She’d gone down to the Bahamas on vacation for a week. But I couldn’t imagine my sixty-nine-year-old buttoned-up boss windsurfing. I’d imagined her sipping cocktails and lounging by a pool cabana all week long, spouting book quotes at anyone who got too close.
“Apparently,” the man’s mouth twitched, almost a smile. “She’ll be out for the next month.”
Relief flooded through me at the same time panic built.A month.
My mind raced through the implications.
Gwen had worked her last day this weekend, and Marlene had a slew of interviews lined up for tomorrow to replace her.
Until someone new was hired and trained, the store couldn’t keep its hours of operation in place. With Marlene out, this place was a one-woman show.
“Is she going to be all right?”
“Yup,” he said as he glanced around the bookstore, his expression tightening again. “Just broke a leg. But evidently busted it up good. She’s in traction.”
“Is she in pain? Does she need anything? I should call her. I should—”
“She’s fine,” he growled, his voice rolling over me like gravel dipped in honey. It sent thrills down my spine every time he spoke. “Stubborn as hell, butfine. I’m running the store until she’s back on her feet.”
I stared at him while his words filtered into my brain.
Running the store.
This man was going to be here? Every day. For a month.
Andhewas in charge?
I’d never even seen him before. And he hadn’t stepped foot inside Bookish in the entire six years I’d worked here. How couldhebe in charge?
“Who-who are you again?”
“I’m Flint,” he rumbled. “Marlene’s nephew.”
Flint. The name suited him. Hard and sharp and capable of starting fires.
“Oh,” I managed to say. “I didn’t know Marlene had a nephew.”
“Well, she does. And it’s me.”
He glanced around the store again, and his gaze caught on the mismatched chairs in the reading nook, a frown forming on his face.
“She’s told me about you,” his eyes flicked over to me, dipping down and back up again.
I flushed as his gaze skimmed my body, skating over my curves.
I wonder what Marlene told him?
“Says you know this place inside and out.”
That was true. This store was the one thing I understood completely. It was the only place where I felt like I fit.
And now he was standing in the middle of it, taking upallthe air.
He was exactly the kind of man I’d sworn off.
Older. Rugged. Confident in a way that made my knees feel unreliable. The kind of man who probably had women falling at his feet without even trying.
I’d promised myself I’d never fall for a man like him again after my heart got beat up the last time.
