Chapter 12
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Skye
My skin was still sizzling as we walked out of Tris’s shop.
Rob stuffed the neatly packaged necklace in the pocket of his suit jacket.
I couldn’t believe I’d lost my head like that…
but honestly, it hadn’t been just my head.
I’d been completely lost to this man. The way he’d kissed me had just been surreal.
“Tell me you’re ready to call this a day,” he said in a low, dangerous voice once we reached my shop. Oh, I didn’t want to disappoint him.
“No, I can’t—I’m closing the store today. Tess has an appointment, so she can’t do it.”
He tilted his head. “What if the shopping trip took longer?”
I grinned at him. “I trusted my skills to find the right present.”
“I’ll grab an ice cream until you close up. We can ride home together.”
“Oh? So whatever you’re planning to make up to me… it’ll take place at home?”
“That’s right.”
“I see.” I could barely deal with this intensity radiating from him.
“I’m not nearly done spending time with you tonight, Skye.”
I loved hearing him say my name in that delicious voice. My skin tingled in anticipation. Something lit up inside me. Instinct warned me that this man could be my undoing.
I was completely lost in him, trapped in his sinful gaze. He drew his fingers from my jaw down to my neck. His touch, combined with that sinful gaze, melted my willpower.
“I recommend mango and caramel. They’re delicious.” My voice was full of sass.
He smiled, leaning in a little.
“I know. That’s what you tasted like, and I fucking loved it.”
His words ignited my body. Holy shit, I’d barely calmed down from the kiss, but now every nerve ending was on alert again. The heat between my thighs was out of this world.
His fingers lingered on my earlobe, tugging at it a little. He touched me with so much familiarity.
“I have to go,” I whispered, though all I wanted to do was just stay here.
He dropped his hand, taking a step back.
I headed inside the store, sighing.
“Wait. I want to make a mental picture of you smiling like this,” Tess exclaimed.
She held her hands in front of her, mimicking a camera.
“Also, please remember every detail of whatever brought you to this state of euphoria. I want to hear all about it… just not now, because these online orders won’t pack by themselves. ”
“Oh, Tess.” I shook my head but was grinning. I did the same to her every time she had some new guy in her life. I froze a little.
“Don’t,” Tess exclaimed when I joined her behind the counter.
“Don’t what?”
She cupped my cheeks, tugging at them the way she did when we were kids.
“Be scared of this. I can see it on you.”
I pouted.
“Okay, so I do need some details. Just a little something to fuel me with energy for the rest of the day. Sexy neighbor can’t keep his eyes off you.”
“Or hands,” I confirmed. “Or mouth.”
Tess let go off me, exclaiming in delight. “Yes! I thought you gave off the just-kissed vibes but didn’t want to get ahead of myself. As I said, memorize every detail.”
We went over the online orders, only taking a break when a customer came in. Despite the store, the biggest chunk of our sales happened online, which made me question if the brick-and-mortar investment would pay off. Time would tell, I supposed.
At eight o’clock, Tess had to leave for an appointment.
“Are you sure you can handle the evening traffic yourself?” she asked.
“Yesss! You’ve postponed your pedicure long enough. Just go.”
Our late-night shopping hours were a success, but they were also crowded. But my workaholic sister would probably sleep here if I didn’t make her go home or do what she needed to do.
After she left, half a dozen clients strode in. I could barely tell my ass from my elbow. At nine o’clock, I turned the sign to Closed. There were still a few customers inside, and I wouldn’t usher them out, of course, but I didn’t want any new ones coming in.
I was at the counter, folding merchandise into gift boxes for my last clients, when my phone vibrated.
Rob: You’re amazing.
I looked through the window display, smiling when I realized he was watching me.
Skye: How was the ice cream?
Rob: Delicious. But it tasted better on you.
One message. That was all it took for me to be hot and bothered again.
