“Are you okay, Cherry?” I asked as my eyes roamed over her short, curvy body.
She’s beautiful. Stop.She’s too young for you.
Her expressive blues opened even wider at my use of the nickname.
My thumbs slid across her soft, warm shoulders.I don’t want to let go.
Her hands clutched the now empty coffee cup, crushing it.
She squared her shoulders as she inhaled. “I’m fine,” she lied with a forced smile.
Nice recovery.
Only she couldn’t control the color in her cheeks that gave away her embarrassment and nervousness.
I wondered what else could make her blush.
What the fuck, Winchester? What’s gotten into you?
When I reluctantly dropped my hands, her smile faded.
“Are you okay?” Her hand brushed at the wet spot on my shirt. “I’m sorry I spilled my coffee on you. I’d be happy to pay for the cleaning bill.”
Her hands on my chest did stupid things to my body. Things I hadn’t felt in a long time. Things I didn’t want to feel with the beautiful, young, innocent woman in front of me.
“Don’t worry about it.” I all but barked while attempting to control my erratic emotions.
“No need to be so mean about it,” she huffed out, showing a strength I hadn’t anticipated.
“Nina, is everything okay?” John asked.
“I ran into,” she pointed at me, “Steel and spilled coffee on him.”
My abrupt laugh caught me off guard. “Steel?”
“Yeah, it felt like running into a steel wall when I bumped into you.”
And here I thought she’d be more timid.
“You should be more careful and watch where you’re going,” I said, the pot calling the kettle black.
“Hey,” John reminded me of my manners with a single word.
“Sorry. I’m glad you’re not hurt.” Pulling my pale gray button-up dress shirt away from my body, I said, “I need to go and, uh, get cleaned up.”
Fuck me. I was former naval intelligence and CIA—I didn’t do flustered.
I stole another glance at Nina, who smiled sheepishly before looking at the ground.
“Don’t worry about the cleaning bill, Cherry,” I said, wanting to put her at ease.
“Thank you,” she replied. And damn if the gratitude in her beautiful deep blue eyes didn’t sucker punch me.
Why does she seem so familiar?My memory was better than most, and my job required me to recognize names and faces, but I couldn’t place hers.
It didn’t matter. I’d seen her behind the counter, so she probably worked at Grannie’s. You’d think I’d know, but I’d stopped running background checks on Mary’s employees once I realized John was doing it.
Wanting to rush back to my hotel and run a background check on Nina, I made quick work of saying goodbye.
