Handcuffed in Housewares: Tulle and Tulips, Book 3 (11 page)

The groom, Jonathan, came from a large but more modest family. His parents had both worked multiple jobs almost his whole life to make sure he and his brothers had the things they needed. He’d gotten his first job when he was fifteen and put himself through college on academic scholarships.

The couple shared a warmth that needed to be reflected in the home Kelly’s parents bought for them. It was a giant place with grandeur in every fixture, so outfitting it with the warmth of the couple while keeping the varying guest budgets in mind was turning out to be trickier than she’d expected.

They’d nailed down the formal and informal living and dining areas. They were hoping to finish off the bathrooms, bedrooms and kitchen at Hearth and Home.

“I really think you’ll like how this place has rooms set up to show you how things go together.” Leigh pulled out her tablet and pulled up her list to make sure they didn’t miss anything on their must-have list. “We can even have staff rearrange stuff to show you other options.”

“This is great!” Kelly exclaimed. Everything all day had been said with excitement. It seemed to be the only tone she had. Fortunately she was as sweet as she was perky so she wasn’t too annoying.

“Our guests are going to hate us.”

“They won’t, Jonathan.” Leigh tried to reassure him again. “Hearth and Home has stuff in every price range.”

It was a routine they’d fallen into throughout the day. Kelly exclaimed and fell in love with everything. Jonathan worried about the price tag and the strain it would put on the friends with the lower budgets. Leigh assured him they would have a well-balanced registry with items everyone could afford.

He exhaled like he had all day. Kelly had explained it was his way of trying to stop himself from worrying, but nothing would ever calm him totally.

“Kelly says all invited guests are required to buy a gift.”

Jonathan’s concerns were sort of endearing. “That depends on which wedding etiquette book you read. People are generally smart enough to buy in their budgets, though.”

“You guys have said you have next to nothing for the kitchen.” Looking to start them off small, Leigh led them to the kitchen area. “This is a great place to find things that suit you but are in all the price ranges. You’ll find your day-to-day silverware and glasses, towels, pot holders, etcetera as well as the higher-end china and entertainment platters.”

She handed Jonathan the gun, thinking he’d feel better if he was pulling the trigger on the lower-priced items. “As you can see, they have everything sorted by color. Since you’re going primarily with blue, why don’t you start there.”

Kelly did as she had all day. She took Jonathan’s hand and led him toward the shelves while Leigh stepped back. She stayed close enough to mark off their list as they went through things, but far enough away they felt they were alone in their decisions.

As she’d predicted, Jonathan found several inexpensive items to register for and Kelly was perfectly happy with every decision he made. She did have a louder opinion when it came to the formal china and silver.

They worked their way through the kitchen and bedrooms before heading toward the bathrooms. An odd buzz of anticipation trickled through Leigh, heating her blood. She hadn’t been back to Hearth and Home since meeting Burton, and though she knew he was finished working there a perverse part of her wanted to find him handcuffed to a toilet.

“Are you blushing?” Kelly asked as they moved nearer the wall of clocks.

“No.” Leigh sounded almost as hyper as Kelly. “No,” she said more quietly. “I was just thinking.”

“About a man?”

“Yes.” She shrugged, trying to play it down. “I met a man here a couple months ago.” Had it really been months? It seemed like yesterday now that she was where they’d met. “He was unexpected.”

“You gotta watch out for those unexpected meetings.” Jonathan slipped an arm around Kelly’s shoulder and squeezed her close. “They have a way of surprising you.”

“I’ve heard that.” Leigh shut down their sidebar and moved their attention back to the registry.

“Listen, the store’s going to close soon.” They were in one of the sample bathrooms, rearranging the toothbrush holders, soap dishes and towels. “We should wrap this up.”

Kelly stopped moving things around and made a decision on which items to register for. Leigh crossed the last of their items off the list and slipped her tablet into her bag.

“Excuse me.” A masculine voice called quietly from across the partial wall. It wasn’t any voice though. It was Burton’s and it had their first meeting snapping into Leigh’s mind. Her stomach flip-flopped. “I seem to be in a bit of a…bind.”

“Burton?” Leigh called over the wall.

“Hi, Leigh.” He said in response. “Could I get your help? Maybe you could bring a kabob skewer.”

Her heart kicked and she was smiling as she excused herself from Kelly and Jonathan and walked around to the other bathroom. Her legs shook more violently with each step. There, sitting on the floor where she’d first seen him, was Burton. Unlike the first time, he had clothes on. Like the first time, he seemed to be cuffed to the toilet.

She was torn between laughter and the desire to scold him. Her question came out as a little of both. “What have you done?”

“There’s a perfect explanation.” He grinned as he shook his hands a little, rattling the cuffs against the pipe. “I don’t suppose you grabbed a skewer?”

“You want me to use it on you this time?” She popped a hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes. The way he was grinning, she knew he was playing some game. Since he was doing it when there were still customers around she also knew it wasn’t sex related. “What are you up to?”

“I’m asking a beautiful woman for help.”

“Burton.” If she was reading him wrong, if he was asking her to play some crazy, exhibitionist game, asking her to play out a fantasy… No. He’d never be so bold in an open store. He understood her better than that.

“Come on, Leigh.” He winked. “I could use a hand down here. The key is hard to reach.”

“You did this to yourself? What is wrong with you?” Shaking her head, she sat her things on the floor and moved forward. “What explanation could you possibly have this time?

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.” She was getting onto a roll as she reached beneath the toilet for his hands. “You’ve cuffed yourself to the toilet in a busy store during open hours.” In a flash, she found her wrists cuffed together and he was pulling back to freedom.

