All of a sudden, the rest of the shop disappeared. I felt dizzy, like after the aerobics class, and my legs turned into jelly, barely keeping me upright on the stool.
There was just something about the way he looked at me. Like I had caught his eye, and now I was getting sucked into his world. For just a moment, I thought he might ask me anything, and I might accidentally say yes.
Take me to the moon, I thought.Take me anywhere.
Then Ezra cleared his throat pointedly, and I snapped back to reality.
“Um, welcome to Seattle,” I said, almost stuttering over my words. “Are you looking for some… comic books?”
The guy leaned forward a little closer, and I caught a whiff of something that smelled like gasoline and pine trees. “I’m looking for a few things,” he said. “Maybe you can help me out?”
“Sure,” I said, awkwardly smoothing down the front of my Northstar T-shirt, then adjusting my glasses. “New comics are in the front of the store, and the backstock is behind me. They’re mainly alphabetical, but if there’s something in particular you’re looking for, I can point you to it.”
Mars bit down on his bottom lip, then drew his eyes up and down my body. I tightened my fingers around the edge of the counter and felt blood rushing to my crotch.
“Is there a comic you’re looking for?” I asked weakly.
Mars held one finger in the air, and I saw the small tattoo of a star on his knuckle. “Just one,” he said. “The newStar Trek. I’ve been reading it since I was a kid, but I haven’t picked up the secondAftermathissue yet.”
He said it with so much confidence, a smile filling up his face, almost likeStar Trekhad become the new hot thing overnight and no one had bothered to tell me.
“Star Trekis by the back wall,” I said. “There’s a whole display.” Mars stayed there without saying a word, and I felt my hands go clammy. “Is there something else?”
“Maybe you,” he said, dropping his voice so that it was closer to a growl. “No one told me the geeks were so cute in Seattle.”
Cute?My mouth fell open, and I barely managed to close it again.
“Clark here really has a preference for other geeks,” Ezra said, jumping forward and grabbing my elbow to steady me. “Trust me, we used to live together. Isn’t that right, Clark?”
“I think so?” I said, still overwhelmed. Could this gorgeous tattooed man seriously be hitting on me? “I mean yes, we used to live together.” I blinked behind my glasses a few times, then prayed for a UFO to come and beam me away.
“Hey,” Mars said, “I can’t blame you. But who said I wasn’t a geek?”
Ezra laughed, then pointed a finger straight at him. “You said. With your clothes and your tattoos, and the look on your face, and the way you walked in here.”
“Maybe now, sure,” he said. “But back when I was a kid?” He pointed his thumbs at his chest, then shot me a cocky grin. “Pure geek. I just had to put on a different outfit to make it out there, you know?” He winked at me, and I almost choked on the air I was breathing. “It’s a big, bad world.”
He was so full of himself, I didn’t know how to respond. Part of me wanted to tell him to cut the act, that he wasn’t impressing anyone, but then I noticed that smile again and the way I could just barely see the shapes of his pecs through the taut fabric of his shirt.
And okay, fine, I was a little impressed. But there was no way in gay hell I was going to lose my virginity to a player like him.
“Listen,” I said. “I’m flattered, I really am…”
Mars stuck his hand in the air to stop me, then strolled toward the comics in the back. “Spare me the rejection,” he said over his shoulder, then plucked the newestStar Trekissue from the rack and returned my way. “I’ll have to come back to the store in a few weeks, you know?”
“To get his new issue,” Ezra whispered.
“Yes, Ezra,” I whispered back. “I understood that.”
Mars slapped the comic on the counter, then grabbed one of the business cards we kept near the register. As I rang him up, he scribbled something on the card, then pushed it my way with the cash. “My number,” he said. “In case you decide to give a new guy in town a chance and show a little love to a former geek.”
“Enjoy your comic,” I said, forcing the words out while heat flamed my cheeks.
I watched Mars walk away and let my eyes trail over his backside. There was a hanky folded up in his back pocket, and when he cocked his hips, it swished back and forth like a hypnotist’s pendulum. When he finally walked out of the shop, I let out a puff of air and turned back to Ezra.
“What just happened?”
Ezra picked up the business card, then placed it in my hand. “You might not be ready to flirt with the guys, buddy,” he said, grinning, “but you can’t stop the guys from flirting with you.”
