Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3) (23 page)

“Sorry,” I said. I lifted my head to flash them an
apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean to—”

My lips clamped closed before I could finish getting the
sentence out once I realized whom I’d nearly ran into—Kyra.

She stood before me, dressed in a pale yellow cover-up
dress. It brushed against the tops of her sandal-clad feet and wrapped around
her neck in a halter-top fashion. She’d obviously just come from the beach; her
striped bag was hanging off her arm with a polka dot towel dangling out.

“What are you doing here?” I spat out, surprised by my own
haughtiness.

Her ruby red lips twisted into a vicious smile. “Well,
hello, Addison, nice to see you again too.”

I hated the way her eyes seemed to mock me.

“This is a bookstore, is it not? I enjoy reading…didn’t you
see the book in my hand when you and Theo came tromping to the house after your
little discovery the other day?” Her voice was so condescending it made my skin
prickle with aggravation.

Kyra held up two books she’d obviously just purchased and
shook them in the air as evidence.

“Right,” I said. “So, how was the beach?”

There were just a few minutes before I was supposed to be
inside. Why not grill her while I had the chance? No better way to find out
about something than from the source itself.

“Rather nice actually…breezy, golden, finely sculpted,
captivating.”

She was referring to Kace; I knew she was. I’d never been in
a fight before, but I could feel my entire body tensing like I was readying for
one any moment.

“Better calm down, little fire starter. Wouldn’t want to do
something in public you might regret,” she hissed.

Great, this must be my second bad thing of the day to
happen. Now I’d be waiting all day for the third to slap me in the face.

I inhaled through my nose and held my breath. She was right.
If I didn’t gain control, then I was sure to set myself on fire right here on
the sidewalk in front of everyone. I released the breath I’d been holding as a
loud clap of thunder startled me.

“Listen, I see where this is going.” She leaned forward, her
coconut body spray tickling my nose. “I’m not stealing Kace from you, if that’s
what you’re all worked up over. Well, at least not intentionally.”

There was a truth to her words. It was reflected clearly in
her caramel-colored eyes.

“Then what are you doing?”

“Buying some books and enjoying myself before the Spirits
carry out the plan they have for me,” she said. “I’m here for a reason. I just
haven’t figured out that reason yet.”

Rain began to pelt the overhang we were standing under in
fat drops. The wind picked up a little more, and thunder boomed in the distance
again.

“Kace is a good guy,” Kyra said in a soft tone, every ounce
of haughtiness devoid from her voice. “You were lucky to have him once, and
then twice, but don’t blame me if he doesn’t happen to want to hang around for
a third. That was your and Theo’s doing. Not mine.”

She walked away, clutching the books she’d just bought to
her side. I stood under the awning, listening to the storm brewing around me,
realizing how right she was. Maybe, just like Adam, Kyra wasn’t so bad either.

Lightning flashed nearby, and I darted into Spellbinding
Reads. It was too cool inside for my liking. Admer must have turned up the air
at some point. As I headed toward the back office to put my purse up, I noticed
there were only two customers in the entire store. One sat in an overstuffed
chair, reading. The other stood at the ever-popular coffee machine. I relaxed a
little; maybe I’d be able to catch up on some reading of my own today—if the
storm kept the customers at bay, that was.

I smiled as I passed the person reading, thinking shoving my
nose in a book might save me from having any awkward conversations with Admer
today.

One thing I’d learned over the years of being a bookworm,
people tended to leave you alone when they saw you with your nose crammed into
a book. At least in my experience they did. Vera often told me it was because
of two reasons: One, it made me seem antisocial. And two, guys took it as a
sign I was too intellectual and didn’t bother to talk to me.

I prayed books would save me today. I needed a break.

Admer was in the back office when I entered. He was crouched
near the back wall, doing something with a box of books, which happened to be
the new release I’d been waiting to hit the shelves for quite some time. Maybe
today wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

“Ah, good morning,” Admer said in that strange tone he
always seemed to use, the one that made me believe he thought he was so
superior than me. “I need you to help me carry a few of these out to the front
desk so I can scan them into the system before they go on the shelves
tomorrow.”

Shoving my purse where I usually did, I crossed the small
room toward him. No mention of the initiation or the tether right off the get
go; this day was looking more promising by the second.

“Why don’t you just carry the entire box to the desk?” I
asked, thinking it seemed like a simple enough strategy to get them all there
quickly.

Admer froze and turned slowly to glare at me over his
shoulder.

“That would suffice, wouldn’t it?” he asked. A small smile
twisted his lips, but it wasn’t one I wanted to reciprocate. It held a sense of
eeriness within it. “I’m a little out of sorts today.”