“Leigh,” Jonathan spoke from behind her. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Burton.” Her heart pounded like she’d just run all out for several miles with demons chasing her. “I’m working,” she whispered. “If you’re here to get your ass kicked you won’t be disappointed.”

“She’s fine.” Burton spoke over her head and then smiled at her. “Tell him you’re fine, Leigh.”

Jonathan stepped away from Kelly and moved in with determination on his face. If he thought to protect her from Burton, he was sweet, but Burton would win. “It’s fine, Jonathan.”

Grinning triumphantly, Burton moved to Leigh’s side and knelt. His smile never wavered. Kelly and Jonathan watched them with interest. Leigh’s cheeks burned with humiliation and anger.

“I wanted to make sure you were a captive audience.”

“I’m here with clients.”

“I know. They’re part of why I didn’t actually cuff you to the toilet.” He took her elbow in a hand and pulled her hands out from below the toilet. “The other part is because I knew you’d hate me for it.”

“Yeah, no way this is going to upset me.” She held her hands up with the cuffs jangling around her wrists. She glared up at him.

“This is the unexpected man.” Kelly practically bounced in her shoes. “He wants to relive that first meeting.” The woman covered her heart with her hand and sighed dramatically. “That’s so romantic.”

More like irritating. “Uncuff me.”

“Not yet.” He shook his head and helped her up to sit on the commode. He knelt before her.

“Burton? Uncuff me.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been thinking. About you. Us. And I’ve come to a decision.”

“Awwww.” Kelly cooed.

“Come on, Kelly.” Jonathan pulled at his fiancée. “Let’s give them some privacy.”

Privacy. Such a great concept, and if Jonathan managed to get Kelly away Leigh would give them a discount on her services as a thank you gift.

“But I want to know what happens?”

“You can call her later. Thank you for the help today, Leigh.” Jonathan pulled Kelly away before she could argue.

Finally alone, except for the employees going through their closing duties, Leigh found herself relaxing a little.

Burton brushed his thumb over her knuckles and held up a key. “You have the power to release yourself. You only have to ask.” He released the cuff on her right wrist and then handed her the key.

“I’m hoping instead of an escape you’ll choose to stay cuffed. To me. For life.”

Her heart hammered her ribs. Her breath backed up in her lungs.

“Burton.” The strength had left her voice so his name came out as a weakened whisper.

“From the moment we met at this toilet you’ve captivated me. Holding out against your charm has been impossible.” He placed a hand on her thigh and flexed his fingers lightly. “I love you, Leigh.”

Laughter came from nearby as the staff moved about their job. A few of them sounded really close. “Burton.”

“Marry me, Leigh. Say you’ll spend your life with me and I guarantee there will be no more handcuffs in bathrooms.”

She opened her mouth, but nothing would come out. Whatever she wanted to say she couldn’t push the answer out. She wanted to. She really wanted to answer him; he deserved it. She just couldn’t say what was in her heart with an audience.

He wasn’t asking for sex in public. No, what he was asking for, a simple yes or no, was much more intimate.

Again, Leigh opened her mouth to speak and again nothing came out. She wasn’t always chatty, but she was never at a loss for words. Burton widened his eyes in what had to be a silent plea. She answered with the same wide-eyed look, begging him to understand.

Her conservative clothes had started as a defense after Derek. Over time the preference for privacy had become the norm and Burton was pushing her out of her comfort zone. She struggled when he kissed her in front of her friends. This was torment.

“I shouldn’t have done this here,” he whispered. Getting to his feet, pulling her to hers, he stepped back. “I’m sorry.”

“You asked me once if I’d figured out what I was missing in life.”

His hand holding hers and the intensity of his gaze pierced her heart.

“I was missing you, Leigh. I don’t want to miss a moment more.”

He was laying himself bare at her feet, risking himself when he’d been as badly burned as her, and she was causing him pain. Everything he’d said and done since she met him had made her feel safe and secure and cherished. Hurting him, making him second-guess his decision to propose, was the last thing she wanted to do.

Tuning out thoughts of fear and comfort zones, Leigh focused on the man she’d fallen in love with. Getting lost in his gaze, seeing the time they’d spent together and the fun they could still have, she lifted the empty cuff and snapped it around his right wrist.

His mouth widened in a smile that stretched his cheeks. Questions lingered in his eyes, and she knew him well enough to know that while he wanted to take her gesture as a yes he was hesitant to believe it could be so easy.

“I’ve been lost since we went bowling.” Leigh leaned forward and kissed Burton. “I’d love to spend my life with you.”

With a jagged exhale, the tension tightening Burton’s shoulders relaxed. His gaze cleared and reflected happiness. “You really know how to make a man suffer.”

“Sorry. You caught me off guard.” His laughter filled her until she was laughing too. “I’ve wanted to hear you say you loved me since my second visit to your house. Hearing you… I was stunned.”

“I almost didn’t ask you here, but it seemed right.”

“It’s right as long as you don’t ask to seal the deal here.” She kissed him again, not caring if anyone came around the corner and saw them. “I trust you more than I ever thought I could trust a man again.”

“So you trust that I really am perfectly happy behind closed doors? That I always will be?”

“I do.”

“Then move in with me. Help me make my house our home.”

Home.
It was something she’d always dreamed of. He was the kind of man she’d dreamed of.

“I can’t be in the house without thinking of you, Leigh. When you leave, the place feels empty. Because of you I’ve lost the desire to sell.”

“You want to put down roots and keep the house?”

“If it suits you, yes.” He linked the fingers of their cuffed hands.

“It suits me.” She kissed the corner of his mouth and found herself wishing the store were closed so she didn’t have to wait to have sex with him. “You suit me.” She kissed the other corner of his mouth. “I don’t want to miss another moment with you, either.”

“So you’ll marry me?”