Cassidy
My shirt was torn and there was absolutely nothing I could do about the disheveled appearance of my hair, other than throw it up in a ponytail and hope others thought I was just having a bad day.
“Do you have extra clothes here?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. Though none were as cute as what I had on today.
“I’ll…pay for a new shirt.”
Chuckling, I headed to the closet and pulled out a pair of dress pants and a blouse.
They wouldn’t match my shoes, but I’d make do.
At least I wouldn’t be walking around in cum-stained clothes or a ripped shirt.
After cleaning up as best I could, I quickly dressed in the bathroom and fixed my makeup.
I strode out, determined to get back to work and stop thinking about Sam.
But that was hard to do when he was still here.
Still standing in my office, looking just as handsome as he had ten minutes ago.
“You’re still here.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me, shoving his hands in his pockets like he was uncomfortable as well. “The bookcase.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “You were serious about that?”
“About making sure you don’t kill yourself? Absolutely.”
“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t kill myself putting up a bookcase when I did it to the rest of the shop with nothing more than a few minor scratches.”
“Minor or not, I’m here, so I might as well help you.”
I couldn’t really complain. It wasn’t often someone offered to help, and that would give me the opportunity to ogle the man for a little longer, all while pretending I was carefully inspecting his work.
“Okay, but I must warn you, I’m very picky.”
“About what?”
Grinning, I strode past him. “You’ll see.”
Over the next hour, I drove the man crazy, having him measure everything three times, take pictures so I could see for certain things were level and perfect through the eyes of marketing, and I even had him measure that bookshelf against the others in the shop.
Why?
Because it gave me multiple views of his backside, and that was well worth the unnecessary work.
“Are you certain this is where you want it?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at me.
“Do me a favor and scooch to the right just two inches and check the level.”
Sighing, he did as he asked, and right there, his ass was perfectly placed right in front of me. Grinning, I nodded.
“Perfect.”
Except, he glanced over his shoulder and caught me ogling his behind.
“Cassidy,” he warned.
“Hmm?”
“Are you making me do all this extra work just so you can stare at my ass?”
“Oh, definitely not. No, this is how I am every time I put up a bookshelf,” I said, hoping to sound sincere, though it came off like a lie.
“So, if I got Bud Carson in here to help you, he’d have to go through all the same things?”
“Probably more. Have you seen Bud Carson organize the shelves in the pharmacy? He could use a little design help.”
Sighing, he turned around and hopped off the ladder. “It’s a shelf, Cassidy. It’s pretty damn basic.”
“Oh, it is, is it?”
“Yeah. You build it. You attach it to the wall. This could have been done an hour ago.”
Nodding, I grinned at him. “You mean, like when you stormed in here just as I was about to do just that?”
“That was different.”
“In what way?”
He opened his mouth, gaping like a fish at me, searching for something not offensive to say.
And I let him sweat.
“Well…”
Walking forward, I pressed my hand to his chest, cocking my head at him. “The truth is, you just wanted to see me.”
His teeth ground in irritation at my declaration. “If anything, I was protecting you.”
“Yes, from the big bad drill,” I smiled.
His eyes narrowed dangerously at me, but instead of saying anything, he turned and quickly installed the brackets into the wall, then to the bookshelf, securing it in place.
“Done.”
“Thank you,” I smiled, tipping my head at him. “I never could have done it without you.”
Rolling his eyes, he practically tossed the drill aside as he stalked toward me.
“Now, hold on a minute. I don’t have another change of clothes!”
“Then maybe you should learn to watch what you say,” he growled, grabbing me around the waist and hauling me against his body.
“You’re sweaty!”
“I’m about to make you sweaty,” he growled, right before he slammed his lips down on mine.
I struggled, pushing him away for a whole two seconds before I gave up and slid my fingers through his hair, tugging harshly to pull him closer to me.
God, he was so addictive, so freaking handsome, and there was nothing I could do to stop the little Cassidy inside me from jumping up and down every time his body came close or his eyes flicked my way.
Luckily, I was saved by the bell.
The door chimed as someone strolled into the shop, and he quickly stepped back, grabbing a book off a nearby shelf.
“Hello, Mrs. Bennett,” I beamed, giving myself a quick once-over to make sure I was presentable. Thankfully, I didn’t appear too disheveled.
“Good morning, dear. I was just stopping in for that new cookbook I ordered.”
“Right!”
I hustled around behind the counter, searching for her order. I’m not sure how I could have let it slip my mind. Georgia Bennett always picked up her orders first thing in the morning when they came in.
“Oh, Sam! It’s good to see you in town. You know, I hear they’ve been moving your house around a lot. Better hope they don’t hitch it up behind Kasey’s apartment. You’ll have a nightly visitor.”
“Um…”
“Oh, listen to me,” she laughed, rushing over to him. “I’m Georgia Bennett, Bailey’s mom.”
“Right. Liam’s wife.”
The woman beamed with pride, puffing out her chest as she perused him. “Now, we need to find you a girlfriend. A man like you can’t saunter around town too long before all the girls will be beating down your door. You know, my Billie is single.”
“Uh, I’m not really looking.”
I smirked at the counter, trying not to enjoy this scene too much. After all, a round with Mrs. Bennett would give anyone a massive migraine.
“Oh, is it the other direction?” she whispered. “Because I’m afraid I don’t know of any single young men with those tendencies.”
Sam nearly choked on his own spit at her words. As for me, I clapped down on the snort of laughter just as Sam shot me the most evil look I’d ever seen.
“Of course, that Declan is awfully handsome. He’s a firefighter, you know. Though I have no idea if he prefers a firehose over—well, I’m not sure what you would say instead of firehose!” she burst out laughing.
“I’m really just here to get a book,” Sam choked out.
She peered at his book and beamed up at him. “Are you adopting a kitten? How sweet!”
“What—” His eyes shot to the book, then back to her. “No, I was just—”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Living all alone in that house, you must need the company. And I know just where to go. I heard the other day that the Lawsons were looking to get rid of a few kittens. I can give you their number,” she said, digging around in her purse.
“That’s not necessary.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. Lisa is a good friend of mine.
” Her gaze shot up to his and a smile curved her lips.
“You know, their daughters are in town right now. Hadley and Oakley. Well, they came to visit after that terrible business with Ellie. Poor dear. We’re all praying for her.
I suppose it would be uncouth to ask if her daughters are single right now, but I could slip it into the conversation easily enough. ”
“Really, it’s not—”
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t forget about the kitten.” She pulled out a giant notebook and grinned. “Here! I’m sure I have her number in here somewhere.”
Sam ran his hand along the back of his bright red neck. If ever there was a time to rescue him, it was now. The poor man looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.
“Mrs. Bennett, I found your book!”
She spun, tapping her forehead as she rushed over. “Oh, silly me. I completely forgot about why I came in here.”
“Let me get this wrapped up for you.”
“Thank you, dear. And—” She spun to say something else to Sam, but he was already long gone, having made his escape with my clever distraction. “Oh, I was going to ask him what kind of kitten he was looking for. Oh well. I’ll give Lisa a call, anyway.”
“I’m sure he’d appreciate that,” I said, hiding a smile.
“Thank you for the book, dear. I can’t wait to try out some of these new recipes.”
“You’ll have to save me a taste.”
“You know I will.”
As she left, my good mood suddenly deflated. Sam was gone, and the playfulness of the morning had disappeared with him. Not that it mattered. I had things to do, and having him here was only a distraction.
I got to work and tried to pretend the entire time that I couldn’t smell his scent still clinging to my body. It was going to be a long day.