He began placing the books carefully back into their box.
Taking a few from his arms, I did the same. The bell at the front desk rang.

“Could you go help them while I finish this up?” Admer
asked.

“Sure,” I said, placing the last book I held back in the
box.

Something was off with him, I knew this; I just couldn’t
decide what.

“Hey, can I help you?” I asked the sweet-looking old woman
who stood at the front desk with a smile.

“I’d like to try a peppermint tea, please, and I don’t know
how to work that crazy contraption you have over there,” she said in a sweet
voice.

“I can help you with that.” I walked over to the machine.

This was the type of old woman I hoped I’d be like when I
grew old—the sweet, grandmotherly-looking kind who everyone adored
instantaneously.

After helping her make a peppermint tea, I walked with her
back to the front desk so I could ring up the three books she had tucked
underneath her arm. I had to fight to keep my jaw from dropping when I saw the
covers of the novels she’d unabashedly handed to me. They were of half-naked
couples in erotic positions. The type of books that you used the words lustful
and steamy to describe, and it still wouldn’t touch how hot the sex scenes
between the pages were sure to be.

“Okay, that will be $13.38,” I said, hoping my cheeks
weren’t as red as they felt.

“Don’t be embarrassed, sweetheart,” the woman said as she
dug around in her oversized purse before finding her wallet. “I’m not. I’m old,
not dead. I enjoy a nice erotic read every once in a while. Let me let you in
on a little secret… It’s those types of books right there that have kept my
marriage alive for so many years, because if I don’t want it, then he doesn’t
get it. Those books make me want it.” She winked at me, and I thought my face
would literally catch on fire right there in the store.

“I’m sure,” I said, raising my eyebrows all the way to my
hairline.

The only other customer came up behind her to wait in line,
and I saw her lips form a shocked smile that mirrored exactly how I felt.

“How much did you say it was?” the old woman asked as she
glanced into her wallet.

“$13.38.”

“That’s what I thought.” She handed me a ten and three ones.
“Hold on, I think I have the change.”

I waited, replaying what she’d said to me in my mind, while
she counted out the thirty-eight cents.

“Here you go.” She smiled. “Have a good day…and remember
what I said—best way to keep a marriage alive!”

“Oh, I will,” I assured her, feeling the flush from my
cheeks creep all the way down my neck.

After the old woman had turned and walked away, the lady who
was behind her in line leaned over the desk and gaped at me.

“Did I hear her right?” she asked. She was about my mother’s
age with thick, curly red hair past her shoulders and wide-set brown eyes. “Did
she really just tell you that
dirty books
are the key to a healthy
marriage?”

I nodded. “She sure did.”

“Wow.” She smirked. “That is
hilarious
!”

Nodding, I laughed aloud. “That was hands down the craziest
piece of advice I’ve ever gotten from an old lady.”

“I bet,” the redhead said as she placed her books and one
wooden farm animal puzzle on the desk for me to ring up. “I think I could say
the same.”

I rang her stuff up and placed it all in a green grocery bag
for her.

“Thank you. Have a good day.” I smiled, handing it to her.

“You too, sweetheart,” she said. “Maybe you won’t get any
more advice today you’d rather not have mental images to go with.”

Oh, man. Why did she even have to go there? I hadn’t.

After the redheaded lady left, Admer came out from the back,
carrying a box of books. He sat them on the desk beside me.

“Why don’t you scan these into the system for me?”

I grabbed the first one out. “Okay.”

“I’m going to the back to make a few important phone calls
about a shipment of novels that should have been here with those,” he said, and
then he started back toward the office.

I flipped through the first few pages of the book, eager to
read the first sentence. I’d always been a sucker for a good first sentence. My
cell phone vibrated in my back pocket.

Pulling my phone out, I glanced at the screen. It was Vera
calling. Looking over my shoulder toward the office, I noticed Admer had closed
the door for privacy and I hit answer.

“Hey,” I said.

“Why are you whispering?” Vera asked.

“I’m at work.”

“Talking on the phone while on the clock…what a rebel.” She
snorted.

I rolled my eyes and grinned. “Whatever.”

I missed her.

“So, how’s the beach life treating you? Did you end up
telling Kace about the kiss with
my
hot fisherman fling?” she asked.

It felt like it had been forever since I’d last talked with
her. So much had happened since then, and the majority of it I couldn’t even
share with her. We were still worlds apart.

“I did.”

“And?” she pressed. “Did you take my advice and tell him
when he was either half asleep or drunk?”

I shook my head and smirked into the phone. “No, I told him
straight up.”

“And how did that go?” I could hear the grimace in her
voice.

“Actually, it went better than I’d expected…at least the
first time.”

“The
first
time? You told him about it more than
once? Explain. Now.”