Frowning, Casey glanced over at him. “I’m trying to do some work here, okay?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“You don’t have a right to ask it. We just work together on some shifts.”
“I think of you as a friend. I feel I should warn you about him and his gang.”
“Thanks, but I’m an adult and I can handle myself just fine.” She looked at the flatbed cart stacked with bags of ice melt. “Aren’t you supposed to put all those”—she pointed at the cart—“on the shelves?”
Scott sighed. “Yeah. I’ll get around to it.” He tipped the bag, shaking the final kernels directly into his open mouth. “Do youthink we’ll have a Christmas party this year?” he asked while chomping.
“I don’t know.”
“We had one last year, but you weren’t working then. It was pretty cool. Owen had it at Big Rocky’s Barbecue. They have the best damn ribs and brisket in the county. Have you been there?”
Casey let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “No. I’m trying to work here, okay?”
“Damn. You don’t have to bite my head off. I bet if I was that biker, you’d be all smiles and flirting with me.”
“Bags. Stack them,” she said, pointing at the flatbed.
“I’m going,” he grumbled.
Relief washed over her as he tossed the empty popcorn bag then pushed the cart down an aisle.I thought he’d never shut the fuck up.She focused her attention back to the monitor and finished inputting the inventory list.
The bell above the door chimed again. When the store was busy the constant chiming drove her crazy, especially when Scott was hanging around creeping on her. She couldn’t wait until she finished paying off the two credit card bills JT racked up.
“Hey.”
A deep voice reeled her back to the moment.
She looked up and froze. Rags stood in front of the counter. Her gaze raked over him before she could stop it, drinking in the way the afternoon light caught the green in his hazel eyes. He wore a long-sleeved T-shirt that molded over his chest and shoulders, and jeans that rode dangerously low on his narrow hips.Damn… he’s so hot.
“How’ve you been?” His voice was low and warm, like a caress wrapping around her.
She lifted her chin, her eyes landing on the stitched cut above his eyebrow. “You picked up a new scar since I last saw you.”
He smirked in that slow, infuriating, and familiar way. “I knew I could count on your cutting tongue.”
A cool smile curled at the corner of her mouth. “If I wanted to use my tongue on you, you wouldn’t be standing there smirking.”
His eyes darkened as heat flashed in them quick and unmistakable.
She held his gaze. “And just so you know, you could’ve come by to say hi. Instead, you disappeared like some cliché biker, but then, I can’t say I’m surprised.”
For a few seconds, he just stared at her then cleared his throat. “I had a lot of shit going on. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset.”
“Seems like you are.” He scrubbed the side of his face.
“Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. It’s no big deal. We’re both adults, right?”
His expression shifted. His perpetual smirk faded into something deeper, more predatory. His eyes dragged over her face, down her body, slow and deliberate. “You finished?” he asked.
She stiffened. “What do you mean?”
He leaned over the counter. She could feel the warmth of him and smell the fresh scent of his soap, because he was that close.