When his body brushed against hers, a pleasant, intense shock went through him. He froze.Whoa.Her rosy cheeks, thick eyebrows, and pale skin were a dynamite contrast to her wild black curls. But that wasn’t what hit him. It was the fervent way she waslooking at him when their eyes met. She wasn’t seeing through him now.
Then her brows shot up. “Oh! Sorry!” She flew out of the doorway and scurried off, much like she had minutes before, and disappeared into the woodworking and leather tools aisle.
Hunter turned and stared at the empty bathroom. He didn’t have to go, but he couldn’t just walk back up front without waiting a few minutes, or she would for sure think he was following her.
He closed the door and shook his head. Despite discovering how pretty she was in person, never mind whatever that electric jolt was that hit him when they touched, it was probably best that she didn’t know who he was. She was a successful artist who had her act together, and he was a warehouse worker. Not that working in a warehouse was bad or anything to be ashamed of. It was his chronic lack of direction he didn’t want her to know about. Better to just keep their correspondence online with quick, surface messages.
When enough time passed, he exited the bathroom and went to the front of the store, expecting to see her with X and Maude. He intended to just nod goodbye to her and move on. Maybe he wouldn’t bother with the ten-minute challenge either. There wasn’t any reason to get involved any deeper with her than he already had.
But when he reached the front, a troubled-looking Maude and X were there, but no Britt. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Oh, sure.” Maude’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, and she glanced at the front door.
“I said you were over the top,” X muttered, frowning. “You know she isn’t comfortable with attention.”
“I just...” Maude looked directly at Hunter, then shook her head. “You’re right.”
Hunter paused, wondering why the woman was giving him astrange look. Not that it mattered—he didn’t plan on returning to the store anyway, although Maude and X seemed like good, enthusiastic people. But because he couldn’t leave well enough alone, he asked another question. “Did Britt leave?”
“Yes.” X pointed his thumb unnecessarily at the front door.
“She hustled out of here like her pants were on fire,” Maude said, now sounding distraught. She put her hand on X’s arm. “I’ll go check on her—”
“No.” He took her hand. “She’ll be fine. You didn’t chase her off for good.”
“I hope not.”
“She obviously needs some space.”
Now Hunter felt like he was intruding. “Thanks again,” he said, lifting up his bag.
“Oh! Thank you.” Maude smiled, and this time it was more genuine. “Please stop by again.”
He gave her a tepid wave and left the store. As he headed for his bike, he passed a light-blue compact car parked three spaces over and glanced at it, stopping when he saw Britt in the driver’s seat. She was staring straight ahead, and she hadn’t even started the car. Maybe there was something really wrong with her. He hesitated, then tapped on her window.
Chapter 7
Britt startled when she heard the tap on her window, then slid in her seat when she saw the man from K&Bs peering at her.Oh boy.She hadn’t made enough of a fool of herself by running to the bathroom and standing in his way when he needed to go. She’d been so out of sorts, she only waved goodbye to X and Maude and dashed out of the store and jumped in her car. She was planning to go home and melt into a puddle of humiliation.
But she couldn’t just leave Maude and X hanging without saying a proper goodbye. She was just about to go back inside, deciding that if she did see him, she would pretend she hadn’t inadvertently blocked him from using the restroom, and they hadn’t just had their bodies pressed against each other.
Now he was here, with only her car door separating them. All she could think about was how he felt, how he smelled—completely yummy—and how he had to think she was the weirdest person on the planet. Probably the entire universe.
He tapped again, and she pushed the button to roll down the window, only to fail since the engine wasn’t on. She started the car and tried to roll down the window again. Instead her back windows went down. Good grief. She quickly rolled them up. Forget the windows, she’d just open the door—
“Oof!” He took a step back.
“Sorry!” This was going from bad to worse. She got out of the car and shut the door. “Are you okay?”
He rubbed the center of his chest. “It’s gonna take more than a car door to put a dent in me.” He smiled.
And her knees swayed. Literally, she had to grab the hood of her car for balance. Hopefully he didn’t notice.
He took a step forward, his smile shifting to a concerned look. “Are you all right?”
Too late.“Me? Oh yeah. I’m fine. Perfectly fine.” She tried to play it off by putting her hand on her hip and draping her other arm over the top of her car, hoping the position didn’t look as awkward as it felt. From his frown, she could see it did. She straightened, her hands drifting to her sides.
“Glad you’re okay,” he said, but he looked unconvinced.
