Avery was like a mini-dictator, running this store the way she wanted. Every cell in her body was trying to push me back out the door, but this gal was stuck with me.
It would go better if we could learn to be friends… or at least be friendly with each other.
What I really wanted was to friendly my way right up inside of her, but that wasn’t likely to happen. Not with the sour expression on her face.
My auntlovedthis girl. She’d been gushing about Avery ever since she hired her six years ago. And she’d tried to get me to come meet her a thousand times since then. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Marlene wanted to set us up.
And now that I’d met Avery, I could see the appeal.
“Something funny?” she asked, her voice cooling.
“Nope,” I crouched down in front of the safe, studying the dial. “Just thinking that you’ve got a very honest face.”
Her lips did that thing again, pressing together like she was physically holding back a response. I found myself watching for it, curious what other expressions those lips might betray if I pushed the right buttons.
Dangerous thinking, I told myself.You’re here to run a bookstore, not chase after a woman half your age.
But it hardly mattered. My dick was already activated. There was no accounting for who you were attracted to, and something about this woman lit up all my circuits. Plus, she wasn’treallyhalf my age. She was probably just a decade younger, completely within the realm of possibility.
I’d sworn off women eight years ago, after my ex, Brenda, had shown me exactly what I was worth to her. Which was nothing, apparently, unless I was willing to spend my dad’s inheritance on the life she wanted instead of the oneI’dbuilt.
The grief had still been fresh when she’d started pushing. My dad had barely been cold in the ground when she’d startedtalking about selling the cabin, moving to a bigger town, and buying a nicenormalhouse with central heating and neighbors close enough to wave at.
She’d wanted the money. Not me.
When I refused, she left. Found some rich man in Little Rock who could give her everything she wanted.
And then I’d been broken-hearted in two directions at once. I hadn’t let anyone close since.
But standing in this cramped little office with Avery Fisher and her expressive lips, I felt something stir that I’d thought was long dead.
Dangerous, I thought again, and turned my attention to the safe.
I punched in the code and pulled out the deposit bags.
“Do you know where Marlene keeps her books? I need to balance the deposit before I take it to the bank.”
Avery gave me a tight smile and rummaged in the drawer until she pulled out an old ledger. “Marlene hasn’t digitized the process yet.”
Hm. That sounded inefficient.
I sat down and began crunching numbers.
I hated this kind of work, even though I could do it if I had to. I liked the honesty of my days spent in the woods, trapping, hunting, fishing, and searching for mushrooms.
We had a variety that grew around here, and they went for good money. It was spring, so it was Morel season right now. And I’d rather be hunting them than adding up numbers.
Avery had been right. The last thing I’d readhadbeen a lawnmower manual.
I didn’t know jack shit about running a bookshop.
But I had a brain, and I’d figure this shit out. It wasn’t rocket science.
Chapter 3
Avery
I don’t know how I’d survived an entire day working alongside Flint Campbell yesterday, but somehow I had.
