Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 28810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
“Miss, you are…” She pressed her hand against my palm, trailing her fingers against the lines. “You are carrying a lot of stress and anxiety, and oh… You’re hanging on to something, and it’s preventing you from grabbing onto something better.”
Isn’t that exactly what you just told the other customer?
“Sometimes, the initial dream is only meant to come halfway true,” she continued. “It eventually grows into something bigger and better, and you’ve been stalling and keeping yourself inside a scarcity box.”
Okay, maybe not. “What do you mean by—”
“Shhhh!” She gently tapped my hand. “No talking allowed during my readings.”
“You are in desperate need of a release, an intimate release.” She tapped my fingertips. “You haven’t had sex in months. No…years.”
My cheeks reddened.
“We have a separate gigolo service that’s off the books if you need that service.” She squeezed my wrist. “We also sell state-of-the-art vibrators, as you clearly don’t please yourself either…”
What the fuck?
“Okay, Miss,” she said. “Sit with that for a few moments, please.”
I bit my tongue to prevent myself from telling her that she was wrong about my sex life, even if she'd generously overestimated how long it had been.
“Back to you, sir.” Her voice rose a bit. “You also are in deep need of a release, and it seems you are chasing someone, but you’re scared of rejection.”
“I am not scared of rejection.” A familiar deep voice echoed off the walls, and I sucked in a breath.
Adrian?
“No talking is allowed during my readings, sir,” she chided. “You are only supposed to listen.”
“I’m just helping you stay accurate,” he said, sounding amused and confirming that the man sitting next to me was him.
Definitely him.
Shit.
I withdrew my hand from the table and swallowed.
“Anyway, sir,” she continued talking to him. “You are in need of intimacy, but it’s the emotional type due to a lack of receiving it in your childhood.”
I scooted my chair back, hoping to escape here silently.
As I scooted even further, the chair scraped the floor and the screeechhhh filled the room.
“Something wrong, Miss?” she asked. “Do you need to be escorted to the restroom?”
“No,” I whispered to conceal my voice. “I just need to go.”
“But you don’t have anywhere important to be.”
“You don’t know that.” I stood up, still whispering. “I have a job.”
“You work for yourself and you’re struggling…” This woman was either a real psychic or I’d unknowingly scribbled my life across my face.
“You really would benefit from learning the next step you need to take in life.”
“I know,” I said. “That step is out of this room.”
“Sit back down, Miss. Now.”
No…
Don’t say anything else to her, Summer. Just take off the blindfold and get out of here.
“Thank you for everything.” I uttered my final whisper and took off my blindfold, placing it on the table.
I glanced at Adrian, and somehow, he was managing to make a blindfold look like it was part of his custom suit.
His lips were pressed into a line, and he was leaning back in his seat.
“You know this man, don’t you?” she asked me, and I shook my head.
“It makes sense why the energy in here suddenly shifted when you came in.” She motioned for me to reclaim my seat. “I can do a lot of work with this.”
“I’ve never seen this man a day in my life.”
“Summer?” He sat up.
“Nope!” I rushed down the hall and to the counter.
I fished out two twenties and bolted out the front door. I raced straight into the alleyway, but I felt Adrian grab my elbow from behind.
“Let me go before I scream for the police,” I warned.
“I dare you.” He spun me around to face him. “I don’t think you…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, and my heart betrayed me with an instant shift in its tempo.
He stared at me, his lips slowly parting as the seconds passed, and I couldn’t get my feet to move if I tried.
“Your hair looks good like this,” he said finally. “What made you change it?”
“This guy I started dating this week,” I said. “He suggested it…along with the makeup.”
“The makeup is cute,” he said, still staring intently. “You don’t need it, though…”
“I’ll pass that along to him then.” My breathing slowed as he reached out and touched one of my curls. “He wouldn’t appreciate you touching me right now. That’s his job.”
“I heard the psychic in there,” he said, smirking. “You and I both know there is no him, but I am shocked to know that you don’t even touch yourself…”
His words rendered me even more still, and I watched him touch another lock of my curls.
I slowly took in this man’s eyes, this man’s lips, this man’s—Hold on. What the hell am I doing?
“Okay, look.” I snapped out of the trance he’d pulled me under.
“I would say that it’s nice seeing you again, but—”
“Do you really want me to die, Summer?” he interrupted. “That can’t be how you really feel about me.”