Page 29 of Risking it All

Needless to say, the six boxes of shoes were all size eight and a half. There was a pair of sneakers, two pairs of sandals, and three different heels including a black pair of pumps like the nude ones I’d worn to Cashville. How was this selection so perfect?

I couldn’t wait to wear one of the flowy dresses, but at that moment, I just wanted to get naked and lay in that big comfortable bed and rest. The one from my other room felt like a cloud. I knew a king-sized bed would be even better. Opening one of the drawers on the wardrobe, I shook my head when I discovered that it was also full to the rim. Various styles of panties and triple D bras filled the top drawer. The other drawers contained T-shirts and loungewear. I was so grateful to Sawyer and whoever he’d sent out shopping that I could cry. Maybe I could get a new start after all. I couldn’t wait to try.

A knock on the door interrupted my exploring, so I closed the drawer and sauntered over to the door. My face heated as I swung the door open, expecting to see Sawyer. Instead, there was a middle-aged woman with a pixie cut and a big smile.

“Hey, Miss Iris, I’m Denise. I’m over the laundry department. I see why Sawyer is so smitten with you, honey. Look at all these hips and thighs, and you’re such a pretty thing. I’m so glad to see him so happy that I just had to come up here and meet you. How you doing, baby? He told me you had a health scare.”

“I’m fine. Thank you for checking on me.”

“Well, Sawyer told me you were here and dared me to come up here and mess with you before you finished getting your beauty rest. Well that just meant that I had to check in.”

“Thank you for checking on me. Are you the one responsible for buying all this stuff?”

“Yes, ma’am. He gave me a list of stores to use to shop for you and gave me a nice little bonus to come up here and make sure everything was here before you got here. He must really like you.”

“I guess so.” I shrugged.

“Ain’t no guessing. I hear you’re looking for a job. He told me that you wanted to start in the morning, but I don’t think so. You just got out of the hospital. I don’t know what you were in for, and he didn’t get into all that. The only thing I need to know is that you have gotten your proper rest. Don’t you come down there for at least two days. If I were you, I would lay up in this room and run up a tab with room service as long as I could before I thought about working. This place has some fabulous restaurants. The staff eats free while we’re working and at a seventy-five percent discount when we’re off. They take it out of your check if necessary, so have at it. I have a feeling Mr. Ash ain’t gon’ let you spend your money anyway.”

“I plan to get some rest and go from there.”

“Well, I’ll have someone to bring your uniform and shoes up later. That don’t mean you have to start tomorrow. Like I said, give yourself a couple of days to recover.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I nodded.

“Alright, baby girl, let me get out of your hair. I just wanted to introduce myself.”

“Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome. Try to get you some rest.”

I woke from a dead sleep right before six o’clock. My growling stomach pretty much dragged me out of bed. Since Sawyer was coming for dinner at seven, I picked out a cute dress and headed to the shower. It was actually sickening how eager I was to see Sawyer.

It had only been a few hours since he’d left, and I was straight giddy as I lathered my body with the strawberries and cream bodywash from the bag of supplies. I had been using hotel soap since I’d been here, so I was grateful to have some of the good stuff.

The Syre’s Elle skin-care line was expensive, but as I stepped out of the shower, smelling amazing and feeling butter soft before I even moisturized, I deemed it well worth the money. After drying off, I used the strawberry body oil to moisturize my skin before putting on the fitted, seafoam green dress and gold sandals.

For the first time in a while, I felt pretty without someone having to tell me. I knew that I was a pretty girl somewhere underneath all the sadness and self-pity. I prayed to find that girl again. Tonight, I just wanted to be in good company and enjoy some good food, bonus points if I could forget the possibility of being found and murdered for running away from my forced destiny.

As I put on the silver cross necklace my mom had given me, a knock at the door startled me. I looked over at the clock just to make sure I wasn’t tripping. It was only six thirty. The possibility of being found made my heart race. I rushed over to the door and looked through the peephole to see who it was.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Sawyer on the other side, running his hand over his freshly cut fade. His gold grill glistened, and his beard looked freshly trimmed, highlighting his gorgeous plump lips. I just watched him for a second because it was so cute that he looked nervous. Stepping back, I tore the door open and stepped aside to let him in.

“Wow, you look good, mama,” he said, eyeing me from head to toe.

“Thank you. You look pretty good yourself. I see you got your hair cut.”

“You noticed.” He grinned, putting his hand on his cheek playfully.

“Stop it.”

“No, seriously. Thank you. I wanted to look good for our first date.”

“I wasn’t aware that this was a date,” I noted, cocking an eyebrow.

“Well, now you know,” he countered.

“I’m glad you called it a date. Now I don’t feel so weird about being overdressed for a night in.”