I didn’t get a chance to write him back, because my customers were waiting for their receipts. After they left, I stood by the door, holding my fingers out for Rob to see, mouthing, “Ten minutes.”
My phone vibrated on the counter the next second. I practically ran to it.
Rob: Five.
Skye: ????
Rob: I was patient enough while you had customers. I’ll come after you. You and I, we’re good in back rooms.
That we were, but still, I had to label some boxes for shipping, and I did not want this sexy man distracting me.
Skye: Ten minutes.
Grinning, I put my phone down. My message had two purposes. One: establish that I really needed more time to complete the task. Two: rile him up. I was sure this would make him stride in earlier.
I heard the phone vibrate again but didn’t want to give in to the temptation of reading it. I would never finish my task if I didn’t focus. I lost the battle with myself twenty seconds later, picking up the phone.
My mood plummeted immediately. The message wasn’t from Rob but Dean, my shitty ex.
Dean: Can you lend me some money?
Skye: No.
Dean: Come on, I spent a crap-ton taking you out to dinner, and you’re loaded.
I blinked.
Skye: So let me get this straight… you gave me shit about my mood cramping your style when I had issues but think it’s okay to ask me for money?
Dean: Is that a yes or no?
Skye: Read above. NO. FUCK NO.
I tossed the phone in my bag, but not before blocking his number. I had no clue why I hadn’t done that before. I still had a few labels to stick on the boxes and was hoping my anger would melt away by the time I was done. Instead, it just intensified.
When Rob stepped inside the store, I was so worked up that I couldn’t even muster a smile. I’d finished the boxes and was sitting on the counter, clasping my bag.
“Is something wrong?” he immediately asked.
“Yes. How can you tell?”
“You’re different.”
I decided to fess up, because I didn’t want him to think it had anything to do with him.
“A shitty guy I used to date just messaged to ask me for money.” My voice was hard.
“I hope you told him to go to hell,” Rob responded with such intensity, I had to look at him to see if he was okay.
“Of course I did. In fucking capital letters. Blocked his number too, but I’m still very annoyed. He just ditched me when things got rough, and now…. Sorry, you don’t want to know that.”
“Yes I do.” He walked up to me. “Tell me. I want to know. To understand.”
His voice was softer now, concerned… for me. Except for family, I wasn’t sure I’d ever had that before.
“So he and I went out quite often a few months ago. Anyway, then Tess and I had some troubles. We’d been close to signing a deal with an investor who pulled out at the last minute.
I can’t tell you how much trouble that caused.
We’d already spoken to suppliers for additional orders.
We lost face and their trust. I wasn’t exactly cheerful. ”
“Understandably.”
“Anyway, Dean decided that I was too moody and depressed, and he hadn’t signed up for that.”
Rob’s eyes turned hard. I was irritable, and I preferred being by myself when I was like this.
“We can postpone whatever you had planned for tonight if you prefer.” I hopped off the counter, shutting off the main lights, avoiding looking at him.
“Why would I want that?”
“I’m not cheerful, as you can see. I’m short of punching something. Not the best dinner companion.”
In a few short seconds, Rob was behind me.
“I don’t care. I want you with me tonight.”
His directness and charm sliced through my anger like a machete. I turned around slowly, facing him. A few lights from the back were casting just enough light that I could still make out his features.
“Oh?”
“I have some methods to wind down after a tough day, push it out of your mind.”
“It’s not running, is it?” I teased.
He brought his mouth to my ear. “No, it’s even better.”
A shiver ran through me.
“I promise you won’t even remember why you were mad in the first place.”
“That cannot possibly be true,” I countered.
“I’ll prove it.”
He took my hand in his. The skin on skin singed me. My breath caught. My whole body was anticipating the next second. Would he kiss me? He leaned in to me but veered right. The light end-of-day whiskers brushed my cheek.
“If you prefer, we can postpone everything,” Rob said.
“What do you want?”
