A Little Taste of Naughty (A Shattered Lives Short) (2 page)

-Elaina-

Admittedly, I wasn’t much of a shopper when it came to anything more than a t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. Dresses weren’t my thing, but it’s what Henry requested. And considering he was footing the bill, I figured I ought to oblige. That didn’t mean I would like it, though.

Standing in the fitting room and staring at the atrocity of red satin on my body, I tugged at the zipper. The cups sagged so much, I could poke them and it looked like my boobs had inverted. The fabric stretched taut around my hips because my giant ass couldn’t possibly fit into anything but sweats.

Flustered, I growled, “Fuck you, cap-sleeved, sheath dress.”

I decided to try on something a little more flowy at the hips with the hope my ass wouldn’t burst through, hunting down its own zip code. But, of course, the trendy asymmetrical hemline looked great on the hanger, but around me, it was symmetrical.

I yanked that one off, put my clothes on, leaving the dresses, along with the last bit of my self-worth, in the fitting room.

I made it home before Henry. Like a woman on a mission, I scrounged through the cabinets, looking for something to soothe the loathing.

“There you are,” I murmured, finding a bag of miniature peanut butter cups. The sound of the foil was bliss. Just as I popped a third one into my mouth and moaned while chewing, the door swung open.

Henry walked in and dropped his laptop bag right behind the couch. “Pour me a drink, would you, love?” He padded up to me and cocked his head, watching me unwrap another piece of candy. “You all right?”

I lifted my gaze to his and popped another one in. “Do you want wine or your usual?”

“Usual…” His voice trailed off with obvious concern. I reached into the cabinet, pulled out two rocks glasses, the bottle of Walker, and poured two fingers in one glass, four in another. “Elaina, are you going to drink that? What’s going on?”

“Shitty day.”

“Let me guess… Dress shopping?”

“Ding.” I don’t normally drink whisky, but staring at the amber liquid, I thought,
What the hell
? I took a sip, cringing a little but enjoying the warmth.

“Are you going to fill me in?”

“Stores suck. Dresses suck. My body sucks. How was your day?”

“It was a Monday. I have a lot of work to catch up on tonight from leaving early last Friday… Back to you.”

“No, really, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I love your body, Elaina. It definitely does not suck.”

A defeated chuckle broke from my lips. I pushed past him and headed straight for the couch. Of course, he followed behind.

“Elaina…”

“Henry, stop. I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered.

“How about I show you how beautiful you are and how much I love your body?”

Glaring at him, I said, “Ha! Fat chance that’s happening.”

“I need you. I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

“Go pull one out in the bathroom. I’ll start dinner.” I stood and headed back to the kitchen, snatching two more pieces of candy.

“Really?” He seemed miffed. I worked my way through the kitchen, grabbing things for a salad. “You know, I think I’m going to head back to my place tonight so I can catch up on my paperwork.”

With knife and pepper in hand, I stared at him. “Henry, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. I’ll give you a call later.” He tipped back the rest of his drink, picked up his laptop bag, and headed out of my apartment.

Thankfully, after I apologized at least a dozen times, he returned the next night. Still feeling bad about how I looked, I didn’t want to have sex, but at least we cuddled. It was better than nothing.

However, he had a much different opinion about the situation.

All week, I hit store after store. Nothing. It was such a chore. I couldn’t decide on a single fucking outfit for the wedding. After seeing what was on the racks, there was a large degree of certainty finding a dress was going to be damn impossible. The few I did like looked horrid on my figure.

Defeated for the fourth day in a row, I opened the door to my apartment. A heavenly aroma flooded my nasal passages. Henry stood at the stove, tending to something.

Tongs in hand, he turned around. “Hey, my love.”

“Smells good in here,” I murmured and dropped down in a chair at the table. With a sigh, I rested my elbows on the table, leaning my face against one palm. He walked out with two glasses of wine in hand, the bottle under his arm. “Thank you. This is exactly what I need.” I took a hard drink, swallowing half the glass.

“I see you had no luck with shopping again,” he murmured as he topped off my glass.

