“I got it.” He swooped it up. “Thanks, though.”
Wow, even his voice was perfect. Deeper than she’d expected, and that wasn’t a bad thing. Her pulse thumped again. She’d seen handsome men before, but she’d never had this reaction—at least not since she was a teenager. To be fair, most of her adulthood was spent inside away from crowds, so she hadn’t seen that many men in real life, period. But this one...Oh my—
“You’re looking at a genuine celebrity here.” Maude fluttered back to Britt and took her by the hand, parking her in front of the man. “Brittany Branch,” she gushed. “The greater Plano area’s premiere artist.”
Not only did Britt’s face heat up like a pizza oven, but her palms grew damp, her mouth turned dry, and her stomach twisted, all at the same time. Her upper lip was also perspiring, and not a delicate, feminine glow, but an outright ugly sweat. Talk about embarrassing. She wiped her mouth and stared at her feet, unable to look at him.
“Maude, you know Britt doesn’t like us making a fuss over her.” X moved from behind the counter and put his arm around her. “We’re just excited to see you, sweetie.”
She gulped, still staring down, her palms so slick she wanted to wipe them off on her shorts, but didn’t dare.
“And we do love to brag about you.” Maude flanked her on the other side. “We’re so proud of our Britt. From the moment she started taking art lessons from us ten—”
“Eleven,” Britt mumbled, unable to stop herself. She managed to slightly glance up.
“—years ago, we knew she was gifted. We even have our own Britt wall of fame.” She gestured to the wall behind the counter, covered in art projects Britt had made over the years. K&B’s equivalent of a proud parent’s refrigerator.
She was dying inside. Normally Maude didn’t go overboardlike she was doing now. She would sometimes mention Britt’s channel to a customer or point out her favorite work on the wall of fame—a mixed media, Picasso-inspired modern portrait of her and X’s wedding day at his parents’ bowling alley in Middlebury, Vermont. Maude bowled a perfect game at the reception. When Britt first saw the photo of her in a wedding dress, him in a tux, and the six attendants all holding colorful bowling balls, she had to create her own interpretation.
“That’s... great,” the man said.
That voice. So smooth, like honey over glass. She was terrified to look directly at him, knowing he was probably more than ready to get out of the store but now had to act interested to humor Maude. She desperately needed an escape. “I, uh... gotta go to the bathroom.”
She dashed off to the back of the store, alternately wincing and cringing the whole way. She could have said she needed new brushes or wanted to look at watercolor options for an upcoming video, or she could have pretended her phone buzzed in her pocket and she had to take the call.
But no. She chose to run to the bathroom.
Britt entered the one-person restroom and nearly slammed the door. She leaned against it, squeezing her eyes shut and willing her pulse to slow. Then she pressed the heel of her damp hand against her equally perspiring forehead and cringed. Her whole face feltmoist.How pathetic.
She couldn’t even look at a handsome guy without turning into a boiling cauldron of nerves. How was she going to handle being in Savannah’s wedding? Surely there would be some handsome men there, although probably not any as gorgeous as that guy.
She went to the sink, grabbed a length of the brown papertowel from the dispenser, and ran cold water over it. Dabbing it over her forehead, she looked into the mirror and grimaced. To top it off, her hair was a mess. She’d put it in a loose bun earlier in the day and hadn’t thought to check to see if it needed attention. Twirls of curls were falling out of the scrunchy, making her look like she’d just rolled out of bed and out the door.
Britt threw the towel away and leaned against the sink. Finally, she was cooling off, her heartbeat steadier. She didn’t feel like throwing up anymore either.
“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered, looking in the mirror again. Odds were next to zero she’d ever see that guy again, and X and Maude knew about her problems with anxiety. Maude was probably in the break room now, fixing Britt one of her calming tea blends. Although they were nice to drink, they rarely made a dent when she was really agitated.
After deciding she might as well make use of the facilities, she finished up by washing her hands, in control of her emotions again. She really didn’t want to waste time in the bathroom when she could be visiting with X and Maude. Now that she was able to think clearly, she wasn’t even sure why she’d had such an extreme reaction to him.
“So what if he’s handsome?” she said aloud, her voice echoing off the subway-tiled walls. “For all you know, he could be an axe murderer.” Managing a small smile at her lame comment, she straightened, threw her shoulders back, and blew out a breath. Crisis over.
Ready to visit with her friends and apologize for being the weirdo she was, she threw open the door... and saw the handsome stranger standing right in front of her.
***
Those eyes...
Hunter had known from Britt’s videos that she had pretty eyes. But their beauty in real life was on a whole other level. Variegated shades of jade green, with thick black lashes lining them. He couldn’t take his own unremarkable eyes off her. She was cute on screen but downright adorable in person. Even the way she kept looking down while Maude was singing her praises appealed to him. She really was as humble as she seemed to be in her videos.
But right now, her stunning eyes were wide and filled with shock. He suddenly hoped she didn’t think he was following her, even though he totally was. Then her gaze darted down again.
He knew from her videos that she was somewhat shy, but the sides of her neck were dark red, bordering on purple. Her visual focus was still downcast, as if she didn’t want to look at him. Now he was second-guessing his impulsive decision to wait for her to come out of the bathroom and tell her who he was. She seemed extremely uncomfortable around him.
“I, uh...” he stammered, shoving his hand through his hair. Then he saw the commode behind her. “Gotta go.”
Her gaze whipped up. A wayward curl fell out of her casual bun and joined several others that were loose around her face and neck. She took a step to the side but remained in the doorway.
He almost smiled but kept it to himself. He wondered if she knew she was staring straight at him. Then he realized she was looking almost through him, which made his internal grin disappear. Better to just end this now. He moved to squeeze past her, but she stayed in place. He caught the scent of fresh soap and... oregano?
