Page 33 of Sugarplum

“Hey,” he called out when he saw me walking up to him. He pushed his phone into his pocket and then made his way up to me in a cute little jog. “Wow, you look even more gorgeous than I thought you would.”

I could only scoff and say “Okay, now you’re being sarcastic. I feel and look horrible. I thought I was going to have an easy day but my bitch of a supervisor dumped a whole load of crap at me and made me finish it before I could leave.”

“Really?” He asked with a frown. “Maybe I can just buy the company and then fire her.”

I laughed and poked at his arm, “You’re evil. She’d probably try to fight you even after signing the termination papers.”

“Wow, that strong-willed, huh?”

I sensed a tone of admiration in his voice, “You like that in a woman?”

He walked around his car and opened the front passenger door for me. I got in and waited as he shut the door, walked around and sat into the driver’s seat. “Well,” he said as he strapped on his seatbelt. “I like it when a woman knows how to take control but I also like a woman who can surrender everything to me. I see that as a different kind of strong will.”

“Surrendering is a sign of strong will?” I had to repeat the words to get the image in my head right. “That sounds like an oxymoron, if you ask me.”

“It will make sense, in time I guess” he told me as he began to drive out of the parking lot. “Anywhere you want to go first?”

I didn’t really think about that. The whole day all I thought of was what to say and how I’d look but I didn’t really think about where we could go. “Well, you mind passing by my place first? I just want to change my clothes and take a shower real quick.”

He glanced at me then back at the road as he said, “Why not just go to the mall with me? Let’s get you some new clothes to wear.”

I gasped and looked at him with a confused look, “I don’t think so! I still need to take a shower, fix my makeup and all.”

Dylan only laughed, “Trust me, you’re fucking hot as you are now. Let’s just go to a mall, buy some clothes and then let you wash your face in the bathroom. You don’t need all that fancy makeup and everything. Good lipstick is all you need.”

That was a little sweet, in a weird way. “Thanks, I guess,” I told him. I was just too tired to argue with his point. “There is a problem though: brand new clothes cost a lot. Let’s just shop at a dollar store or something, I’m sure I can find something there that’s at least half-decent to look at.”

“No, no, no,” he told me. “We’re going to some nice shop in the mall or down Main Street and to get you something nice. Don’t mind the price, I did promise last night that I will cover the costs.”

For a moment I wasn’t going to agree but then I look another look at what I had on and figured there was no pain in just agreeing. “Sure,” I relented and smiled. “You are buying me some makeup too, right?”

Dylan laughed and nodded.

“Definitely,” he said and took a left turn. We were heading down to the main shopping lane, downtown. “How ‘bout we stop at a restaurant first, get you all washed up and we can buy ourselves a snack?”

Well, I was hungry. “I like that idea. Mind if I get a chicken sandwich and a sundae?”

For some reason the way he looked at me and nodded just seemed so surreal. I couldn’t help but smile and reach out to touch his hand.

***

“Hey, you look a lot better,” he said as he looked at me. I had just gotten out of the bathroom, having washed my face and fixed myself up a little bit with some lipstick. I went with red - it looked perfectly hot and maybe even a little naughty with the way it accented my pale skin and the color of my eyes. I let my hair down after it had been up in a bun all day and I guess he found it sexy because I noticed his gaze was fixed on the way it swayed around my hips.

I sat down in the seat opposite him and took a spoonful of my sundae. I just watched as he kept his gaze on me.

“Thanks,” I answered after chugging down on my drink. “Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

“Has anyone told you you’re so damn fucking hot?”

I laughed and shook my head before replying, “A lot of guys have called me hot but not once did they say it that way.”

“In what way?”

I looked up and met his gaze. A naughty little smile crept up on my face and it was too late to hide it, “In a way that kinda meant you want to fuck me.”

Dylan smiled as well. For a moment he didn’t say a damn word and it gave me all the time in the world to just study his features. It was at this time I got to notice some of the intricacies that gave away his age, like the deeper lines around his mouth and some of the wrinkles by his eyes. It didn’t take away from his good looks - in fact, I thought these features made him look even hotter than before. He was like a really hot Santa Claus that would give me all the gifts I wanted even when it wasn’t Christmas.

“What if I told you I did?” he pressed on. He still kept his gaze fixed directly on me, like he was luring me with his eyes.

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