Twenty-Four Hours Read Online Free

damn thing, now … she wanted to crawl in a hole and hide. People were looking at her, staring, wondering what this pig of a creature with chocolate ice cream on her face was doing with such a fine specimen of masculinity.
    “Here, let me get that.” Michael quickly produced some napkins, gently wiping her face, keeping his eyes on her. “Kid needs to look where he’s going.” Once the ice cream was gone, he kissed her cheek, softly, almost chaste, but enough to show the world he was more than a relative or friend.
    “Uh, thank you.” Michaelia was quite taken aback with his kiss. Okay, kisses on the cheek weren’t exactly romantic, plenty of aunts and grandmas loved the kiss on the cheek, along with a pinch or two, but this was … different. He had taken his time to clean off the ice cream, staying close, a hand on her hip as the ice cream was disposed of. So this is what it feels like to be taken care of. It was a foreign feeling to her.
    They spend the entire day at the carnival, at the end of the day, his car full of the fruits of his winnings. It was nearly sunset when they left the carnival, both smiling, laughing.
    Arriving home, Michaelia dumped all her wonderful carnival winnings onto her dining room table. Never had she seen so much cheap chotchkies that meant so much to her. She turned, finding Michael right behind her, her eyes staring at his wonderfully sculpted chest.
    “Oh, um, thank you again. It was a wonderful day. You have no idea.” She was getting a little nervous with him so close to her.
    “The day’s not over yet.” Michael put his finger underneath her chin. “May I kiss you?” He’d been wanting to claim those lips for hours now. The kiss on the cheek just hadn’t been enough.
    She swallowed … and again. Other than a few drunken gropes in college, she’d never been really kissed. Would she know how? Would she be any good at it? Against her instincts, she nodded. Michael’s face came closer and she had to close her eyes. Soft lips brushed hers and the world stopped, her heart beat wildly. All too soon it was over and he stepped back.
    “Now, go get dressed, we’re going out on the town tonight, dinner and dancing.”
    Michaelia opened her eyes and came back to reality. “What? Huh? Oh, um, I don’t have anything like that to wear. Not really built for dresses, more of a linebacker if you haven’t noticed.”
    Michael gestured with his head to the bedroom. “There’s a dress, perfect for you, just waiting for you to wear it.”
    “A dress? What…?” Michaelia stepped back even farther. “I don’t, I can’t … you’ve given me so much today. And believe me, no matter what the dress is, it’s going to look like a potato sack on me.”
    “Trust me? You will love it. I guarantee it’s going to look beautiful on you.”
    She raised her eyebrow, knowing full well that the dress was going to be horrible. She owned exactly one black dress, for funerals. Her chunky legs suck out of the straight hemline like two ham hocks. No, dresses were for women who had waists, not one who’s waist size was about the same as her hips.
    “Please? Please, try it on. You don’t like it, we’ll get something else. No matter what, I am going to show you off tonight.”
    Admitting defeat, Michaelia nodded and headed back to her bedroom, seeing a beautiful red dress laying on the bed. “Where … How?” She was getting pretty impressed with his talents.
    Michael appeared in the bedroom doorway. “It’s a gift. Why don’t you take a shower, put the dress on, I’ll take Bodie for a walk and change myself. Dinner at Vincent’s?”
    “Vincent’s?! God, that is like the most expensive place in the city! It’s way too much …”
    Michael put his finger to her lips. “Nothing is too anything for you today. Get dressed, I’ll be right back.”
    Michaelia nodded and headed toward the shower. She looked at her naked body in the mirror, wondering … how could he want this? How could he