Page 51 of Grip Me Tight
She tilts her head and licks her lips, looking more siren than angel with that smirk playing at the edges of her full mouth. “What do you want to do now?”
20
Tanner
Sterling tugs my hand as she sees another shop from her list, and I follow her blindly down the cobblestone street.
Above us, wreaths full of flowers hang from the lantern-style streetlights, and the shops along this stretch all have striped awnings and colorful window displays. Every few feet there are dog water stations and signs with directions to hidden courtyards with plenty of shade, chairs, and we even saw one with a little outdoor library. Sterling is in love with this place. Laird grew up in a goddamn fairytale town.
We’ve been playing tourist for a couple of hours now and we still haven’t made it to a drugstore. Earlier, after pulling on my discarded t-shirt and making a pitcher of lemonade for us, Sterling curled up cross-legged on the couch, her tablet in hand and started researching Sugar Maple Shore. I drowsed next to her, the sound of her voice soothing, as she chattered away about historic mill sites, movie location profiles and shopping. After a too brief nap, where words danced in my head, almost fitting themselves into sentences that make sense, I awoke to Sterling straddling me, her phone making clicking noises as she took pictures of me while I slept. I toppled her, rolling her underneath me and tickled her breathless while she explained that cute partner pics included nap photos. I informed her that taking photos of someone while they’re unconscious puts you in line for revenge down the road and when her laughter turned to sighs and my tickling turned to stroking her satiny skin, we decided to head to town to find a place that sold condoms.
But once we made it to town, Sterling pulled out the list of places she’d researched and thought we should jump right into our ‘pretend’ lovers-getaway. This has got to be store number seven and as she pushes open the sunny-yellow door that jingles with the merry tinkle of bells, I pull her back before she can wander inside, kissing her because I can’t resist the way she looks in her pretty, white sundress. She giggles when I let her go and heads to the bookshelves I can see in the back.
I look around, wanting to take my sunglasses off, but I better not. Laird says the locals don’t bother the celebrities who wind up in town because they’re staying out at the lake houses, filming a movie, or trying to enjoy a vacation, but I still don’t want to chance it. For two whole hours, I’ve shopped and walked and taken selfies with Sterling in front of flowers and public art installations and I’m actually enjoying the anonymity.
Before we left, she convinced me to let her post one of the sleeping pictures of me to her Instagram account and we chose one together, where I don’t look too weird. Vera thinks having Sterling post it to her account first will look natural and will get picked up fast because people are tracking her socials since they discovered her name. She’s been checking her phone all afternoon and updating me on how the numbers are rising.#Kingmakertakesanaphas me rolling my eyes, but the photo and her cute story about me being a grumpy traveler is getting a lot of love. Sterling too. My possessiveness reared its head when I saw the comments from random guys asking her to comment back to them.
“Do you think we should buy this?” Sterling holds up an illustrated children’s book of lullabies and a stuffed bunny with a matching baby blanket. A lady nearby turns to smile at me.
“Those bunnies just came in.” An older lady wearing a bright-pink sundress and pearls smiles at me. Her dark hair is swept back in a bun and she steps away from the display she’s organizing. “Aren’t they adorable?”
“Adorable,” I echo, shaking my head at Sterling, who’s giggling as she cuddles the toy. I walk over to her. “I’m not encouraging those rumors.” I slide an arm around her and guide her to a jewelry case. The case is filled with beautiful, delicate necklaces and bracelets and the card on top of the display says the items are made by a local artist. “See anything you like?”
Sterling looks up at me through her lashes. “These pieces are beautiful, but you don’t have to buy me anything.”
I bend, licking the shell of her ear. “Let’s pretend,” I whisper.
She sighs and leans back against me.
The lady who spoke to me about the bunnies comes up to us. “Did you want to see something?” Her dark brown eyes twinkle. “May I make a suggestion?”
I nod. “Please do.”
She opens the case, lifting out a box, and places it on the glass top. It’s a rose-gold bracelet, the graceful chain meeting in the middle by a shimmering infinity symbol. “Because true love has no end and no beginning.”
Next to me, Sterling stiffens. “Oh, we’re…”
“We’re looking for something exactly like this,” I cut her off, smiling at the lady. “It’s a perfect suggestion.” I slide my hand down Sterling’s arm to lace my fingers with hers. “We’ll take it.”
The woman beams. “I knew as soon as you walked in it would be perfect.” She leans across the counter to me. “Even though your lady went to the back of the store, it was like there was an invisible chain connecting you. If there were fifty people in here, I’d still be able to see it.”
Sterling looks down at the bracelet, her hair falling over her cheek. “That’s a lovely thought.” She traces the infinity symbol with her finger.
I want her to make that pattern on my chest later. Right over my heart.
“May I?” The woman asks, unclasping the bracelet and holding it out to Sterling. Sterling extends her arm and I see her hand is trembling slightly. Something squeezes tight in my chest and I shake it off. She holds out her arm, admiring the way the bracelet shines and I lift her hand, kissing it. Sterling’s teeth worry her bottom lip, uncertainty all over her face when she raises her eyes to mine.
The lady holds a hand up to her heart. “You two. I love a love story.”
I pass her my credit card and the woman doesn’t even take a second glance at my name. She just talks about the beautiful weather and asks if we’re visiting. I explain we’re staying over in the lake houses for a couple of weeks. Sterling’s purse buzzes and she pulls out her phone, mouthing, “It’s Vera.” She thanks the woman and steps over by the door to take the call.
“If you haven’t tried it already, you should check out Vanilla Bean. It’s an ice cream shop and café and everything there is one hundred percent decadent and delicious.”
“We’ll check it out, thanks for the recommendation.” My eye falls on the counter where Sterling left the stuffed bunny. It’s white, but one ear flops over and I see multi-colored polka-dots on the satin lining. “I’ll take the bunny too, please.”
The woman raises her eyebrows and gives me a knowing smile. “Just let me wrap that up for you.”
I take the bag, thanking the woman again and hold the door open for Sterling. Out on the sidewalk I motion for her to give me the phone. She frowns. “It’s Vera,” she says. “Oh, no, sorry I was just letting Tanner know it’s you.” She nods. “Yes, okay.”