“For you to go home with me tonight.” His tone was seductive with a hint of bossy. Yum.
“For dinner?” I whispered. I wasn’t sure what I wanted him to say.
“Not just dinner.” He pulled back a notch, staring me straight in the eyes. “I’ve got some skills to prove to you.”
“Fine. In the spirit of neighborly relationships, you can test your methods on me.”
“You’ll love them.”
“Hey, don’t go raising expectations.”
“I promise I can fulfill every single one of them.”
I had no doubt. I tried very hard not to imagine every other expectation he could fulfill.
“Let’s go, then,” I said. Grabbing the keys and my handbag, I led the way out of the store. Rob was on my heels, almost literally. I could feel the heat of his body behind me as I locked the door.
It was a beautiful evening for a stroll. I looked around with a huge smile, enjoying that Rob was here with me.
“You really love it here.”
“I do. But I just love the city in general more than any place I’ve visited.”
“Do you travel a lot?”
“I used to. Back in college, I traveled the US with some backpacker friends during vacations. Once I was more senior at my workplace, I was paid very well, and Tess and I went to Europe twice and went on a lot of tours. Once we started from Ireland, went to the UK and then France. The second time we started with Italy and then flew to Spain. I loved it.”
“I can see that. You’re lighting up.”
“I’d actually thought about working abroad for a while, but Tess and I decided we wanted to give this business a try. So we saved and worked insane hours.”
“Tell me about the investor you almost signed with.”
I waved my hand. “It just didn’t work out. He said he’d found a more profitable option.”
“Are you searching for another one?”
“No, Tess and I decided that for now, we’ll focus on what we have.”
“Why did you want one in the first place?”
“More cash never hurts, and our initial plan was to expand rapidly, open a few more stores. But right now, our numbers tell us that we should focus our efforts on the online store. It’s where 70 percent of our profit comes from. Another physical store would just be a drain.”
“Personally, I think that working with investors is overrated. One gets caught up in the rush of expansion and investment, but the risk increases too, and the overall structure becomes tied to investors. It can tumble down like a house of cards.”
“Exactly. We got a taste of that when we had to call the suppliers and tell them we wouldn’t be sending more business their way after all. We’re happy with our decision for now. We’ll see if things change in the future.”
When we descended the stairs to the subway, Rob put his hand on my lower back. I loved it.
It was very hot in the station and then extremely cold in the car itself. The AC was freezing. I shuddered, and Rob gallantly took off his suit jacket, draping it around my shoulders. I grinned at him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
He still had one hand on my back. The other was on the railing, which put his mouthwatering bicep at my eye level. Oh, what a view. I typically read on the train—I had a Kindle app on my phone loaded with my favorite books—but there was no way I was missing out on the view this evening.
Every time our gazes crossed, I felt as if we were back in Tris’s shop. Especially because the more time passed, the closer he leaned in and the harder he pressed his hand on my lower back.
“Should’ve taken an Uber. Then I would’ve had you all to myself,” he said in a low voice. Something in his tone made me think he was considering getting off at the next station and climbing into a car for the rest of the way. A shiver ran through me at the thought.
“You’re forgetting the driver,” I whispered.
“Details. I can’t wait to taste you again, touch that sexy-as-hell lingerie you’re wearing.”
My eyes widened. My cheeks were on fire.
“You thought I didn’t notice?” he went on in that same low voice. “Just remembering how you felt… fuck.”
Okay, that last word had almost sounded like a groan.
This flirtiness was escalating quickly, and we were in a public place.
I thought it was best to take a step back, put a few inches of distance between us.
I grabbed a ceiling strap for support. I hadn’t been holding on to anything before, thinking that if I lost my balance I could just… grab Rob.
For the rest of the journey, he followed my lead, not even attempting to close the space between us. When the train came to a stop at our station, he trapped me with his gaze again, and one thing was for sure: tonight wasn’t going to end just with kissing.