Again, I sighed. “I swear, these idiot designers think every woman is a size two and has no tits or ass.” I glanced down at my chest. “Not that mine are huge, but my point is… It’s just stupid and I hate fucking dresses.”

Henry chuckled.
Not cool, asshole.
“Elaina, listen to me. You look insanely hot in a dress. That dress you wore on our first date? Your ass…your legs… Goddamn, I’m getting hard just thinking about it. Oh, and as for your tits… I find them perfect,” he said, heading back into the kitchen.

The entire week, he had been offering compliments, but I knew I wouldn’t feel better until I found a dress that actually worked for me.

Minutes later, he set a plate in front of me with a chicken breast drizzled in a lemon pepper sauce and a salad on the side.

“This looks delish. Thank you.” I picked up the fork and knife and dug right in.

“Anything for you. Back to this crazy dress situation, how about this?” I groaned in annoyance, leaving Henry to glare at me for a moment. Not indulging me anymore, he continued, “Call Claire and find out if she can take you tomorrow night. She should be able to help you find something.”

Mouth full of chicken, I responded, “Yeah…good idea.”

Henry laughed at my flawed manners, shook his head, and began eating his dinner.

-Henry-

Miserable, Henry walked into the blood bank, feeling like his morning spar at the gym did nothing to offset his mood. All he wanted to do was worship Elaina’s body and show her how in love he was, but she had been shoving him away all week. He was beyond flustered about how she spoke about herself, no matter how much he told her how beautiful she was.

When he walked in, he noticed Jennifer wasn’t at the reception desk. He figured she was in the break room making the coffee and headed to his office.

The message light flashed on his office phone. It was Jennifer, calling out sick for the day, which wasn’t good timing. It was close to Thanksgiving and he wanted to get the supply order in early for the beginning of the year rush. He pulled open the drawer that held his Sig and bottle of Walker.

“Hey, boss man.” Startled, Henry slammed the drawer shut, then looked at the door. Steve leaned in the doorframe and asked, “Jennifer’s sick?”

“Seems so.”

“You realize Sandy has off today, too, right?”

Henry sagged for a moment, barking out a string of obscenities. “I checked the schedule yesterday and we’re booked solid today. Plus, any walk-ins. Fuck me,” he moaned. “I really should hire a part-time employee.”

Eying him carefully, Steve asked, “You all right? Stuff like this doesn’t normally bug you.”

“Kind of having a rough week, I guess,” Henry muttered before dropping in his chair, thinking about the bottle in the drawer calling his name.

Steve invited himself in and got comfy on the couch. “What’s chapping your ass, boss man?”

Henry chuckled. “Well… You really want to know?”

“Why the hell not?”

“I’ve been dating this girl for about a month.”

“Nice. Is she hot?”

He shot Steve a glare. “Do you really need to ask that question?”

“You never know. You could just be looking for the light switch and enjoying the plunge.”

“Hell, no. Elaina is unreal. She’s perfect to me. Perfect
for
me.”

“Ohhhh… Boss man is in love.”

“Fuck off.”

“Then what’s the issue? If love makes you miserable, maybe you ought to rethink your stance on one-night stands.”

“I’ve had more one-nights and blow jobs in backrooms than anyone needs.”

“Maybe you should run a test and make sure you’re clean before your dick shrivels up and falls off. That would be tragic.”

“I’m clean. No worries.” He sighed, wondering if he should even be talking about his relationship issues, and deciding it wouldn’t hurt to get it off his chest. “So, her cousin’s wedding is tomorrow. She’s been out shopping this entire week, trying to find a dress. She can’t find a damn thing, leaving her in a shit mood at night, thinking she’s fat and ugly…which leads to no nookie for me.”

“So…no sex all this week?”

“Nope, not even blow job. Nada. Nothing. Zilch.”

“I haven’t had any sort of sex with anyone besides my left hand in almost a year, and you’re whining about a week? Greedy bastard,” Steve muttered.

“Maybe you ought to rethink
your
stance on one-night stands,” Henry echoed with a smirk.

“Touché.”

