Page 168 of Daddy's Pride
Rachel flicked through some more of the pages, and then turned back to the page with the straps. “I know you have one, but I’d like it if we could find one that made you feel extra good for you too.”
Brooke came over and had peek at the page they were looking at. “Oh, I’ve got a couple of those models with me, if you’d like to take a look?”
“Whatever my girl wants,” said Isla, but Rachel nudged her.
“It’s not just for me; I want your input too. Especially since, well, you know…”
Isla did know, Rachel knew that. And she also knew that her girlfriend was likely just teasing her, but she felt all flustered and embarrassed, and as if she was doing it all wrong.
“Hey, hey, hey,” said Isla, taking Rachel in her arms. “Chin up, princess. What’s going on?”
Rachel blinked rapidly, her eyes burning. “I want us to choose it together. I don’t want to be demanding about what we use.”
Isla brushed Rach’s hair from her face and kissed her sweetly. “Oh darling, the reason I said that we’ll get whatever you want, is because if you’re interested in trying it, I’d love to make that happen for you. I didn’t mean for you to feel like I was phoning it in. Hey Brooke,” she said, “Can we come and sit behind the booth, or to the side? Look at your stock a little more privately?”
“Of course,” said Brooke, and brought out a screen that looked like it belonged to a D&D DM. “Why don’t I pop them behind this, so you can have a look and not feel completely exposed.”
She had a fair selection of various buzzy, double-ended straps, ones that would fit into a harness really comfortably and could be used to fill up both Rachel and Isla. They picked one in a pale lilac, and Brooke popped it into its box and gave them a discreet bag to take it home in. She didn’t exactly tell them to enjoy, but the twinkle in her smile implied the sentiment.
“I’ll put this behind the stall, and go take over from Daniel,” said Isla. “And we can use that later tonight…”
Rachel had a veritable skip in her step as she walked away. It’d be the perfect way to end what was turning out to be a pretty successful day.
Chapter Twenty-One
Back on the Stuffie Hospital London stall, Isla was pleased to note that things were calming down. They still had plenty of people who were interested in their flyers, but as most of the stuffies themselves had sold, there were less people coming to coo over the cute creations.
Susie was eerily quiet, and when there was a break between customers, Isla went to check in with her. “You okay there? You seem quiet.”
The energy that usually animated her boss was notably absent. Dull, tired eyes turned Isla’s way, and she immediately grabbed a chair and made Susie sit down.
“Susie, what the hell? You should have said if you were tired.”
“I’m fine,” said Susie, who most certainly was not. “It’s all good.”
“Well that’s crap,” said Isla, bluntly. “You’re not fine and it’s clearly not all good. What’s happened?”
“It’s fine,” the redhead repeated. “I just need to…” She swayed slightly and Isla grabbed a water bottle from under their booth and thrust it at Susie.
“Drink.”
“I’m f?—”
“Drink.”
Susie took one look at Isla’s face, and she must have seen the concern there for her to take it seriously and grab the bottle.
“Fine.”
“Where’s Bri?”
“She left.” Susie’s voice was flat. Briana was her best friend. She’d been the one to make sure that Susie actually took a break and ate earlier. If she had gone, with Susie like this, then something had gone very seriously awry.
“Okay then,” said Isla. Glanding around, she caught Daniel’s eye. “Wait here, Susie, I’ll be right back.”
Hurrying over, she took Daniel’s arm and pulled him to the side of the hall. “So I’m aware that this is your day off, and you’re not technically supposed to be working the market today, but if we paid you, could you take over the stall 'til the end of the day? I’m really worried about Susie, she’s not…”
“She’s not okay,” agreed Daniel. “I thought she looked slightly dazed earlier, but Bri was with her, and I knew that she’d keep an eye on things.”