Chapter 4
Lorna
My heart is racing a mile a minute as I watch this gorgeous man peruse my wares. Once in a while, he'll look up at me, our eyes meeting, and my pussy begs for his touch. Damn. He is a fricken snack.
And I don't see a wedding ring.
Finally, I choke out, "Please let me know if you need any assistance."
Being a salesperson isn't really my thing. I just sort of hover in the booth when a customer comes over unless they directly ask me something. He picks up one of my large sun catchers.
"Do you think it's possible to ship something like this?" He asks.
"Yes, but I would have a professional box it for you."
"Alright then, I would like to buy this. My aunt and uncle will love it," he says, grinning at me.
Taking his credit card, I note the name Mischa Petrov.
"I don't think I've seen your booth here before. My business is on this street, so I am pretty familiar with the regulars."
"No. I just moved to Sea Glass, but I've been selling my creations for a while now. I used to rent space at a place to create, although I now own my own glass blowing studio, so I'm hoping to make way more than I used to back in Maryland."
The delicious-looking man signs his receipt on the screen of my credit card reader, then offers his hand. "Mischa Petrov. Welcome to town."
"Wait, Petrov? With Frederick?" I blurt out.
"Yeah. You know Frederick?" He says, his grin widening.
Damn. This man is yummy.
"Yeah, he's married to my best friend, Ada."
"You're Lorna!" He says, and my entire body electrifies from hearing my name come out of his kissable mouth.
I grab his hand and shake it.
"Yes, Lorna Collins," I say, but I can barely choke out my last name when our hands touch.
An electric sizzle zaps up my arm and fills me with heated sparks. His eyebrows furrow as he studies my face. We take a long beat, but we eventually let go of one another.
"Do you take commissions?"
"Oh, of course. What are you interested in?" I say, trying to calm my breathing.
"It's more of a concept or an idea. Do you have a place..." He pauses. "Can we meet at your studio?"
Yes is right there on my tongue, but something holds me back. My studio is at my house, and despite how attractive he is, or maybe because of it, inviting him over feels like a leap I'm not ready to make.
"It's not like a business front or anything. Maybe we could meet at the library or a coffee shop?"
"Oh, let's do the library. I have a book to return, anyway. Would you be able to meet tomorrow?"
"Could you do something like eleven?" I ask, and when he nods, I hand him my card. "Okay. I'll meet you at the library tomorrow at eleven, Mister Petrov."
"Mischa," he insists.
"Then you'll call me Lorna," I say, which earns me another panty-dropping smile before he turns and walks off, my eyes unable to look away.
Not only is that man a snack, but his ass looks perfect in those dark jeans.
Walking into the library, my attention is caught by a drag queen story time in the children's section. A very elaborate Mother Goose is dramatically reading from an Eric Carle book to a crowd of delighted children.
"Lorna?" I hear a voice to the side of me. Turning, I find Mischa looking delicious in his leather jacket and plaid button-up.
"Hi. Sorry I'm a few minutes late."
"No worries. Mother Goose has been keeping me entertained," he quips with a grin.
We sit down in the library's corner full of couches and tables, plus a blazing fire in the fireplace.
"So, what did you have in mind?" I say in my soft library voice.
"Well, I'm not 100% sure how you would do this, but my mother died when I was just a toddler, and she had this gorgeous back tattoo of flowers and a crane," Mischa says, opening a folder and showing me a picture of his mother, then a close-up of her tattoo.
"Beautiful art," I say.
"Yeah. And I was wondering, is there something you can do to create this tattoo in glass?"
Staring into his brown eyes, I try to ignore the fact that my entire body has been sizzling while sitting across from him.
"I don't know." My cheeks burn when I speak. "But I'm sure I can create something."
After we discuss his price point, we shake hands, and my entire body sizzles yet again from his touch.
"Let me email you the contract for you to sign," I say, feeling my neck and cheeks heat even more.
After I email him the contract via my phone, the two of us walk together to the front of the library.
"Thank you for entrusting me to create this for you," I say when we step out onto the sidewalk.
"Your glasswork is gorgeous."
"Thank you." I say, stopping myself from blurting out, "So are you." Then I add, "I think I should be done around the twentieth, maybe closer to a couple of days before Christmas. Does that work?"
"Take your time. It's a gift for me, so I'll be okay with it if it's a little after the holiday," he says with a sexy grin.
After a couple of beats, we finally say goodbye, a bit reluctantly on my part, and I have to mentally talk myself into not skipping down the sidewalk.