Chapter 33: Chapter 33
She walked to the counter, brushed her hand over its wood, and tried to imagine what this place would look like if it were not empty. When she would reopen her shop, she would make sure it would become an even prettier place than it had once been. She wanted to fill it with all sorts and colors of plants so that it wouldn’t look so lonely and forlorn anymore.
“I think freesias would look nice on this shelf,” she mumbled to herself. “Camellias near the windows… and daisies right here.”
Ryder’s vigilant gaze followed her as she padded around, mumbling something while she made plans for the future. She checked the backroom and memorized which things needed to be replaced and what was still usable. Fortunately, Steph had left the backroom alone—the items here were untouched. When she returned to Ryder, she looked somber and thoughtful.
“You will turn this place into something beautiful in no time,” Ryder said and put his hand on her shoulder. “Trust me, I know it.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said with a tentative smile on her lips. “I took care of everything, let’s go.”
He nodded and followed her outside, waiting for a moment until she had locked the door.
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Next on their list was shopping for new clothes and other items that she would need in her new home. Since she had left nearly everything behind in her ex’s flat, Elena needed many different things. They started their shopping spree by visiting one of the malls in New York.
It wasn’t the first time Elena was in town with Ryder, but it was the first time she noticed how many interested looks he garnered. As they passed through the aisles of a clothing store, some human women unabashedly stared at Ryder. Elena wasn’t blind; she knew how good-looking he was, but their behavior pissed her off. Wasn’t it obvious Ryder was with her? Some people had no shame. Elena agitatedly browsed through the shirts and blouses in front of her. She turned her back on Ryder for only a moment when suddenly, one of the humans approached him.
“Hello there, do you have a moment?” the woman asked and painted a sugary smile on her lips.
Elena’s head snapped around. She glared daggers at the stranger who didn’t acknowledge her at all. Fed up with her attitude, Elena decided to interfere. And she did this by grabbing Ryder’s wrist and moving on to the next section, which coincidentally was the underwear section.
Ryder watched her in surprise when she guided him past several displays with panties and bras without batting an eye. He caught her throwing dark glares over her shoulder, but he didn’t understand why she was agitated. However, he was soon distracted anyway.
“Buttercup, what about this one?” he asked with a smirk and picked up a red bra, dangling it in front of her nose. He intended to fluster her, but for some reason, he achieved the opposite, which frankly confused him.
“Perfect, I will buy it,” she chirped and took it, grinning victoriously at someone behind him. “Thanks for your help.”
He couldn’t believe his eyes and watched her cackling quietly while she picked up matching red panties. She muttered something under her breath that sounded like, “Serves her right.” His eyebrows rose, but he didn’t dwell on the strange remark since his eyes fell on something that captured his interest.
“What about this? You would look very tasty in it,” he commented, his eyes darkening a tad. Red flickered through them like an ignited flame. She turned to look at what he had picked this time—and couldn’t stop the blush that formed on her cheeks. It was a transparent bra consisting solely of white lace.
“That’s…” she trailed off. Very risqué, she wanted to say, but the words got stuck in her throat.
“Sexy,” he ended her sentence. “Did I pick the right size?”
She reluctantly took it and checked the size, her blush darkening. “How do you know this?”
“I guessed,” he shrugged. “You look like a B-cup.”
“RYDER,” she exploded and threw the bra at him. “What the hell?”
“So you don’t want it? Shame, it would have looked good on you,” he sighed and put it back. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, he sauntered to the next aisle. “What about blue? Do you prefer blue?”
She followed his gaze, absolutely mortified when she saw another scandalously skimpy bra. “Pervert,” she grumbled and chose one of the more comfortable sets of underwear that didn’t involve lace.
“I like buying pretty things for my pretty soulmate,” he smirked. “Are you sure you don’t want that bra over there? It would look delicious on you.” He dared to lick his lips. At this point, she didn’t know anymore whether she should be embarrassed or turned on. Her stupid brain drifted into the adults-only section with some not-so-innocent thoughts.
“Fine, hand it over,” she said, and he gladly fetched it for her with an obnoxious smirk on his face. “You’re… unbelievable,” she added.
“I’m helping you with very important decisions, my flower.”
“Mhm, sure,” she countered. “Sure you do. It’s not like you would actually see me wearing this, so don’t get any ideas.”
“I beg to differ,” he grinned lasciviously, playing with a lock of her ebony hair. “My flower is shy, but she doesn’t need to be because she is gorgeous. You don’t have to hide your body from your soulmate.”
“I’m so done with you,” she snorted, hitting his arm. “How can you just say that without blushing?”
“Because I’m serious?”
“You’re serious about seeing me naked?” she asked with raised eyebrows.
“Well, if you word it like that, it sounds slightly less elegant.”
They passed an older woman who glared at them, muttering something about shameless young people before she walked on, disappearing around the next corner. Ryder and Elena didn’t notice her as they were too busy with each other.
Once they had left the underwear section behind, she finally got a chance to breathe and moved on to look for pants—a less flustering endeavor. Or at least, that was what she thought. Reality was different from her expectations since she hadn’t counted on her clingy vampire soulmate.
While she looked at the kinds of pants that were on sale, he stood behind her and placed his chin on her shoulder, keeping his lips dangerously close to her neck. His hands came to rest on her stomach, and the magic of their bond engulfed her wholly, making it impossible to concentrate on the pile of jeans in front of her.