Read Online The Devil Makes Three by Julie Mangan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Julie Mangan
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And why do you insist on following me?”
“I’m not following you. I happened to be attending to some business and saw you. And don’t pretend you don’t like seeing me. I see you’re not picking out some cotton Mumu in Sears. You’re putting thought into this. You care. You’re probably wondering about that delicate balance between sleazy and sexy, and wondering what drives me crazy.”
Too late, I thought. “I’m wondering how many more locks I can fit on my door.”
“Personally, I like the red.” He brushed his hand across the robe I held just moments before. “But not the coverage. You need something like this.” He walked back over to the rack I stood at before and selected a spaghetti strap floor length night gown. “It’s…tempting.”
I walked over to him without knowing why, other than his charisma sucking me in like a black hole. He smiled and raised a hand, tracing the chain of the emerald necklace along my neck. “Of course, green looks good on you too.”
My breath caught in my throat and I had no comeback for him, either. What am I supposed to say? I wondered. Thank you? You’re a pig? You’re crazier then Jack Nicholson in an empty hotel? I don’t want to think about what you’re thinking? But that last one wasn’t true. The thought of him liking whatever I bought weighed on my mind more than I cared to admit, even to myself.
What does that say about me?
He seemed to read my mind and grinned, taking a green nightgown from the rack. Looping his arm through mine he pulled me towards the checkout counter and bought both nightgowns, brokering no arguments from me. In an effort to keep from making a scene, I repressed myself during the actual transaction but went back to resisting him once the salesgirl finished making wistful eyes at him and went back to arranging a table of smutty underwear.
“What do you think this is going to get you?” I asked, brandishing the bag at him.
He smiled and shrugged, backing away from me. “I don’t think it’s going to get me anything. Not anything I wouldn’t eventually get anyway.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
Overconfident slime-ball. Or should it be slime-balls?
I waited until he had passed out of the store and bolted after him, tossing my bags on my arms and knocking things about as I ran. Getting to the edge of the store, I peered around the glass display window and saw him walking back up the way I had come.
Lacking the skills necessary to call myself covert, I instead settled for distance. I didn't want to lose him, but I didn't want him to know I followed him either. Walking behind others when I could and darting to the other side of the concourse occasionally, I managed to keep an eye on him, all the way back down to PJ's PCs.
He went inside and I creeped up to the door, peering around the corner. He walked up to the counter, talked to the Katie girl for a few minutes while she looked something up in the computer, then he turned around and headed back to the door. Darting back, I bolted through an employee only door, heedless of my blatant non-employee status. No one was around, so I figured it wouldn't matter much. Carefully, I watched through the small, dirty plastic windows, but he never passed. Finally, I deemed it safe and poked my head out the door, peering further down the concourse.
He was completely gone.
I spent as long as I could searching stores but never found him. Finally, I had to give up and return to my once-so-pleasant life of solitude.
Chapter 7
In which Gretchen flirts with her professor.
That night pickings were slim among the recently interred so I let the dead lay quietly while I considered the day’s events. My finances were considerably less carefree than they had been only twelve hours earlier but I felt good about my purchases. I spent a few hours transferring files from my old laptop to the new one, then tucked the now useless dinosaur away in a cabinet in the
“I’m not following you. I happened to be attending to some business and saw you. And don’t pretend you don’t like seeing me. I see you’re not picking out some cotton Mumu in Sears. You’re putting thought into this. You care. You’re probably wondering about that delicate balance between sleazy and sexy, and wondering what drives me crazy.”
Too late, I thought. “I’m wondering how many more locks I can fit on my door.”
“Personally, I like the red.” He brushed his hand across the robe I held just moments before. “But not the coverage. You need something like this.” He walked back over to the rack I stood at before and selected a spaghetti strap floor length night gown. “It’s…tempting.”
I walked over to him without knowing why, other than his charisma sucking me in like a black hole. He smiled and raised a hand, tracing the chain of the emerald necklace along my neck. “Of course, green looks good on you too.”
My breath caught in my throat and I had no comeback for him, either. What am I supposed to say? I wondered. Thank you? You’re a pig? You’re crazier then Jack Nicholson in an empty hotel? I don’t want to think about what you’re thinking? But that last one wasn’t true. The thought of him liking whatever I bought weighed on my mind more than I cared to admit, even to myself.
What does that say about me?
He seemed to read my mind and grinned, taking a green nightgown from the rack. Looping his arm through mine he pulled me towards the checkout counter and bought both nightgowns, brokering no arguments from me. In an effort to keep from making a scene, I repressed myself during the actual transaction but went back to resisting him once the salesgirl finished making wistful eyes at him and went back to arranging a table of smutty underwear.
“What do you think this is going to get you?” I asked, brandishing the bag at him.
He smiled and shrugged, backing away from me. “I don’t think it’s going to get me anything. Not anything I wouldn’t eventually get anyway.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
Overconfident slime-ball. Or should it be slime-balls?
I waited until he had passed out of the store and bolted after him, tossing my bags on my arms and knocking things about as I ran. Getting to the edge of the store, I peered around the glass display window and saw him walking back up the way I had come.
Lacking the skills necessary to call myself covert, I instead settled for distance. I didn't want to lose him, but I didn't want him to know I followed him either. Walking behind others when I could and darting to the other side of the concourse occasionally, I managed to keep an eye on him, all the way back down to PJ's PCs.
He went inside and I creeped up to the door, peering around the corner. He walked up to the counter, talked to the Katie girl for a few minutes while she looked something up in the computer, then he turned around and headed back to the door. Darting back, I bolted through an employee only door, heedless of my blatant non-employee status. No one was around, so I figured it wouldn't matter much. Carefully, I watched through the small, dirty plastic windows, but he never passed. Finally, I deemed it safe and poked my head out the door, peering further down the concourse.
He was completely gone.
I spent as long as I could searching stores but never found him. Finally, I had to give up and return to my once-so-pleasant life of solitude.
Chapter 7
In which Gretchen flirts with her professor.
That night pickings were slim among the recently interred so I let the dead lay quietly while I considered the day’s events. My finances were considerably less carefree than they had been only twelve hours earlier but I felt good about my purchases. I spent a few hours transferring files from my old laptop to the new one, then tucked the now useless dinosaur away in a cabinet in the
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