His Every Fantasy

His Every Fantasy

His Every Fantasy

Smashwords Edition

Holly Nicolai

Text Copyright © 2015 by Holly Nicolai

Cover Images © 2013 Shutterstock, Barbara
Kraft, Canstock

Cover Title and Work © 2015 HN Designs

Paperback ISBN: 978-1514325926

Newhouse Publishing Inc.,

PO Box 52, Havelock, Iowa 50546-0052

This book is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, organizations, and incidents are either the
product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and
any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is entirely
coincidental.

FIVE MILES DOWN. Five miles more to go. Damn,
the only thing better was Krav Maga training. It was the most
dangerous, non-sport, form of martial arts. Mandy was full of
anticipation concerning the high intensity workout she’d endure
later that evening. It was the favorite part of her night, five
days a week. The weekends were optional. As she reached the midway
point to the city’s limits, she became fanatic and obsessed to the
point of insanity and pushed her body right past its limits,
through the exhilarating, heart-pounding, all-over body burn,
running at full speed. Endorphins flooded her body with their sweet
release and freed her from the confines of her own mind. Only while
running long distance at full speed or doing her Krav Maga training
was she truly as free as the wind that sought to hinder her foot
falls.

Her best friend and roommate, Nicole Givens
had started the run with her, but quit after three miles and joked
about how insanely driven Mandy was even as she knew the driving
force behind it. She had also used the excuse of it being inventory
day and therefore, her turn to meet the delivery truck and put all
of the new best sellers out on the shelves. A job Mandy often
cherished and hoarded.

But after getting very little sleep the night
before, today she needed a release. She would be at the bookstore
moments before the doors were set to open for the day. She was
nothing if not punctual. Even on this, the one day of the year she
disliked more than any other, except one. It was the first day of
summer for most but for her, it was the busiest day of the season
at the bookstore. It was a day she tried to remain hidden in her
office with the excuse of having to do all of the ledger books for
the month before and allowed Nicole to handle all the customers and
sales.

Mandy preferred the solitude of her
self-imposed isolation where strangers who had no concept of
personal space, could not invade hers. The rude, egotistical,
know-it-all men who assumed it was ok to breeze right into her
space and assumed she'd automatically want to go on dates with
them, strangers. Whatever! She was perfectly content being a
strong, independent, decisive and successful business owner who
enjoyed being isolated from the world as much as
possible.

The last thing she needed was a piece of shit
straight man in her life! It was bad enough that she saw
him
––everywhere she turned, no matter how improbable or
impossible, since
he is
in prison. But he was due to be
released later that year on a damn technicality no less! She
convinced herself over and over that he couldn't find her there.
She'd been careful and even changed her name and had the records
sealed. She was safe now. No man would ever get that close to her
again!

Mandy shook her head from side to side as the
anger began to rise within. She forced her mind to shut down the
thought process before it could even get started. Those damn
thoughts refused to be but away and once again incessantly nagged
at her like selfish spoiled children who wanted all of her
attention. They were ruining her fantastic runner's high. Dammit!
David and his memory had no right intruding on her personal time,
her version of paradise.
Locked up, and he still haunts my days
and my dreams! I desperately need to find an outlet or avenue to
help me put the past to rest, once and for all.

Deep inside, hidden from everyone including
her closest friends, she was running on fumes and desperation. She
yearned to be normal like everyone else and just be able to move
forward with her life. Maybe Nicole was right and she merely needed
to step way out of her comfort zone in order to find that avenue of
relief. A place where she could remain anonymous for just one
night, where she could live the fantasy that resided within her
heart.

Too many people within a hundred mile radius
of her former home remembered her face due to the damn overwhelming
publicity of David's trial. She'd moved halfway across the country
to escape it all, but ended up having to accept the truth of the
matter, there was no escape for her.
Urgh! Enough of this
shit!
Mandy scolded herself at the city limits and pushed
herself even harder on her way back home to the condo.

After a quick and refreshing shower, Mandy was
grateful she was still riding high on her endorphin fuelled rush.
She stopped in front of her full length mirror and checked her
appearance. Her eyes travelled from the severe bun at the back of
her head, she had wrapped her hair into, the light makeup meant to
accentuate her features, down to her pin-striped, black and white
vest and jacket down past her pin-striped slacks to her red heels.
Deciding she looked like she'd blend into a crowd and be easily
forgotten, she left for the store. It was the one true source of
pride in her life and wouldn't have been possible without her
closest friends and co-owners, Nicole and Emmitt. Both had
befriended her when she'd moved to the city five years
before––lost, alone, and frightened of everything.

Nicole was a busty red head and very outgoing.
She made Mandy feel deficient just standing next to her, but one
couldn't help but love Nicole. Emmitt was just as outgoing and
charismatic and he had the best taste in clothes. He and his
partner Hunter were responsible for her fantastic wardrobe of
business and personal outfits.

She had received a multi-million dollar
settlement and used it to purchase an old run-down two story
warehouse at the heart of the city and at a rock bottom price too.
Together with Nicole and Emmitt's help, they all turned the old
warehouse into a combo book store and coffee house that, luckily
for them, had become one of the city's most popular. Emmitt ran the
coffee house with Hunter while Mandy and Nicole ran the massive
bookstore, both businesses were on the first floor of the building.
Emmitt and Hunter had converted the second floor into a beautiful
and tasteful home for themselves.

