Let Iris and Oliver handle the other customers.
This tall one here smells delicious.
Two
Finn
I was in trouble the moment I set foot in Songbird Ridge.
With her red hair, full lips, and curves for days, I never stood a chance.
I pictured it all before I could even see Skylar clearly. When I arrived in town and started making my way toward the place where Oliver told me to meet him, I heard her laugh. I saw the jut of her hips in that dress. I knew. I just knew. That’s my girl, and there’s no two ways around it.
I’m sunk. Flattened. Up shit creek without a paddle.
Skylar is a damn bombshell.
And now that I can see her up close, touch her, smell her strawberry scent, I’m losing my mind.
All of my senses are overloaded with her. How long have I been holding her hand in this handshake? Ridiculous.
Slowly, I let go. I have to. I don’t want to. But the extended handshake is surely going to creep her out.
Slowly, slowly, I release my grip on her soft hand, letting her pull away.
Skylar’s cheeks turn softly pink. She blinks at me, and for a moment I can see behind the wall she has up. Oh, she’s good at the flirting thing. I can size people up pretty quickly, and she has that thing where people are drawn to her right away. I know what’s happening to me.
Behind those eyes and her flirtatious demeanor, though, is a world of hurt.
I mean, hell, we all have a world of hurt.
And I’m determined to find out what caused it and break it all down.
Not to fix her. Not to break her. But to leave her better than I found her.
She’s going to know I’m a man of substance. The flirting only lasts so long with me. At some point, we’re going to have a real conversation, and it’s going to be soon.
“You have a bookstore here in town? I bet it has your personality all over it,” I say. I sound like an absolute daft idiot.
“Someday,” Skylar answers, explaining that she has put in an application to rent a storefront on Second Street, but she’s worried about the competition. When she mentions the place needing renovations, my ears really perk up.
Too soon. Don’t start making promises because of your skills. Be cool.
“I hope you get it,” I say. “Truly, I do. I know it’d be a great place.”
She calls me precious again, and I’m starting to like it.
“You’re going to make me blush,” I say, pushing aside her compliments because more than anything, I want to get to know the real her.
Her eyes light up as she tells me all about her plans for Raven Books and Music. How she’s planning to sell records, comic books, and maybe candles and tarot cards too.
I tell her I think that’s smart in this economy, and then I pontificate like an asshole.
“As a commercial contractor, I can’t tell you how depressing it is when I get paid a ton of money to help people make their dreams come true, only to see the whole thing go belly up a year later because they don’t have a plan.”
There. I said it. Cat’s out of the bag. Be cool, be cool.
“I hate that for them,” she says, a sly smile pulling at her lip.
