That damn Jackhammer and his bed knocking on my wall all night. One of these days, I’m going to run into him around the apartment complex and tell him exactly what I think of his late-night rendezvous.
“Okay. I’ll take everything,” the man says a minute later.
“Ev-everything?” Presley says with a laugh.
He’s got to be joking.
“You want all these books? There are twenty-five or thirty books here,” she says.
“Twenty-eight, and yes, I’ll take them all.”
“Okay, sure.” Presley throws me a look with lifted brows, grabs an armful of books, and hauls them to the cash register.
“Do you deliver?” he asks.
“Oh, um.” I rap my nails against the glass counter. “No one’s ever requested that before.”
“My truck’s full of baby stuff right now. Don’t really have the room, otherwise I wouldn’t ask.”
Presley shrugs, turning to me. “He is buying a ton of books.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Of course. I can deliver them personally. Just write down your address. Our bartender gets here around seven. I can duck out of here for a little bit and drop these off then. Would that work for you?”
“Two hundred forty-seven dollars and fifty-five cents,” Presley says.
“Yep. I’ll be home.” The man hands her a black Amex. He sure as hell doesn’t look like a man who’d carry one of those. I thought I had him pegged the second he walked in here. Now I’m not so sure.
“Oh.” She looks my way.
“I’m sorry, we only take VISA, MasterCard, and Discover,” I say.
“Not a problem.” He pulls out a thick wallet from a holey pocket in his jeans. The second he unfolds it, I spot a thick stack of green. I bet he’s a career gambler. I’ve heard some of them make a killing. “I’ll pay cash.”
I rip a sheet of paper from a nearby Post-It pad and hand him a pen emblazoned with our logo. “Address?”
He grabs it with his left hand, scribbles for a few seconds, and hands everything back to me. Our fingers brush, and it sends a quick jolt to my stomach.
“Thank you.” I yawn. “Excuse me. I can’t stop yawning today.”
“Late night?” he asks, looking me up and down. “You don’t look like the partying type.”
“She has this neighbor.” Presley leans forward and folds her hands together, resting her chin on top. “He keeps her up late.”
“Presley.” I say her name through a clenched jaw.
“I say if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” She ignores me.
If she weren’t my best friend and highest-selling employee, I’d fire her right here and now, in front of this father-to-be.
“Oh, yeah?” The man’s eyes glint as he smiles, laughing just a little. He’s looking at me differently now.
“No, no, no.” I wave both of my hands before burying my face in them. “She’s crazy. I’m not like that. I would never.”
“But she should,” Presley adds.
I could punch her right now, and I’ve never punched anyone in my life.
“This girl lives in Vegas, and she’s never even set foot in a casino. Can you believe that?” Presley combs her fingers through her dark tendrils and then twirls a strand around them.
“Really?” He wrinkles his nose, making him equally sexy and adorable.
“Presley, that’s enough,” I say before turning back to our handsome patron. “I’ll deliver these books to you tonight just past seven, okay? Thank you so much for coming in today.”
I place my hand on his back, just beneath a curved shoulder blade, as I walk away. He’s pure muscle. Solid and warm. The man flashes a perfect smile, and my heartrate quickens for a moment.
“I think you embarrassed her,” he says to Pres, his gaze falling toward her nametag. “I guess when you’re named after The King and you live in this city, you can pretty much do whatever you want, huh?”
I can’t tell if he’s sticking up for me or not. I almost think he is.
“Exactly. That’s what I try to tell her.” She grins at him before turning to me. “This one’s always so serious. She can’t take a joke these days. She doesn’t get me like you do . . . sorry, what’s your name?”
“Crew,” he says.
“She doesn’t get me like you do, Crew,” Presley continues. Anyone else would say she’s flirting right now, but I know better. It’s just how she is.
He doesn’t take the bait. Instead he turns to me, drinking me in and cocking his head to the side like he’s trying to read me. Like I, of all people, am more fascinating