time I call, that guy is around.”
“Every time?” That surprised me. Rochelle barely let us come to her place, and we were her only friends.
“Pretty much.”
Not good. Not good at all. “Hmm.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Adrian stepped out of his shop, pausing to sweep the walk and then…
Is he coming over here?
I breathed into my hand to check my breath. My leftover catfish breakfast had left its mark. Ick.
The bell over the door jingled as Adrian stepped inside. I kept my back turned, fumbling in my pockets for a mint. Nothing but lint. As I grasped for freshness, I suddenly remembered the trio of goat hairs that had resprouted from my chin this morning. Did I really get that last one?
His hand rested on my shoulder
“What are you doing, Dane?” Tracey half screamed through the phone.
“Dying,” I whispered. “Adrian’s here. Call me later.”
For once, she hung up before I did. My shoulders turned slowly as thoughts of the half inch of new growth fuzzing up from my scalp battled with my chin-hair nightmares. Since I’d started walking my two miles every morning again, I seemed to be sprouting. Chia Pet definitely seemed to be my destiny.
“Good morning,” Adrian said, his hands tucked under each arm. A satisfied grin adorned his soft-looking lips.
“Morning,” I mumbled, using as little fish breath as possible to form the word.
His eyes twinkled. What was that about? “The closed mouth treatment? Is that any way to greet a customer?”
I covered my mouth. “Catfish for breakfast.” The words slipped through my parted fingers.
He leaned closer. “Huh?”
This was so humiliating. “Catfish for breakfast!” There, was he satisfied? My mouth smelled like Lake Michigan. “I wasn’t thinking. I brushed my teeth this morning, but I grabbed some of Daddy’s leftovers on the way out.”
He grabbed his gut, unable to restrain his laughter. “Sure, you did. Tell me anything.”
I drew in a sharp breath. “I did! You know I don’t play that.”
He nodded with another playful grin. “There’s only one way to be sure.” Rounding the counter faster than I could escape, he took my head in his hand, tickled me with the other and took a big whiff when I opened my mouth—after trying everything short of passing out to hold my breath. When I gusted him with my saltwater saliva, he fell back against the wall. “Oh, yeah. That’s nasty.” He reached in to the back pocket of his jeans for a tin of breath mints.
My breath quickened. Tangerine Altoids. What his kisses had always tasted like. I reached in and took a few, but he held up his hands in protest when I tried to give the tin back to him.
“Oh, no. Keep them. Your daddy isn’t going to stop cooking fish anytime soon. And if you breathe on somebody with that, they’ll sue. I’ll write it off, business expense.”
I punched his shoulder. “What do you want anyway? And did you hire someone? It looked like someone was behind your counter a minute ago.”
He paused, giving me that look that always made me turn away. “About that—”
I didn’t like his tone. The bad news voice. Was she his girlfriend? If so, how could I be mad? Hadn’t I had the same chance? I wasn’t ready to be with anybody—though my body kept sending signals to the contrary. “You don’t need to explain. It’s your store.” And your life. I grabbed another handful of Altoids and stuffed them into my mouth.
That got a big laugh out of him. “Oh…so now it’s my store? If I recall, I stole it from you.” He tickled me again. The breath mints suddenly became an orange-flavored death knot in my throat.
“K-k-k.” I was trying to say help, but that’s how it came out. The letter K. Figures.
He tapped my back. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head as the purples and peaches on the shelves melted before me. My knees buckled. My last thought?
Please, God, don’t let me fall on him….
Pain exploded across my back as he slapped me across my shoulder blades. The choker gob of candy hit the floor. Right before I did.
“Dana! You all right?” Adrian went down with me and cradled my head on his knee. His gold cross dangled from his neck, grazing my nose. I took a deep breath of him, evaluating Adrian’s new scent, as I always did in crisis situations. Leather, lime and new money. He smelled just like he looked. Suddenly choking half to death on a ball of breath mints seemed a totally wonderful thing