Bookstore Barbie: Magnolia Ridge Series Read online

  “Take me now,” she says softly, and hunger hits me hot and low in my cock.

  “Right here?” I ask, my voice rough and deep.

  She clears her throat and steps away as she shakes her head. “That’s the next book on the list. Take Me Now. It’s over in erotica.”

  She blinks a few times as she turns away and walks quickly to another stack in the store.

  Jesus Christ, I’m not going to make it. Was I really about to take her up against a shelf of dirty books? Yes. All she had to do was say the word. I’ve never been this nuts over a woman before and suddenly I’m completely consumed with everything about her.

  “Here it is.” She grabs the book and opens it up and shows it to me. “You’re in luck! This one is signed.”

  “Do you have a lot that are signed?” I notice that this time when she holds out the book she places her hand so I’m sure to touch it again.

  “A few.” She begins to talk more animatedly about the books she gets from authors she’s reached out to and how much she loves her community of readers online.

  “And that’s why you wanted an all-romance book store?”

  “We need more of them.”

  “Considering the number of books my mother goes through, I’d say you’re right.”

  “Oh, this is one of my favorites.” She takes a book off the shelf and flips through a few pages. “Based on what your mom is asking for, I’d say this is one she’d love. The hero plans this perfect picnic date and then it’s one disaster after another, but it’s still the cutest thing ever.” She closes the book and holds it to her chest. “I swooned the whole time.”

  How do I make her do that for me? How do I give her that feeling she’s having right now? I don’t want to plan a night of disasters, but I want swooning.

  I place the basket on the ground and when she holds out the book I gently take her wrist and pull her closer to me.

  “What would it take for me to be a book hero?” I rub my thumb along her wrist and use my other hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

  She swallows hard before her lips part and her tongue darts out to wet them. “I, um, think you’re getting there.”

  “Will you let me know if I’m close?” I move in a little more and I feel her breasts against my chest.

  “Close?” She sounds confused as she looks at my mouth and back up to me.

  “If you want me to stop, now is the time to say so.”

  My hand moves from her wrist to her waist as I settle it on the curve of her hip.

  “Definitely don’t stop.”

  As the last word leaves her lips I swoop down and lock mine with hers. With one touch it’s like an explosion in a fireworks factory. I’ve never felt so hot, so fast, and she’s matching my heat.

  “Fuck,” I grunt when I feel nails dig into my chest as she pulls me closer to her.

  Both my hands grab her ass as I lift her up and grind her against my body. She moans into my mouth, rolling her hips forward, and I nearly fall to my knees from how damn good it feels.

  Something about her is so different and kissing her feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment. Who is this woman and how does she have this power over me?

  Even now as I fill my hands with her ass and her legs wrap around me, it’s like we’ve both been starved for this exact moment. Like our souls have been waiting all this time and finally, finally we’re together at last.

  My need is too much and I have to have it sated. My cock is aching between us and I need some relief. If I can just grind against her a few more times I’ll cum on myself and it will be enough for now.

  “Don’t stop,” she whines when I pull back to look in her eyes.

  “Never,” I groan. “I’m just gonna rub on you a little until I cum.”

  “Oh god.” Her eyes widen, but I feel the heat between her legs move over my hard ridge. “I-I think I might too.”

  “Good girl,” I whisper, and her cheeks flush.

  My lips are on hers again and the slick feel of her tongue on mine almost sends me over the edge. What does she taste like between her thighs? The thought of eating her pussy has cum leaking from me and into my boxer briefs. I’m going to make a fucking mess on them, but I don’t care.

  Without thinking I turn her and press her up against the bookshelf. She moans loudly as I thrust against her just like I would if we were fucking. I want to slip my fingers under her panties to see how soaked she is, but her legs wrap around me tighter.

  A sound nearby causes me to open my eyes, and when I do I’m face to face with a set of bright green eyes. Eyes that are so close it startles me.

  “Oh shit,” I call out as I grab Barbie in my arms and push away from the bookshelf.

  Everything happens so fast I have no idea what goes first, but at the same time I push away a black cat jumps off the shelf, sending the entire thing backwards and all the books with it.

  “Romeo!” Barbie shouts and the loud crash of the books echoes in the room.

  Just as she gasps, blue lights fill the bookstore and two police officers walk in.

  “Shit,” I whisper, and I don’t know what’s worse. Knocking over the bookshelf, the cops showing up, or the fact that I’ve still got a ten-inch erection that’s not close to going down wedged between her thighs.

  Chapter Five

  Barbie

  I bury my face into Shaw’s neck as I pretend to hide there. This is not happening. Everyone in town is going to be talking about this. There’s no way it’s not getting out and everyone knows everything.

  Not only am I selling dirty books but now I’m getting it on in the middle of my store. I groan when I hear Missy’s high-pitched squeal. Lovely. This keeps getting worse by the second and all the desire I was feeling moments ago starts to fade.

  “It’s okay,” Shaw whispers in my ear. He hugs me tighter and I fight a whimper when I feel his hard-on dig into me. Slowly I slip down his giant body until my feet hit the floor.

