Standing this close to him behind the narrow checkout counter, I could feel the heat radiating off his body while my heart skittered in my chest. Just one glance from the man seemed to throw me into a full swoon.
“I guess we’re hiring Shelly,” he growled. “I’ve been overruled by two women now.”
I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to hug him.
“Really?” I asked, staring gratefully up into his eyes.
He gave me a half-smile and rumbled, “Yeah. You’ll have to work with her longer than I will. Might as well go with your choice.”
“Thank you,” I told him quietly, my attention so focused on him that I forgot all about Martha.
Until she cleared her throat and said, “Get a room. But first, finish checking me out. I’ve got books to read.”
I turned to stare at her with surprise, but Flint just chuckled and finished ringing Martha up.
Part of me knew my resistance to Mallory wasn’t entirely rational. I liked her. She was perfectly nice and extremely professional.
But she would bring change, just like Flint was bringing change, and I was terrified of losing my place if the storeevolvedinto something I didn’t recognize anymore.
Flint leaned close and rumbled, “Hey Martha. Can you do me a favor?”
Martha leaned in towards him, too, “For you? Anything. I still remember how you found us a new Christmas tree for the square that year when the first one caught on fire. You saved Christmas.”
Flint shrugged a shoulder as if none of that mattered. “It’s for Marlene. She probably hasn’t told anyone but Bookish is struggling. Might not make it another year. Can you get the word out at some of the tourist spots? I think that will make a difference.”
Martha’s eyes dimmed, then lit up. “I’m sorry to hear Marlene’s having trouble. Of course I’ll spread the word. By the way, how’s she doing?”
Flint got a funny look on his face. “Better than you’d expect. I think she’s happy she broke her leg. She said something about good company.”
“Really?” Martha looked like she wanted the scoop.
But Flint shook his head. “Bring people in,thenI’ll tell you.”
Martha opened her mouth and started cackling, to my surprise. “It’s a deal, Flint. But you drive a hard bargain for a tiny bit of gossip.”
I just stood there with my mouth shut, watching the whole exchange. Flint had her wrapped around his finger.
After Martha collected her books and left, the store fell quiet.
“Are you really going to hire Shelly?” I asked.
“Yup.” Flint moved to the front door and flipped the sign to CLOSED as the tourist who’d ambled in left without buying anything. “She was the last customer. Let’s close up.”
Heat crept up my neck. “You go on ahead. I’ve got some things to finish.”
He turned back to face me, his brow furrowing. “You did this last night too. Stayed late after I left. Why?”
“I’m fine. Just go on and skedaddle your cute butt out of here.”
Flint laughed, then dropped his voice low until it rumbled even deeper than usual, “I don’t skedaddle, hon. I stride fiercely, in a manly man way, saving cats and capturing the attention of pretty women like you. Almost like a…mountainman would.”
My mouth dropped open. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Oh, I was just skimming a few of the mountain man titles. I was trying to impersonate one of those dudes.”
I might have needed a fan to cool myself off. He obviously hadn’t read the spicy scenes in any of those books yet, or he wouldn’t be joking about them so casually.
“Avery,” he turned to look at me. “How late did you work last night?”
