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Her gaze flicked toward the ceiling for a second. “Sheldon Cooper.”
He snorted. “You do know they run The Big Bang Theory reruns all the time, right?”
She gave a frustrated little growl that was surprisingly sexy, then her expression set with determination. “We can’t do this.”
“Yes we can.” He’d go crazy if they didn’t.
She shook her head, a hint of desperation in the movement. “I’m serious. Do not come over.”
He leaned forward. She leaned back, eyes wide, pupils dilated. It took every ounce of will power he had not to touch her as he reached past to wrap his hand around the door handle behind her.
“Like it or not, Roxanna, I’m coming.” A little thrill shot through him when her breath hitched, and arousal turned his voice husky and rough. “And I’m going to add up your numbers so perfectly, you’re going to beg me to do it again and again.”
Then he lost his will power and pressed a hard kiss to her parted lips. When he opened the door, it nudged against her back, and she looked a bit dazed as she stepped aside.
Good. Let her think about that until tomorrow.
Chapter 19
Finished with her final reading for the day, Roxanna said goodbye to Tessa at four, and went to pour herself a fresh cup of coffee as a new customer browsed the gemstone section. The Governor had won his senate bid last night, and the victory celebration had gone past midnight. She’d been exhausted when she got home, but the moments out back with Loyal replayed in her head and made sure she still didn’t get much sleep.
Coffee was her last resort to keep her alert in case her unwanted self-appointed accountant showed up.
Unwanted? Biggest lie you’ve told yourself yet.
She stirred a dash of cream and sugar into her cup, and even the noise of the construction between her shop and Honor’s new next-door bakery faded away as Loyal’s sexy voice filled her head.
“I’m going to add up your numbers so perfectly, you’re going to beg me to do it again and again.”
Never in her life would she have imagined an accounting reference could sound so dirty and sexy. Last night, those words had made her weak in the knees and her panties damp. Thankfully, he’d opened the door and nudged her aside, because two more seconds, and she’d have grabbed his vest to drag him back out to his Land Rover with its huge back seat, tinted windows, and condoms in the glove box.
She’d spent the rest of the evening subtly using Honor and Mae as shields, because every time Loyal’s dark gaze caught hers, she instantly remembered how amazing he felt inside her. How the heck was she supposed to combat that—especially when she couldn’t drink any more wine?
All day today, every time she’d caught a glimpse of Asher next door, or when he’d come over into the shop to bug her, his dark hair had made her do a double-take. Even worse, every damn time the door chime sounded, Roxanna’s pulse leapt, and her gaze shot to the front of the store. The closer it got to closing time, the harder her heart thumped.
“You’re going to beg me to do it again and again.”
Damn him.
Damn yourself. You’re the one who had to go after him outside.
Yeah, she did only have herself to blame for that one. She
should’ve left it alone—left him alone.
She took her coffee back to the register to ring up her customer’s purchases, then tidied up the counter and carried a stack of mail back to her desk. Her messy desk that was re-growing uneven piles of crap. She should clean it again, but figured it was a good deterrent should Loyal actually show up.
Rigid, buttoned up Loyal would hate her disorganized mess.
But no—if she ended up putting him to work, the room would be much too small with him watching while she cleared him a spot, so she was better off doing it now.
Forty-five minutes later, in between two more customers, she had the desk all ready to go. She opened all the relevant files on her computer, left her password by the keyboard, and spun her chair to go finish out the end of her day up front.
“Wow, look how—”
Roxanna exclaimed and jumped as Asher spoke from the doorway. “Geez, you scared the crap out of me.”
“You’ve been jumpy all day.”
