Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
So, the hair hung past her shoulders, though when she pulled one corkscrew down, it extended far longer. Hurrying to comb through it before it could start to dry, she finished it off with a squirt of mousse. Presumably the mousse would keep it from flying all over the place. Ha.
Nicoya grabbed a pair of gold hairclips next. She picked up a lock off her forehead, twisted it around and around, and clipped it back before doing the same on the other side.
There. She felt better. Sort of. She was dressed for the evening, and even though she hadn’t fully slid into her Little space, she would as soon as she arrived at the club.
Nicoya had only joined Blaze recently. She’d hedged for a long time even though she’d known Avery was a member. She’d been worried about what people would say or think. After all, there was no way to avoid people who lived in this town, and putting herself out there like she did by openly practicing her kink at the club was risky.
Taking a chance one day, she’d confronted Avery about her kink. The woman had graciously encouraged Nicoya to visit the club, and the moment Nicoya had met all the Littles who went there, she’d felt welcome and…home.
Nicoya had been shocked to realize how many members of the community were Little. Not just Avery by a longshot. Everyone who worked at Little Cakes was a member. The florist. The owner of the tattoo parlor. The owner of the coffee shop. The owner of Nibbles & Bites. The list was long. Hell, even the woman who’d recently remodeled Nicoya’s deck, Jordi, frequented Blaze with her Daddy.
Nicoya really needed to get a move on so she could arrive there early. She liked to maximize every minute she was able to play in her most comfortable headspace.
Dinner was the next item on her mental list. She considered her options even before she reached the kitchen, deciding on a healthy frozen dinner. When she opened the freezer, she took stock of her options. On the left was the pile of foods she reserved for her Little. On the right was the stack for her adult—the responsible food that had vegetables, whole grains, and proteins.
Nicoya held a hand up to her face to block her view of the left side of the freezer, forcing herself to make a healthy selection. She’d eaten crap from a drive-thru for lunch. She needed something better for her body tonight.
While the frozen dinner heated in the microwave, she stood at the kitchen sink, staring out at her neglected backyard. She hadn’t had time to mow it in over a week. Normally she paid a neighborhood kid, but he was out of town this month with his family.
Something caught her eye, and she turned her attention to the side of her yard. Someone was there. A man. In her yard. Was he digging a hole? What the hell?
Granted, there wasn’t a fence between the two properties, but she knew good and well where the property line was.
Nicoya yanked open the back door and rushed outside, not wasting a single second as she speed-walked off her brand-new deck and across the too-tall grass. “Excuse me,” she nearly shouted.
The man had his back to her, but she noticed he had on a navy T-shirt with the logo for the local landscaper on the back. She glanced around quickly, spotting a tree lying on its side near where the man was digging. What the hell was he doing?
When he didn’t turn around, she tried again, louder this time. She was only a few yards behind him now. “Excuse me!”
Nothing. No response. Was he rude or deaf?
Nicoya closed the distance and tapped the man on the shoulder just as he stuck the huge shovel into the ground yet again.
He spun around so fast, she yelped and jumped backward, nearly falling on her ass. She’d scared him too though. He set a hand over his heart, dropped the shovel, and tugged an earbud out of his ear.
Ah. That’s why he hadn’t heard her.
For a moment, they stared at each other, both breathing heavily. Nicoya didn’t know the man. Obviously he worked for Bark and Branches Landscaping, the largest of the town’s landscaping companies.
Of course, Nicoya didn’t know the owner of the house either. Her neighbor had moved in only a few weeks ago, and he’d had so many people helping him move that she hadn’t known which of the men she’d seen coming and going had been the new owner. She hadn’t seen a woman at any point, and she had no idea where the man worked or what his hours were, but they didn’t match hers because she came and went without bumping into him in the driveway.
Suddenly, the man smiled and held out a hand. “You must be my neighbor. Nice to meet you. Axel Jennings.”