Bullshit, you creep.Casey gripped the handle of the watering can, fighting every impulse to haul the vessel at him. Without saying another word, she scurried away.
When Owen asked her if she could work at his shop while he was away, she leapt at the chance. Casey was always looking for a way to make extra money to pay off the debt her ex-husband stuck her with as a parting gift. She’d always loved gardening, so working at the nursery didn’t feel like a job except when Scott worked the same shift. Casey tried to laugh at his not-funny-at-all jokes, act interested when he talked about his reptilecollection, and pretend that his loud chomping when he ate, which seemed like all the time, didn’t annoy the hell out of her, but the truth was she didn’t get good vibes from him. Whenever he was around, her intuition lit up like an electrical storm. It didn’t help that he kept checking her out or finding ways to slither up to her when she was least expecting it. No matter how she analyzed the dynamics, the guy was a creepandan asshole.
“Jillian’s going to see her mom this weekend,” Scott said, sauntering over to the front counter.
Casey feigned intense interest in the cash register, hoping her co-worker would go away and leave her the hell alone. She was dead tired from working at her main job at the Center Stage Theater and in no mood to deal with him.
“What about getting a burger or pizza on Saturday?”
“Huh?” Casey looked up and noticed that Scott had come behind the counter.
“A pizza or burger.”
“Okay… so…?” She expelled a long breath.
“I said my girlfriend’s going away this weekend, and I thought you and me could grab dinner or something.” A smirk made his dough-boy face appear ridiculous.
“Can’t.”
A frown replaced the smirk. “Why not?”
“Busy.” She pushed the cash register drawer closed.
Before Scott could say anything, the store door opened and a gust of cool air rushed in, carrying a whirl of dried leaves that scudded across the linoleum floor. Casey glanced over and met a pair of hazel eyes focused solely on her. She sucked in a slow breath as she took the handsome stranger in: tall and lean, wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans that hugged narrow hips and long legs. His warm brown hair had hints of gold tones, and it was pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes skimmed over the colorful ink images painted on his strong arms.
“Whaddya need?” Scott’s voice pulled her attention away from the customer.
Ignoring Scott, the man’s gaze drifted to her waist then slowly up to her breasts. “Lemme have twenty bags of Irongate redwood mulch,” he said, looking back into her eyes.
“This is shit, man,” Scott muttered under his breath as he stalked away. “You take care of this guy.”
“I haven’t seen you before,” the customer continued, rocking back on his boot heels as he kept his eyes trained on her.
“I’m kinda new.”
“Oh, yeah?” His voice was deep with a tinge of rasp.
Casey broke eye contact with him. The guy had bad boy vibes written all over him, not to mention an air of confidence so big it filled the whole store. She wouldn’t be surprised if the dude had a motorcycle.A Harley for sure.
“We have redwood mulch. Pioneer’s a great brand. We have Eden as well.”
“Irongate’s the one I like. Twenty bags.”
“Irongate’s been recalled.”
“No, it hasn’t. I just bought it last week.”
“Maybe somewhere else, but we took the bags off the shelf a couple of weeks ago. Mold, fungus, and some of the colored mulch had contaminants like formaldehyde, aluminum, and arsenic. That stuff’s nasty and not good for the soil or the plants. It causes soil erosion and—”
“Look,sweetheart, I don’t need you to educate me on mulch. I also don’t need you to tell me where I bought the last supply. So be a good girl and get me twenty bags of Irongate mulch.”
For a few seconds Casey stood staring at him, not quite computing what he’d said and then a brief flash of anger rankled over her skin.What a condescending jerk.
Leaning against the back counter, she pointed at an aisle behind him and said, “Aisle six. Go for it.” She pulled out theinventory binder and pretended to be engrossed in the section on landscaping tools, all the while very much aware of his hard stare boring into her. Refusing to indulge him, she kept her gaze on the photo of a lawn aerator.
A deep chuckle washed over her, and she gritted her teeth and looked up, watching him swagger down the aisle in a way that suggested raw sensuality. He looked over his shoulder, and before she could glance away, he winked at her, a bemused smile twitching on his lips.
Casey felt her cheeks grow warm and hated thathesaw it too. She closed the binder, threw it back on the shelf under the counter, and gazed out the window as she turned her back to the rest of the store, trying to cool down her temper.