Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Manhattan, New York

Present Day

“Do you not care that I’m no longer speaking to you?” the man that she was using as a mattress demanded as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss against the top of her head as Charlie debated between starting another Harry Potter marathon or watching something that would probably give her nightmares.

“I do. I really do, but watching movies helps dull the pain,” Charlie murmured absently as she scrolled through the horror movie options on Amazon, only to end up turning her head so that she could glare at the man that plucked the remote out of her hand.

“I demand a do-over,” Devin said, making her frown as he tossed the remote aside.

“What are you talking about?” Charlie asked, unable to help but notice just how good he felt as she shifted to get more comfortable.

“I want another chance to make this right,” he said, pushing a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear.

“You’ve lost me,” Charlie said, frowning at the incredibly handsome man that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about all day.

“Our first date,” Devin said softly as he wrapped his arm back around her.

“What about it?”

“I want a do-over.”

“But we’ve already moved on to the second date?” Charlie pointed out.

“We have?” Devin asked, looking adorably confused.

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Five minutes ago,” Charlie said with a sad shake of her head and a mumbled, “I’m really going to need you to keep up here.”

“Isn’t it a little too soon for a second date?”

“Who writes this garbage?” Ashley asked, shaking her head in wonder as she turned the well-worn book over in her hands and looked for the name of the author responsible for writing something this bad.

R.L. Mathewson.

Mrs. Marshall really needed to set standards for the books that she accepted for donation, Ashley thought as she turned the book back over and continued reading. With a wistful sigh, she turned the page and leaned back against the metal bookshelf to get more comfortable while she read this horrible book that she fully planned on putting down soon.

“It’s never too soon for a second date,” Charlie said, only to ask, “How long has it been since you went on a date?”

“A little over seven years,” Devin admitted with a rueful smile.

“That explains it,” she said with a sympathetic wince.

“That explains what?”

Sighing sadly, Charlie said, “Things have changed.”

“Have they?” Devin murmured as he ran his hands over her back.

“They really have,” she promised him.

“Then I guess you’re going to have to catch me up,” Devin said as one of his hands snaked beneath her shirt and ran over her back.

“I suppose I could do that,” Charlie said, placing her hands on the armrest so that she was leaning over him.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Devin asked, looking up at her as his other hand found its way beneath her shirt.

“You’re supposed to kiss me.”

“Is that what I’m supposed to do?” he murmured as his gaze moved to her mouth.

“According to the new guidelines,” Charlie said, leaning down closer as the blanket slid down her back to pool around her waist.

“And we don’t want to ignore the new guidelines,” Devin said as he ran his hands higher so that he could pull her closer.

“We really don’t,” she whispered as-

“I don’t think this book is meant for you, sweetie,” a deep voice said just as the horrible book that Ashley was not planning on checking out was plucked from her hands.

Blinking in surprise, and really, by now, nothing should surprise her, Ashley looked up to find a cute guy in his twenties with light brown hair and blue eyes standing in front of her. Adjusting the backpack slung over his shoulder, he leaned down until he was just about eye level with her and gave her one of those patronizing smiles that she was used to seeing before someone opened their mouth and made a complete ass out of themselves.

This time would be no different.

“Where’s your mommy, sweetie?” he asked in a voice better used on babies and small toddlers, probably trying not to scare her, which she could appreciate considering the fact that he probably thought that she was ten years old and for a good reason. She was barely four feet tall, wore her long blonde hair in a braid, had the face and body of a child, and was forced to wear this pink blouse with purple hearts on it thanks to the clothing industry’s refusal to make business-casual clothing for small children.

Still…

“Where’s yours?” Ashley shot back, wondering if she was ever going to make it through a day without being reminded of just how wonderful it was to be her.

Blinking in surprise, he mumbled, “Umm, home probably.”

“Did you need something?” Ashley asked, reaching over and plucked the book that she’d been reading out of his hand and put it on the shelf, making a mental note of where she’d put it for later so that she could make sure that it was adjusting well to its new home, of course.

“Are you lost?” the man asked, clearly deciding that he wasn’t going to be distracted from his purpose.

“No,” Ashley said slowly before turning innocent eyes on him, “are you?”

Blinking, and she couldn’t help but notice that he did that a lot, he stood up to his full height with a frown and glanced around the library, probably looking for some poor adult foolish enough to lay claim to her. When he didn’t find anyone, he looked back down at her with one of those patronizing smiles and said, “Why don’t we go find Mrs. Marshall, hmm?”

“I’d really rather not,” Ashley said, honestly not sure if she could handle listening to her boss gush about her ten perfect grandchildren today.

“I think it might be for the best,” the man said, clearly determined to see this thing through.

Sighing, Ashley gestured lazily around them. “I work here,” she said, hoping that it would be enough to put an end to this conversation so that she could finish putting the new books away.

“Sure you do,” he said absently as he shifted his attention to glance around the library again.

Deciding that she’d had enough for one afternoon, Ashley walked past him, grabbed hold of the old book cart that Mrs. Marshall refused to replace even though it was long past its prime and was now completely dependent on duct-tape, cardboard, and countless prayers to function, and pushed it towards the next aisle. Ignoring the grinding noise the wheels emitted with the short trip, Ashley grabbed a small stack of books off the cart and headed down the next aisle.

“Look,” the man who apparently wasn’t going to drop this so that she could finish putting the books away before she left for the day said, “why don’t we go see if-”

“I’m not ten. I’m forty-five,” Ashley said, not bothering to look back to see how he was taking the news.

“I see,” he murmured thoughtfully, clearly not buying it.

She could explain that she’d stopped growing when she’d turned ten or that she had a well-known condition that kept her looking like a child, but since she didn’t make a habit of explaining her condition to everyone that gawked at her, Ashley didn’t bother explaining it to him. Instead, she continued placing the rest of the books into their new homes and ignored him until he finally took the hint and walked away.

Once she finished putting away the rest of the books that had been donated over the weekend, Ashley went back to grab that horrible book so that she could make sure that no one else wasted their time reading it only to discover that it was gone. Somewhat depressed that her plans for the night were ruined, she made her way to the backroom and punched out, thankful that Mrs. Marshall wasn’t waiting for her with more pictures of her grandchildren.

Grabbing her bag, Ashley headed out the side door and in seconds, she was just another body walking along the busy Manhattan streets. She liked living in the city where she could blend in easily with the crowd and just…

Disappear.

For the fifteen minutes that it took her to walk to her apartment, she was invisible. No one looked at her, gave her a patronizing smile, or made her feel like she belonged in a traveling freak show. Those fifteen minutes twice a day meant the world to her. For fifteen minutes, she was completely free to pretend that she was just another woman walking home after work.

During those brief walks, she wasn’t a grown woman trapped in a little girl’s body, a thing that didn’t belong in this world or the one that she’d been thrown out of and wasn’t supposed to know about. She was just another person to ignore.

Until she reached her apartment, she was free.

All too soon, the freedom that Ashley cherished ended and she found herself in front of the apartment that she could barely afford. As she let herself into the one-room apartment that never failed to depress her, Ashley couldn’t help but wish that she had a cat just so there was someone to greet her at the end of the day. It didn’t matter that cats didn’t seem to like her or that she considered them to be the spawn of Satan, she just wanted someone waiting for her when she came home.

When she flicked on the lights and found several large men waiting for her, Ashley decided to take her wish as proof that cats were, in fact, evil.