Page 6 of Cullen
Cullen ended up getting the entire set for thirty-five dollars.He couldn’t have been happier if he’d just won the lottery.Almost out of nowhere, Toy Man decided to come and get him to sell him the table for twenty bucks.
“Why would I sell you the table for that much when that was what I wanted in the first place?”He said that he’d told him not to buy it.“You did, and obviously, I didn’t care what you said.I wanted the set, and that’s what I bid on.You should have bid on it if you wanted the table.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to leave the other pieces behind.Bill has a rule about that with me.He seems to think I bring in my trash when I’m here and leave it behind when I’m bidding on stuff.You sell me that table, and we’ll be good friends again.I don’t want to have any hard feelings between us.What do you say?”He told him no, he was happy with his purchase.“Where are you even going to put that thing?No house around here is big enough.All your brothers done bought them up.You Dixons think that just because you have all the money, it means you can have the bigger pieces around town.Well, I’m telling you right now that I want that table and you’re going to sell it to me.That’s what’s fair since I already told you I wanted it for my shop.”
“I don’t think so.”He looked like he was going to hit him, and Cullen just stretched out his muscles and popped his neck a couple of times.“You’d better have your will in place if you think abouthitting me.I’m not going to allow you to hit me without retaliation.”
“Cullen?Don’t kill the man.”He told his mom that he’d not, but would if it came to it.“All right.People around here don’t much care for Jackson and his ways.They’re happy that you got the better of him.So you do what you need to do, and I’ll be right here with you.”
“Excuse me, but can you please tell me who bought the box with the little golden egg in it?”He glanced down at the woman in front of him, not having a clue what she was talking about.“It was in one of the boxes on the table.I saw you standing there and wondered if you’d purchased it.”
“I didn’t purchase any little boxes.My mom did.Lady, there’s something going on here that you might not want to be a part of right now.”She said that she was his distraction.“I don’t need for you to be distracting me if he’s going to come out with his fists.”
“He won’t hit you.He’s a bully, but he’s not going to hit you.You’re bigger and stronger than he is, and he’s just a man that’s a bully.”He finally looked down at her when she took his hand into hers.“The box.It had a golden egg in it.I know you bought it or your partner did.I saw you wrap it up with the other things that were bought.I’d like to see if you’d sell it to me.However, I’m not going to be putting up a fight for you for it.Just asking.”
“Mom?”She said she was here.“Mom, did you purchase an egg in some of the things that you bought?”
“I did have an egg in one of the boxes.Jackson is gone now.Let’s go and see what we can figure out.”She took his other hand in hers.“Come on, Cullen.I want you to come with me now.It’s all over.”
The calmness is what he felt first, not from his mom, but the woman who was still holding his hand.When they got to the tree, she didn’t let him go like his mom did, and he looked around to see if someone was playing a joke on him.He’d never felt so calm in his life other than right now.He finally asked her what she wanted the egg for.
“I collect them.It’s not much, just a pretty egg that someone decorated, but I like the way they look on my Christmas tree.I have a whole tree of them now, and I can’t have too many.”She smiled at him, and he looked at her face.“You’re very handsome.Has anyone ever told you that before?”
“You’re very beautiful.”He found himself leaning down to smell her.Her throat seemed to be calling to him.As he inhaled deeply of her neck, he felt like the world around him centered.Cullen looked at his mom.“I don’t know what’s going on right now.She’s making me feel things that I’ve never felt before.”
“What are you telling me, Cullen?”He told his mom that he didn’t know, but felt like she was the one that would be there for him.“She’s your mate?Just like that, you’ve found your mate?”
“I guess so.”He looked at the woman who was now holding the golden egg that she’d been asking about.“Would you have dinner with me tonight?”
“Sure.I’d love that.”She grinned at him again.“You might have to pay for it all on your own.Your mother knows that I want this piece and can charge me about anything she wants for me to get it from her.”