  “This is definitely against health codes. Shut this place down!” Missy snaps, and my stomach drops. I know it’s not against any health code, but the thought of closing down my store breaks my heart.

  “Can you get her out of here? She’s trespassing,” Shaw’s voice rumbles.

  I glance at Missy and see she’s pissed off. She’s glaring at the both of us and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear there was jealousy in her eyes.

  “I’m not trespassing. I own the shop next door.”

  “This isn't next door,” Shaw tosses back at her like she’s an idiot. The cop stands there looking a little confused on what to do as their eyes bounce between all of us.

  “Missy,” one of them finally says, standing up a little straighter. His uniform looks one size too big for him. “Why don’t you go back next door?”

  Her mouth falls open. “Clarence! If you ever want coffee from my shop again you better shut this place down,” she sasses, pointing her shiny red nail at him.

  “Barbara has free coffee.” Shaw nods towards my coffee maker.

  If looks could kill I’d be dead.

  “Look what they did in here.” Missy motions to the giant mess and Romeo goes strolling by like he didn’t have a thing to do with any of it. He jumps up on my desk and lies down to take a nap. “They even have wild animals running around.” She turns her lip up at Romeo.

  “That’s a cat.” He is a troublemaker but that’s neither here nor there. He’s cute as a button so he can get away with it.

  “She can make a mess in her own shop if she wants,” the other cop points out, and I see his name badge reads Thomas.

  “You two are worthless.” Missy turns and stomps off.

  “That woman hates me,” I mumble.

  “Who cares?” Shaw shakes his head, but I kind of care. She has a lot of business over there at her place. Everyone knows who she is and I’m sure she has lots to tell them about me.

  “Don’t worry about Missy. She’s always carr
ying on about something.” The cops look around my store. “Everything okay in here?” Thomas asks.

  “It’s fine. Is there something we can help you with? My girl is closed.” Shaw drapes his arm over my shoulder in a possessive hold.

  “We got a call you might be poisoning people,” the other cop says. “I think we know who made the call but we have to respond.” He gives an apologetic smile.

  “Isn't it against the law to make false calls to the police or something?” If anyone should get in trouble, it’s Missy.

  “Yeah, if we actually know without a doubt who made the call.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got something to investigate. I’ll see you out.” Shaw drops his arm from around my shoulder. He wants the cops gone but is it because he wants to get back to what we were doing, or clean up? I know which one I want to do but I have a feeling cleaning up is going to take precedence.

  “You know your back door lock is busted,” Thomas says, not moving from where he’s standing.

  “What?” I hardly use the back door unless I’m taking trash out. I don’t have a ton, so I only go out that door once a week maybe.

  “We circled the back before we came in. The lock is busted off. From the look on your face I’m guessing you didn't know.” I turn to go look for myself and Shaw snags me around the waist, stopping me.

  “Your place is upstairs?” I nod. “Let me go have a look.” He drops his arm from around me and steps over some books.

  “We’ll go,” the other cop says, but Shaw is already on his way to the back of the store. The two cops follow after him and Shaw barks at them to not step on any of my books. I fight a smile—he’s worried about hurting them.

  When they said the lock was broken, I figured it had to be an accident or something. I wouldn't put it past Missy to do something just to needle me. Does Shaw think someone is up in my place?

  “Babe, stay.” Shaw stops at the door that goes into my back storage area and the stairs that go up to my place. He takes up the whole doorframe so the two officers have to stop because he’s in the way. It’s humorous that he’s bigger than both of them. “Please,” he adds as a second thought.

  “Okay.” I stop walking.

  “Thank you.” He pushes into the back, leaving Romeo and me alone.

  “He called me babe,” I tell Romeo as I pet his head. He purrs with not a care in the world as his eyes stay closed. “You know you made this mess.”

  I’m bothered by the fact that he interrupted my makeout session and I lick my lips thinking about the kiss. My whole body buzzed with need as I moved against him, and his dirty words turned me on more than any book I’ve ever read. Something about him calling me a good girl almost made me orgasm. I was so close.

  “It’s all clear but your lock is busted,” Shaw says as he makes his way back to me with the cops following behind him. I hope I never have a real emergency in this town.

  “Could someone have run into it or something?”

  Shaw shakes his head. “There are marks on the door. It looks like someone hit it with a hammer.” I look towards Missy’s place, but what would be the point of breaking my lock? Oh god, what if she was going to come in here and try to do something to sabotage my business? Would she really go that far?

  “I haven't been out that way for a few days. I have no idea how long it’s been like that.”

  “When does the hardware store close here?” Shaw looks to the police officers.

  “Already closed.”

  Everything closes early around here. Not to mention it’s Friday and this is a high school football town.

  “I’m sure it will be fine until tomorrow.” It’s not as if this town has robberies. At least I’ve never heard of one since I moved here.

  “Did you want to make a report?” I can tell from the cop’s face he’s hoping I say no. What would be the point? How could you begin to find out if someone smashed my lock?

  “No.”

  “Yes,” Shaw says at the same. “You need to record it, babe.” The “babe” word once again has me agreeing with him. It’s almost up there with “good girl.” One cop lets out a sigh while the other mumbles about getting his pad from his cruiser.

