Heat rushed into my cheeks. Flirty Wren loved his flirty ways. Bookstore Wren told me to tuck my tail and run—this guy was so out of my league. I ignored Bookstore Wren.
“Follow me.” Taking Percy’s leash from Zane, I spun on my heels and marched down the sidewalk. Flirty Wren would be taking the wheel for the duration of this mini-vacay. I shot a glance over my shoulder to make sure Smoothie King was following along in my wake.
My pulse danced a little jig when our eyes met.
He was there. He was following.
This was going to be fun.
TWO
“Where are you taking me?” Zane asked, the rumble of his deep voice sending a wave of goosebumps across my skin.
“You’ll see,” I answered.
“If you expect me to follow you home like some kind of lost puppy, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
“Not hardly.” I stopped in front of a secondhand clothing store two doors down from the smoothie shop. Pointing at his hoodie, I said, “That shirt is a crime scene, and I’m not letting you go on with your day wearing the evidence.”
Zane stepped up beside me, close enough for me to catch a whiff of his cologne. It was the perfect blend of cedar and leather with a hint of citrus. I couldn’t help but wonder if the sweet undertones I detected weren’t his cologne at all, but rather all that was left of the smoothie I’d spilled on him.
“The only crime I know of is the fact that you still haven’t given me your number,” he said. Boy, did he ever know how to turn on the bass in his voice at just the right moment. If he’d said one more word, I’d have been powerless to resist giving him my number. But that would have spoiled all the fun.
This whole interaction was nothing more than a flirting fling. A one-moment stand. A high noon hookup where we would be keeping our hands and all our other body parts to ourselves.
“Nice try, but look at the sign.” I pointed to the sign above the storefront that readThrift & Shout.
Zane read it. “Okay? So, what does that mean?”
“It means we’re here to find a shirt for you, not swap numbers. Now get thrifting.” I looked down the long rack of clearance sale items on the sidewalk. “You start on that end. I’ll start here, and we’ll meet in the middle. There’s bound to be something better than a stained hoodie on this rack.”
“I don’t know about that,” Zane said, looking down at his shirt as he walked to the other end of the rack. “Every time I see this green stain, I’ll think of you.”
My nose wrinkled. “I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.”
Lucky for me, he found a spot on the opposite side of the clothing rack, making it easier for me to enjoy the view as we browsed. Percy wandered over to Zane and nudged the pocket holding the jerky.
“Sorry, pooch,” he said. “No more for you. This restaurantis closed.”
“Pooch? His name is Lord Percival, and he demands tribute,” I teased.
“Well,Lord Percival,” Zane said, patting Percy’s head, “I’ve got a demanding job and have to keep my protein intake up.”
“Come on, Percy.” I called him back to my side of the rack. “No more begging.” Percy flopped down at my feet, his bushy tail thumping on the sidewalk whenever someone passed by.
After thumbing through a few shirts, Zane said, “Okay, I’m no fashion mogul, but even I can see that this rack is overflowing with nothing but questionable choices.” He pulled out a faded Hawaiian shirt to prove his point.
“What’s wrong? You got something against vintage pineapple prints?”
“I didn’t know it before today, but yes, I absolutely have something against wearing fruit-themed shirts.”
I laughed. “Maybe you’ll feel differently in about thirty years. That seems tobe the age men start going for that sort of thing.”
He quirked a brow and locked his eyes on me in a way that made my temperature rise at least ten degrees. “Give me your number, and we’ll keep in touch long enough for us to find out what kind of shirts I like in thirty years.”
He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue, and my stomach dipped. Blood whooshed in my ears as my heart beat as fast as a lovebird’s. I continued shoving hangers to the side, making a show of looking at the clothing. “What makes you think I’m so interested?”
“Are you?”
