Vengeful Desires

Chapter 6

Theodore Gardner couldn’t hold back the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips when he spotted Mirabelle enter the bookstore. He hadn’t been expecting to see her so soon. Sure, he had plans to seek her out, but he was glad the universe had saved him the trouble.

If he were a man who believed in things like guardian angels, he would have been tempted to buy his a beer. Either way, someone up there seemed to be in agreement with his plans. That was great.

Staying perfectly still behind a large bookshelf stuffed with Do-It-Yourself books, he watched her chat and laugh with the store clerk, completely unaware of his presence. It gave him the perfect opportunity to study her.

She wasn’t dressed in an exquisite dress like she had been the other night at the charity dinner. Actually, while everything about her had screamed money that night from the delicate way her hair had been styled to the very sole of her shoes, she couldn’t have looked more ordinary right then as she stood in the bookstore. Ordinary and so much more beautiful.

Her caramel skin was free of any makeup and shimmered with sweat. Her hair was tied in a messy bun that allowed several strands to float around her face. Suddenly, it made him itch to free her hair so he could run his fingers through and feel if it was as soft as it appeared.

Theodore curled his hands into fists. What was he thinking? That was not the direction his thoughts should have been going. But just like at the dinner, he found that he couldn’t shake the idea of doing some rather interesting things to Mirabelle that he knew they would both enjoy. Would she moan if he fisted a handful of her hair and pulled her head back to meet his?

Shaking his head to dislodge the thoughts, Theodore glanced around the store and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized no one was paying him any mind. Good. It would have been beyond weird to be caught with a semi while perusing the Do-It-Yourself book section. There was kinky and then there was just scary freaky. Theodore didn't need to attract that sort of attention. Especially not from Hattie, who was nowhere in sight. That wouldn’t last though, and he couldn’t waste the opportunity that had presented itself.

As soon as he saw the jovial clerk step into the back, he stepped out from behind the bookshelf and made his way toward Mirabelle.

To his shock, his approach went unnoticed. That made Theodore worry for the woman. She should have been more aware of her environment, considering the kind of company she kept. But it wasn’t his job to tell her that. Besides, that wouldn’t have served his goal.

So instead, Theodore stopped behind her and injected as much humor into his voice as he could muster, as he said the first thing that came to his mind. “The angel loves books. Who would have thought?”

He heard her sharp breath, and then she turned, wide eyes staring up at him. “You!”

The amount of accusation in that one word made Theodore arch a brow and fold his arms over his chest. “Well. That certainly wasn’t the reaction I’d expected,” he said smoothly.

Mirabelle’s eyes darted around the bookstore before settling back on him, full of suspicion. “What are you doing here?”

Theodore made a show of looking at the books around them. “Gee… I don’t know. Buying a book? Do you have a problem with that?”

“Well…” she drew out the word. “Excuse me if I don’t believe this is your usual scene,” she said tightly, eyeing his dark jeans and tight, long-sleeved gray Henley and leather jacket. Theodore knew he, too, looked nothing like the man she had met the other night.

Of course, Theodore didn’t miss the appreciation in her gaze, even though he was sure she hadn’t meant to show him that. He also didn’t miss the fact that she looked tired and pissed and the easy smile she’d had when she entered the store was long gone.

“I think I should take offense now. This is the second time you mention that I don’t fit a scene.” Theodore c****d his head to the side, regarding her with intense interest. “I wouldn’t have thought you were one of those people who judged first and observed after. Should I ask what scene you believe I actually belong to? A back alley c***k house, perhaps?”

Mirabelle’s eyes widened. Suddenly, she looked more flustered. She opened her mouth and closed it like a landed fish. Then she cleared her throat and glared at him. “I have no preconceived notions or biases about people.”

“Are you sure?” Theodore asked, his voice full of skepticism. “Once is an observation. Twice… I think that speaks to your character, angel.”

“Don’t call me angel,” Mirabelle gritted out through clenched teeth. “And I think you have no right to point fingers here. From what I remember, you jumped to some biased conclusions of your own the other night as well. And today as well, for that matter. What was it you said? Ha… Yes. You hadn’t thought I would like books? Yeah? Isn’t that a preconceived notion about me? All beauty and no brains?”

Darn it! Theodore gave her a tight smile. “I guess it’s a case of pot meet kettle?”

“I’m neither pot nor kettle,” Mirabelle snapped.

Theodore shrugged. “Fair enough. You are far sexier than a pot or kettle, anyway.”

With a sudden sense of uneasiness, Mirabelle’s eyes darted around the room. She took a step away from him and wrapped her arms around herself. “I think you should be more reserved with your compliments…. Sir,” she said tightly.

“Why?” Theodore asked, even though he pretty much knew the answer to the question. He also ignored how his heart had jumped when she said ‘sir’. No, he wasn’t going there. He was here for his goal. Nothing else.

Focusing back on Mirabelle and not his wayward thoughts, Theodore noticed Mirabelle toyed with the diamond ring on her finger before she answered. “I’m engaged.”

“And that means you can’t receive a compliment?” Theodore stepped closer, closing the space she had created. He almost smiled at how tense she got but kept his face straight. “Tell me,” he said in a low, hoarse whisper. “Is it that your fiancé is very insecure he wouldn’t like you to get a simple compliment, or the compliments actually bother you personally… because they remind you of what you are obviously missing?”

Mirabelle’s eyes snapped up to meet his and gave him a death glare. “None of the above. And I would appreciate it if you stepped your arrogant self out of my personal space.”

For half a minute, Theodore didn’t move. They stared at each other and he could see the woman was pissed. He had messed up; he realized belatedly. And he couldn’t even explain why he had said half the s**t he’d said. She just seemed to push all the wrong buttons for him and he reacted. But he couldn’t afford to do that.

Stepping back as she asked, Theodore tried to regroup and think of a way to undo the damage he had obviously done. Unfortunately, his time was up.

He sensed Hattie's approach before she called out his name in that sweet, excessively seductive tone that made his teeth ache.

“Theo, baby, where did you go?” Hattie came to a stop next to him. She didn’t look at Mirabelle, but he knew she had seen the other woman and was ignoring her on purpose. That was fine by him. He wasn’t doing introductions. But then Hattie did what every possessive, childish girlfriend did in such a situation. She gripped his arm, lifted herself onto her toes, and kissed the corner of his mouth.

Barely suppressing the urge to stiffen, Theodore caught Mirabelle’s gaze above Hattie’s head. Her eyes had narrowed with disgust at him. He could only imagine what she was thinking, and it was nothing good. At that very moment, he was sure he looked like a cheating jerk. Or a potential cheating jerk since nothing had happened.

Hattie’s mouth moved to his ear. She murmured something he couldn’t catch since he wasn’t paying attention to her. Not that the woman seemed to care. Hattie was trying too damn hard, and it made his skin crawl. Still, he didn’t pull away, and he stood there and watched as Mirabelle collected a small paper bag with the bookstore logo printed on it from the smiling clerk who had returned.

Then, without so much as giving him a second glance, Mirabelle turned and walked out of the bookstore, leaving Theodore standing there with his girlfriend, who had taken to licking his earlobe in a public bookstore. Yeah, Theodore didn’t want to think about it. He had better things to focus on. Like how he was going to get Mirabelle after his epic screw-up.