“She’s supposed to go shopping with her best friend tonight. I can only pray to all the gods she finds
something
. Christ, I’ve been telling her how beautiful she is and how amazing her body is all week.”

“Are you being truthful?”

“Of course! Every square inch of her is amazing. Her legs…ass…pussy…the way her long, black hair drags over my body while she’s kissing me down to my… I better stop or it’s going to get awkward in here real fast.” They both laughed. “Mostly, I’m just frustrated and I don’t know what to do to help her.”

“Got nothing for you, boss man. You’re on your own with this one.”

“Not really seeking out advice. Just venting.”

“No problem.” Steve glanced at his watch. “I suppose we should open up shop.”

They both stood. “Let the circus begin,” Henry mumbled.

-Elaina-

Once confirming Claire would pick me up for dress shopping, I spent the morning lounging in sweats, screwing around on social media, and even reading a bit.

But all I could think about was Henry and how sweet he had been to me all week over the dress disaster. Feeling awful about how I treated him, I decided to pay him a visit at work, thinking maybe we could do lunch…or
I
could be his lunch.

I walked into the blood bank’s front doors, and approached the reception desk, but no one was there. Weird. I looked around, and the waiting room was packed.

With a stack of file folders in his hand, Henry stalked out of the door on the left side of the reception desk, stopping dead in his tracks when his saw me. He looked quite stellar in a lab coat. “‘Laina? What…? Why are you here?”

“I’m feeling guilty about this whole week and about being a crazy bitch, so I thought we could, umm…
do
lunch.”

His arms lowered a bit, and he smirked. “I wish, love. But Jennifer called out and Sandy has today off. I’m playing receptionist, phlebotomist, manager…” He looked over my shoulder. My gaze followed his. Then he set the folders on the desk and placed his hands on my arms, dragging them down to my hands. “I really want to
do
lunch with you, but I just can’t. I’m stacked up. Sorry. Go figure, right?”

“Yeah, really. Do you want me to get you some food?”

“Actually, we just ordered for delivery and will eat in between appointments and walk-ins.”

Another employee popped out of the door on the right side of the desk, stopping. “Ready for another, boss man.”

“Thanks. Uhhh… Steve, this is Elaina. Elaina…Steve. He’s a phlebotomist here.”

I watched them exchange a nod, like Steve was giving his approval. I held out my hand and murmured, “Pleased to meet you.”

As he accepted, he said, “Pleasure is all mine, sweetheart.” Henry quirked a brow as his hand lingered. He pulled away and jammed it through his hair. “Right. Well, I should get back to work.” He snatched a file from a bin on the desk, and called out the name.

“Okay, well…I guess I’ll go back home until Claire picks me up.”

“I’m sorry. Wish I had the time.” He wiggled his brows which, in turn, made me laugh. He pulled me into a soft embrace, whispering in my ear, “Later, I’m going to fuck you silly. Love you.”

Suppressing a girlish giggle, I whispered back, “Love you, too.”

Henry pressed his lips to my cheek before I broke the embrace and headed out.

Right on time, Claire picked me up. It was my last chance to find something to wear to Julian’s wedding. If I didn’t find anything, we decided I would raid her closet.

The mall was stupid busy and we had to push through the mindless drones staring at the obnoxious holiday décor. There was so much shiny tinsel shit, I almost went blind from the glare. Not that I was Scrooge or anything, but I prefer to eat my Thanksgiving turkey without choking on the Christmas spirit.

“I cannot believe the holiday decorations are out and the Christmas music is blaring already. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet,” I muttered as we pushed through the crowd waiting in line to see the jolly fat guy in the red suit with all the creepy elves hanging around.

“It’s quite crazy, but you have to admit it is whimsical.” Claire’s sing-song voice made me want to punch something. “Let’s just find you a dress and shoes.”

“Yeah…a dress. Woohoo.”

“I feel your enthusiasm.”

“Oh, look who’s wearing the sarcasm hat today.”

With a smile and a bat of her eyelashes, she said, “I’ve learned from the best.”

I rolled my eyes as we walked into Nordstrom’s. “Why can’t I wear jeans?” I whined.