  Shaw’s jaw ticks and I can tell he’s pissed about their response but doesn't say anything.

  I sit down at my desk when they come back and I answer questions. Shaw hovers over me the whole time. It doesn't take long, and they’re out the door after a few minutes.

  “I’m going to order us something to eat and then I’ll get to work. Pizza wasn't my ideal first meal for us but this date has had a couple of disasters so that’s working in my favor.” He winks at me, making me laugh. “I really am sorry about the books. I’ll get it cleaned up quickly.”

  He pulls me close and before I can react, his lips gently graze mine. I’m far from mad at him.

  I let out a small sigh, enjoying his touch and what it does to my body. I try to deepen the kiss but he pulls back.

  “We know how that will end up. How do you take your pizza?” he asks, taking a step back. He gives Romeo a long rub down his back and I’m suddenly jealous of my cat.

  “I like all pizza,” I admit. “Breadsticks too.”

  “My kind of girl.” He pulls out his phone to call the local pizza shop down the street and places an order. I stand from my chair and assess the chaos that is now my bookstore. Shaw’s hand comes to my hip and his body presses into mine from behind. “Relax, I got it.”

  “I’m not going to let you clean this up alone.”

  “Why don’t you go pack a bag? We'll get this sorted while we eat and then head to my place.”

  “What?” Why are we going to his place? I’m not saying no, I’m just a little surprised with how forward he is about it.

  “Never mind, we’ll stay here instead. You won’t want to leave your place unlocked with no one here. Not with that nut job next door.” I shake with laughter because Missy is a nut job.

  “You’re staying here?”

  “I’m not leaving my girl in a place that won’t lock overnight.” I like the sound of that.

  I think I’m actually happy about my busted lock now that it means I’m going to have Shaw all night.

  Chapter Six

  Shaw

  The soft heat pressing against my cheek makes me smile. But when I feel the tickle of fur I open one eye to see Romeo sitting on my chest.

  “This is not the pussy I was hoping to wake up to,” I mumble to him and I swear he winks at me before he hops off my chest and walks out of the tiny living room.

  I try to stretch but my arms and legs are sore from sleeping on Barbie’s couch last night.

  It took a long time for me to get the bookshelves back up and in place. Luckily I had some tools in my truck to bolt them down, which she agreed should have been done when they were installed. She used a cheap crew and they cut corners on a lot of the work. She’s lucky it didn’t happen while someone was on the other side of the aisle from us because they could have been seriously hurt.

  While I worked on the bookshelves she organized all the books. We talked a lot while we worked side by side and it was something I’d never thought could be romantic. I learned all about her love for romance and every now and then she would hold up a book and tell me how much she loved it.

  After we got everything mostly put away we had a picnic on the floor of pizza and room temp sodas. We talked for hours about everything you can think of like movies and music. But mostly we talked about books. I didn’t think you could learn so much about a person based on what they read, but even talking about childhood books together somehow bonded us in a way I’ve never been before. It’s like we were sharing the same secret when we talked about how we read Bridge to Terabithia when we were nine and cried at the end of it.

  The sun was coming up when we finally got up from our picnic and we walked upstairs to her place. It was small but exactly the place I would have pictured her living. There was one bedroom with
a full-size bed and a living room attached to a kitchen. The bathroom was on the other side of the room and it had just the basics. It was clean and filled with her touches everywhere, which made me want to stay longer. I want to know every little detail about her and memorize them.

  When we came up here she offered for me to sleep in the bed with her, and as much as I wanted to, I declined. It took every bit of willpower I’d ever had to turn her down and even when I did, I knew I’d made the wrong decision. I summoned all my strength and gave her one kiss goodnight before I closed her bedroom door.

  It was only a few hours ago and already I’m needy for her. Not just her body against mine but to look into her eyes. I have this pull to her I can’t explain and there’s an energy between us that can’t be denied.

  Romeo meows at her bedroom door and I see it open a little.

  “Shh. You’ll wake him up,” I hear her say softly, and I smile.

  “I’m already awake.” At the sound of my voice her door opens farther and she peeks her head out.

  “I’m so sorry. I usually sleep with the door open and I didn’t think about Romeo bugging you for food so early.”

  She walks out of the room in a loose-fitting dress that’s got thin straps, one of which hangs off her shoulder. It’s sheer and I can see her beaded nipples through the soft lavender material. Her dark hair is down in waves and she looks like she just woke up. We’ve only had about two hours of sleep but she looks like an angel.

  “Come here, babe.” I hold out my hand and without hesitation she walks over to me and takes it.

  I pull her down on top of me on the couch and hold her close. I kiss the top of her head as she snuggles against me and finally I feel whole again.

  Her legs move on either side of my waist and I can’t control my body as I thrust up into her warmth. My cock has been hard against my stomach all night, but even when I tried to relieve myself I couldn’t. I thought a few quick pumps of my fist last night while she slept in the other room would be enough to ease the ache, but I tried for way too long before giving up. It was like he knew her sweet little pussy was in the other room and he was mad he couldn’t have it.