Mandy was responsible for all of the ledger
books, orders, invoices, ect.... for both businesses, since she was
the one with degrees in business and finance. Her friends had been
more than happy to allow her to do the isolated, solitary part of
the business, especially after they knew of her past or at least,
what she had told them about it. Not to mention, Emmitt and Nicole
both thrived on mingling with the wide variety of customers who
came in their doors. The design and layout of both businesses had
been all Hunter's doing and he was downright brilliant!

The first floor was set up so that those who
came to the coffee house could browse for books and vice versa.
Both businesses had been blended magnificently together in the
large wide open space.

When Mandy reached "The Crossroads" she
unlocked the door, entered and re-locked it again. All of her
senses informed her that she had most definitely reached her home
away from home. Glowing with pride, she stopped in her tracks and
paid close attention to her surroundings. Nicole was putting vases
of fresh flowers on all of the bistro tables and on the end tables
that sat on either side of plush, comfortable black leather couches
and chairs that Hunter strategically placed all around the book
store and coffee house. Some were also staggered around the stage
for the open mic nights Emmitt ran every Friday night. There were
also corner desks with computers on them for customers to search
the internet and a couple in the middle of the store specifically
for searching the massive catalog of inventory for the
bookstore.

Mandy had to admit, she had been against
adding the computers, afraid the atmosphere would feel too much
like a cold, impersonal internet cafe, but Hunter was right.
Keeping them hidden away in the corners, they did not detract from
the elegance and warm, friendly atmosphere of the place. They only
enhanced it. Mandy allowed her eyes to drift shut, the ledgers
tucked tight in her arms like cherished jewels.

She listened to the clinking sound of vases
being set against tables, the sound of the air conditioner kicking
on overhead, coffee beans being ground up in the grinder, dishes
clattering and the hum of machines.

Her olfactory was being tantalized by the
smell of freshly brewed coffee and freshly ground up beans along
with the sweet, warm scent of caramel and chocolate. Then came the
scents of freshly baked muffins and chocolate chip cookies just out
of the oven combined with the heavenly scent of books, new and old
alike.
This truly is my slice of Heaven.
She stood with a
relaxed stance and a serene smile upon her face. Her friends, used
to her eccentricities thought nothing of it.

"I love seeing you as relaxed as you are right
this moment...." Nicole whispered and let the rest of her sentence
fall away when she saw Mandy jump sky high as though she'd been
bitten by a rattlesnake. Nicole felt an immediate need to
apologize. "That is, until I opened my big mouth and intruded upon
your moment of peace. I'm sorry, Mandy."

Mandy opened her eyes and looked right at
Nicole with a huge smile upon her face. "It's perfectly alright.
You startled me is all."

"Where was your mind, sweetie?" Nicole asked
with a wicked smirk.

"No, I wasn't thinking about sex, Nicole. That
is your thing, not mine. I was merely thinking about how this place
is my home away from home and I felt the need to immerse myself in
the sights, sounds and smells of our perfectly designed and created
baby that has become so popular so fast. And once I put my
belongings and books in the office, I intend to immerse myself in
the taste." Mandy chuckled at herself for being so
fanciful.

"Well I'll be damned, girl! You honey, are
positively glowing from your runner's high. I love it! Now, just to
be sure, is this glow really from your runner's high or last
night's Krav Maga workout with Mr. Hot and Delicious, otherwise
known as Master Yang? Hmm?" Emmitt asked and wiggled his eyebrows
up and down and laughed. He handed Mandy, much to her surprise, her
large mug already filled with her favorite vice––a chocolate
drizzled mocha.

Mandy gave Emmitt a look of extreme gratitude
and switched her books to one hand. She used the other to bring the
mug to her lips and took a sip. She groaned in pure pleasure as the
ambrosia- gifted-from-the-hands-of-a-god took her taste buds on a
journey while she was convinced she just died and ascended to
Heaven.

"Emmitt! I can't even begin to thank your
god-gifted and talented hands enough! This is beyond words!" Mandy
gushed and smiled while her eyes became half-lidded.

"Oh darling!" Emmitt clapped his hands and
gave her a saucy look. "Your facial expression combined with that
moan was more than enough thanks. You almost turned me into a
straight man girl! Whew! God help the man at the end of that look,
he won't stand a chance!" Emmitt grabbed the nearest hardcover book
and fanned himself while they all laughed together.

Nicole and Emmitt laughed even harder when
Mandy's face turned a deep crimson. They both knew it would take a
hell of a lot more than Mandy's throaty groan of pleasure and a
look to turn Emmitt straight and away from his hottie surfer
boyfriend.

Emmitt himself was average in looks and bald
by choice. Tattooed sleeves covered his arms from wrist to shoulder
and at five foot six inches tall, he was slightly overweight. But
none of that mattered when compared with his larger than
life––there is no such thing as a stranger, charismatic
personality. That combined with his huge heart are what drew Mandy
to him years ago at the coin-operated laundromat around the corner
from her run-down apartment.