“I work here.” The rumble of his voice went straight to my gut and then a little lower, too. Thank god I wasn’t wearing my tight jeans.
I started talking fast, worried I was about to lose him. “Right. You work here, and me and my friends work at Northstar, but we close every day just about the time you’re getting started at the bar, so there’s no one to watch over the shop after dark. We thought we could give you fifty bucks a week, just to keep glancing that way, with a bonus if you catch the guys who are messing with us?”
He took out the toothpick, thumbing it for a moment then tossing it in the gutter. “Fifty bucks, and you just want me to watch the place?”
I grinned, delighted to realize we were negotiating. “And if you see anyone messing with us, give them what they got coming.”
“And what’s that?”
I shrugged. I hadn’t really thought about that part. He looked so intimidating and mean outside of the bar, I kind of just figured he would bark at whatever bored teenagers he caught, and they would run away like scared puppies. “I don’t know. Throw a beer bottle at them. Run them out of town with a motorcycle. Show them your knuckle tattoos. Whatever sounds fun, I guess.”
He made a fist and glanced down at his knuckles. He seemed to admire the small illustrations of skulls, bottles withX’s on their labels, and tiny roses and then shot his gaze back my way. “Whatever sounds fun,” he repeated.
I ran a hand through my curly hair and bit down on my bottom lip, not wanting to waste this brief moment of attention. It was harder to get a read on this guy than I had thought, but now that I had him, it wasn’t like I was going to give up so easy. “I’m not sure who it is that’s messing up our shop, but we’re a comic book store that caters to gay people, so it’s probably just some asshole teenagers. I don’t imagine they’ll put up a fight or anything, is all I’m saying.”
I tried to gauge his reaction when I said the gay part, but of course he didn’t flinch. He just kept staring with those eyes, prettier than a guy like him had the right to be. It was better than having him shove me away or make some snide comment, at least. Working at Northstar, I was used to people having fun at our expense. Gay nerds just seemed like an easy target to some people.
But this guy? The guy I stared at every evening while I was closing up the shop? The hunk of pure sex, glaring on the corner like he owned the whole town? I got the distinct impression he didn’t see me as a target.
Not in that way, at least.
Or maybe I wanted him to see me as a target. Maybe, if I gave him just a little more sass, he would decide he had to discipline me and put me back in my place.
My place bent over his knee or clutching my ankles.
I jumped in place again, trying to shake the images that were filling my mind. “Is it a deal?”
He stuck his hand out, palm up, and for a brief moment I almost took it, rubbing my fingers along the faint red hairs on his wrist.
Then he cleared his throat, and I snapped out of the fantasy. Rummaging in my pocket, I pulled out fifty bucks, placing the crumpled bills in his hand. “This should cover you for the first week. I can give you more later.” I shoved my hands back in my pockets, almost like I was hiding something. “We took up a collection,” I added.
He closed his hands around the bills, apparently accepting the deal. “Okay.”
My heartbeat quickened again, and I noticed the way his Adam’s apple bobbed when he talked. His throat was already so thick I could have swung from it like a chandelier, but when he swallowed, it expanded even more, the veins throbbing out.
But really, it was those eyes that got me. The rest of his face was rougher, from the small scar on his right cheek to the crease of his eyes. But those eyes looked like they belonged on a supermodel, they were so damn pretty.
“And hey,” I said, scuffing my Converse against the pavement, “if there’s anything else I could do to show you how much I appreciate your help…”
The corner of his mouth flipped up in a grin, and my cock twitched in response, like his every little gesture was hotwired to my private bits. Then he leaned back his head and spit a wad of saliva on the ground. “Brick,” he said.
I placed my hand against the wall again, tracing the bumpy stone. “Brick?”
The smile left his face. “That’s my fucking name.”
I coughed and skipped in place again, my legs dancing beneath me. “Ezra!” I said. “Nice to meet you!”
Brick didn’t say anything, and when I kept standing there, grinning up at him, he turned to look in the other direction. I indulged in another moment of staring, admiring the broad contours of his shoulders and the loose mess of hair that fell to his ears in a swoop of chestnut. There were so many details I couldn’t see from the shop, and if my heart hadn’t been performing backflips in my chest, I might have reached out and touched him.
Blinking and realizing it was time to go, I scurried back down the block, practically running to get back to Northstar. When I pushed through the entrance, the little bell dinged above me, and the other employees turned expectantly.
I collapsed backward against the door, sliding to the ground and landing in a puddle.
“Well?” Clark asked, leaning across the counter and pushing aside some action figures he had been pricing. “Did he accept the offer?”
I sighed, adjusting my glasses as a dopey smile swallowed my face. “Guys, you’ll never believe it.”
“What?” Clark asked again, his voice more urgent. “What happened?”
“It’s the most beautiful thing in the world,” I whispered. “The most wonderful thing to happen on Argyle Street in years.”
“Get on with it, then!” Clark urged.
I placed a hand against the side of my cheek, sighing dreamily to myself. “Guys,” I said, “I think I just fell in love.”
