the hell not? Do I need to call up those assholes and tell them to pull that giant corporate stick out of their asses and give you a chance? I will. You know what? I’ll do that right now.” She goes to stand up, but I reach out to grab her. But my hand only grabs thin air. She notices my attempt at stopping her and pauses. She lets out a dramatic exhale before plopping back into the seat next to me. “It’s not fair Wren. You have already lost so much. I can’t see you lose this, too. This place was your dream, your escape. It was supposed to help you finally move on and not be so afraid to live. What will you do if you don’t have this place?” She starts out angry but as she speaks her words turn soft and sad.
