Free The Year of Living Shamelessly by Susanna Carr

impossible one, but she couldn’t stop now.
     
    The oversized sales sign promising drastic discounts wobbled and threatened to topple on her aching head. She ducked and the sharp corner bounced off her shoulder before falling onto the floor with a clatter. Katie rested her forehead on the cool metal rack. If she’d known there would be so much pushing and shoving at a Day After Christmas sale, she would have worn the leather stiletto boots and used them for self-defense.
     
    She quickly sorted through the circular rack, the colors whirling in front of her like a rainbow spiraling out of control. Katie wasn’t sure what kind of outfit would best convey the message that Ryder needed to tie her down to the nearest bed right away. She hadn’t found any outfits with chains or straps, and she tried on a purple bandage dress that made her look more like a lumpy mummy than a sleek, sexy woman.
     
    She had memorized articles like “Heating Up Your Holiday Look” and “Naughty New Year Dresses.” But the selection on offer in Crystal Bend was nothing like in the magazines. She needed what Beyoncé would call a freakum dress. It was time to impress. No, time to get her man under control. And nothing on this rack would do.
     
    As she wondered if a freakum dress was an urban legend, in the corner of her eye Katie spotted a scarlet red dress hanging on a rack. She lunged for it, snatched it from the hanger and fought her way to the dressing room. Checking the label, she noted that it was a size too small, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. She was on an urgent mission. She was going to find the knockout dress before the day was over.
     
    She waited in the long, winding line, impatiently tapping her toe to the beat of “Jingle Bell Rock” that played on the loudspeakers. How much longer would she have to wait? She was down to six days to seduce Ryder and every second was crucial. She peered over the shoulders of the women in front of her and glanced down the corridor of dressing rooms.
     
    One of the doors opened and a tall, gorgeous woman stepped out of a dressing room. Katie’s stomach did a pitch and roll as she recognized that shade of peroxide blonde. It was Tatum. Katie watched with reluctant admiration as the woman whirled around in the mythical freakum dress.
     
    Where had she found that dress? Did she know someone? Did she live under a lucky shopping star, or had she simply sold her soul to the devil? The snug gold dress looked like it was tailored just for Tatum.
     
    She looked like a sex goddess. Someone who could tame Zeus himself. She was going to turn heads wherever she went in that dress that clung to her like a second skin. No other woman could compete with that vision.
     
    Katie hid behind the customer in front of her as Tatum called out for her friend Sasha. Sasha appeared, wearing a bold orange halter dress that barely skimmed the top of her toned, skinny thighs. Sasha wasn’t in the sex goddess league, but she was still a threat to the mere mortals of Crystal Bend.
     
    “What do you think?” Tatum asked her friend as she twirled around in front of the big three-way mirror. “Ryder won’t be able to say no to me if I’m wearing this.”
     
    As Sasha wholeheartedly agreed, Katie looked up at the ceiling. Why? Why must Tatum go after Ryder? Katie knew she was going to have enough problems getting that man into her bed without this kind of in-your-face competition.
     
    Katie looked down at the red dress clutched in her hands and knew it wasn’t going to be enough ammunition for her manhunt. She needed something wild. Breathtaking.
     
    She suddenly knew what she had to do. Katie quietly stepped out of the line and tossed the dress on the rack of unwanted clothes. The kind of outfit she needed wasn’t going to be found in a department store. She needed to think out of the box and out of the city limits.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Katie kicked the shopping bags to the side and stared at her