“It’s a wedding, Elaina, and you know damn well Henry wants to see you in a dress. Plus, he gave you his credit card, so you’re golden.”

“I’m not spending a ton of his money. We’ve only been dating about a month. I intend on paying him back when I get another job.”

“You actually have to
look
for a job to get one. You can’t just hang out all day, playing Susie Homemaker and being at your boyfriend’s beck and call.”

“Oh, can it, bitch,” I grumbled.

Claire sighed. “If you don’t want to spend too much of his money, be sensible. I’m willing to bet he couldn’t care less if you paid him back.”

“I will someway, somehow.”

When we arrived in the dress department, I was completely lost. And don’t forget grumpy. As I stared at the array of colors and fabrics, my palms sweated. I wiped them on my jeans and asked, “So…what’s the ‘in’ color?”

“Ummm… I believe it’s navy or some darker shade of blue.”

Claire pulled a few hideous pieces from the racks. “How about these?”

I lifted a brow. “Who do you think I am? Holly Glam Whore?”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“One’s a short tank that’ll barely cover my lady bits, and there are more sequins on this dress than at a drag show.”

She threw me a healthy glare, showing me another dress. “Maybe this then?”

“Do I even need to respond to that?”

“Seriously, Elaina. Stop being like this. You make me not want to help.”

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I would just rather…”

“Do as you please, like everything else,” she snapped.

“PMS?”

“If PMS is Marc, then yes.”

“Yikes. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Nope.”

I mouthed,
Okay
. Then said, “Well, I guess I’ll take a look myself then.”

Upon glancing around, I found a few dresses which looked acceptable. It seemed as if I was already having better luck than the rest of the week. Maybe because I was with the master of fashion.

I yanked the hangers off the ranks and headed to the fitting room. “Be out in a flash,” I said, closing the door behind me, feeling like nothing would work.

I hung the dresses on the hooks, and took a hard look at myself in the mirror. The cream cable knit fisherman’s sweater and my jeans were not the nicest. They were kind of baggy and worn, but they were the epitome of comfy. I pulled my sunglasses off the top of my head, letting my long black hair hang in my face.

I tugged off my sweater and pulled off my jeans, and took another look at myself in the mirror. I spun a bit, checking out my backside Henry loved so much. I wasn’t skinny, but I wasn’t too overweight, either. Poking at my belly, I shrugged. Just soft, I suppose.

Henry said he loved my body. Maybe someday I would go to the gym with him.

I pulled on the first dress. “Ohhh, no. Nope, not going to work,” I whispered. The deep “V” showed off my nonexistent cleavage.

The next one was a floor-length number. “Oh, hell no.”

With little hope, I murmured a small prayer while glancing up at the ceiling. “Please…oh, please, let this be the one.”

It was short—very short, like I better keep my panties in check short—boho-chic with bell sleeves. The scalloped-edge embroidered fabric shifted and flowed as I moved. The under-dress fit like a fucking glove. However, my knee-high socks covered in neon smiley faces did nothing for the look.

Twisting around several times, I admired my reflection. I felt like I was looking in a funhouse mirror for a moment, but then smiled and whispered, “Okay, this might work.” I opened the door slowly and peeked out, feeling a little self-conscious to walk out and show Claire. “Is there anyone around?”

“No. Come out,” she said anxiously.

I allowed the door to open all the way and watched her face for the telltale signs the dress looked better on the hanger. Her eyes grew as big as baseballs. “It’s horrible, right?”

“No! Elaina… It’s amazing on you. You look unbelievable.”

“Really?”

“Well, the socks leave something to be desired, but wow…” She pulled at my arm, dragging me to the mirrors in the fitting room hall and stood behind me. “Look at yourself. You have amazing legs, and your butt…” She slapped it. “No wonder that hottie boyfriend of yours is always staring at it.”

“Claire!”

“Well, it’s true! Every time you walk away from him, he’s watching your butt.” My cheeks flushed. “Don’t be embarrassed. That man has it big time for you. He always has lust in his eyes and desire in his words. I wish Marc looked at me like Henry does you.”