In the end, Mom gave it to her for being there when Cullen was in a high temper.She introduced herself then as Emmie Norton, and he couldn’t believe his luck.Or bad luck for her, he couldn’t tell just yet.But he’d found his mate, and he’d gotten the table and chairs.Things were going well for him, and he couldn’t believe it.Now all he had to do was tell her what she was to him and hope that she could calm him with his nightmares as well.He was having them nightly since he’d bought the house and wanted to blame it on the new house.But he’d been having nightmares since he’d retired from the service six months ago and didn’t think anything could make them any better.He only hoped that she didn’t leave him now that he’d found her because he couldn’t sleep through the night without screaming his head off.Time would tell, he supposed, and couldn’t wait to have dinner with her tonight.
Chapter 3
Emmie didn’t know what made her say yes to the man about dinner.He’d been going to kill the older man when she’d walked up to him to talk to him, and she still didn’t know what had made her do that.As soon as he looked at her, she felt her sadness for the way that her sister had treated her dissipate, and the thought of going out with the man, even though she didn’t know him he for whatever reason made her happy.
Taking her prize out of the deal made her thrilled that she’d gone to the auction today.They didn’t have things like this where she was from.They had estate sales, and that was all.Everything was tagged with a price, and you either had to pay it or not get it.She loved bidding on things that she might want to get.
She’d gotten caught up in the auction by watching the other people bid on things that they wanted.She even got caught up in the man, Mr.Jackson, going around telling people that they weren’t going to bid on the table as it was his.She’d marked him as a bully and an asshole from the very start.One who was used to getting his own way when it came to pushing people around.She knew people like that.She not only worked with them, but they were a part of her life.
Cullen was going to pick her up at six.It was only two now, but he said that he had to get his furniture to his new home and would be able to pick her up after that.His mom was nice too, in that she’d let her go through her purchases of box lots; they were called to see if she wanted anything else.But all she wanted was the egg and was happy that she’d been willing to part with that.As soon as she got to B&B, she put the egg on the shelf and marveled at it.
It was nothing more than a Styrofoam egg that had been decorated with beads and seed pearls by sticking straight pins in the décor.This one had a special look to it as it looked to be decorated with just enough color to make it eye appealing.She was thrilled that she’d been able to find who had purchased the box lot and even more thrilled that she’d gotten it for free.Then she thought of the man Cullen again.
She didn’t know the Dixon family.She’d heard about them through her sister.How they were always donating things to the city to keep it in good shape.She didn’t care that they had money, but she was glad that they weren’t stingy about their money in sharing with the town, which she thought looked better than the way that Mary Beth commented on it.
While she was getting ready, she realized that she should have given her phone number to Cullen.Oh well, he knew where she was staying and thought that he’d get in touch with her from the B&B she was staying in.Deciding not to leave until later in the week, she was going to spend as much time as she could getting to know the man.He seemed nice and friendly, and she thought that for the next several days, he’d make her vacation a little less depressing.She’d still see her sister, but not without having a good time with Cullen while she could.She even liked his name.Cullen Dixon seemed like a very nice man.
Putting on her summery dress, she decided that she was going to pay for pizzas to be delivered to her sister’s home tonight.Mary Beth, of course, wanted to know all about what she was doing tonight, and she told her that she had a date.
“A date with who?You can’t have a date after this short of time.Tell me who he is, and I’ll tell you all about him.”She told him who it was.“Oh, he’s the worst of the brothers.Always causing trouble around town.He’s the one who got the kids caught tied to the car when the police were called.You can’t date him, and that’s final.”
“If he got Bash in trouble for tying his kids to his car, then I’ll marry him if he asks.I’ll have his kids too if he was as nice to me as you’ve been mean.”She said if she were to give her the money forBash to be out, then she’d be all right.“I don’t want Bash out.And while we’re talking, I want to take the kids to the movies tomorrow.If you don’t mind.”
“Lunch and the movie?Why can’t I go?”She told her that she needed to see Bash.“That’s right.I did miss out on seeing him last night.That’s not right, either, you know.That I can only see him for two hours in the morning and two in the evening.I want to be there for him all day.”
“You’ll see him tomorrow night while I’m out with the kids.”She sounded disgruntled, but in the end agreed that it would be all right so long as she brought something back for her to eat.“All right, but it’ll just be a sub or something like that.I’m not going to get you a five-course meal when we’re going to be having burgers and fries.”
