It wasn’t fair! The dark gray t-shirt and jeans would have looked plain on anyone else, but on Richard they looked like something that belonged on the runway. In his case, the man totally made the clothes. Did he own anything that didn’t hug all those glorious muscles?
Meanwhile, I felt so out of his league in my paisley sundress that did almost nothing for my shape, my bun, and my glasses.
“What are you doing here?” My tone might have come off a little more abrupt than I would have liked, but that didn’t stop Richard from smiling, all hot and smolder-y, as he made his way to the counter in the center of the shop.
“Hello to you too, cutie,” Richard replied. He walked — no, that wasn’t right; Richard Locklaine didn’t just walk, he swaggered — to the end of the counter and rested his forearms along the top. His beautiful, muscular, tanned forearms that I found myself wanting to lick just then.
Down girl!
“Can’t a guy just come by to say hello to a friend?”
The way he said the word friend had me feeling a little skeptical. “You just came by to say hello?” I said slowly, my eyes narrowing on him.
“Yep. My motives are completely altruistic, I swear.” He held up two fingers like he was an innocent boy scout.
“Mmhmm,” I hummed, still somewhat suspicious. Yes, I knew it was my suggestion that we be friends, but it had only been a little over twelve hours since he had me jacked up against the wall, dry humping the living shit out of me. Was it really possible for him to be over it that quickly?
And that question led to an entirely different line of thinking. What if he really was over it already? Was I that forgettable? That easy to get over?
Oh my God, I’m depressing the shit out of myself! Stop it Delilah!
“What the hell’s wrong with those roses?” he asked, pulling me out of self-pity mode.
I turned to look at the raggedy bouquet I’d been working on earlier before being sent away by Tori. “Oh, uh…”
“They’re for a dude’s side piece,” Toni answered. “We don’t put a lot of effort into those kinds of orders.”
“Smart.” He grinned at Toni and I could see the way her eyes glazed over at the swoon-worthy sight. For crying out loud, Toni was a badass! She wasn’t supposed to get all mushy over a guy. I needed to get him out of my shop, and fast. Not only for my sanity, but for the sake of my employees as well.
I clapped my hands in front of me. “Well, we’ve exchanged hellos, but I really should be getting back to work. Lots to do. And I’m sure you’re super busy today.”
“Nope,” he responded nonchalantly. “No plans today. My schedule’s wide open. Maybe I can help out around here.”
Wait… “You want to work? On a Sunday?”
“Sure,” he shrugged casually before standing tall and coming around to my side of the counter, standing way too close, his yummy smell invading my senses. “I’m a quick learner. Give me something to do.”
“Don’t you…” I had to shake my head to get my bearings. “Don’t you have some work of your own you can be doing? You were just complaining about being swamped since your assistant quit.”
He grinned at me like he had a secret. “The assistant position is covered, but I appreciate your concern for me.”
“That’s not—” I began to argue, to tell him I wasn’t concerned about him, when he reached over and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose. The gesture felt just as sweet as it had the first time, damn it!
Instead of moving his hand from my face right away, he trailed the tips of his fingers along my forehead and down my cheek, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear as he went. A brief look over his shoulder showed that Toni had just witnessed the entire thing, and was currently standing with her mouth hanging open, what the whaaaaa written all over her face.
I tried to move a step back, only to be foiled by the stupid L-shaped counter blocking my path. Stupid L-shape. I hate you, counter! “So what do you say?”
I blinked. Then I blinked again. “About what?” The moment I could smell his cologne all my synapses had misfired. My brain was fried.
“About me helping you, cutie.”
Oh God, I didn’t know if I was strong enough to withstand him calling me cutie