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The next morning, I woke up with a headache from hell. George didn’t move from his spot on the comforter, merely opened his lone eye before going back to sleep. I pushed off the bed, the argument I’d had with Jason last night still fresh, like the sleep lines on my cheek.
After brushing my teeth, I stared into the mirror with slightly bloodshot eyes, only to have my brain ransacked by the image of steely-blue ones, the color of winter. I groaned, my skin warming at the thought of my hand engulfed by his long fingers.
Ugh. I hated him.
Hated everything about him, from his stupid perfect face to his cocky swagger.
He was everything I couldn’t stand in a man, and yet I spent the better part of last night trying to forget the tangy smell of his cologne and how heavy his attention felt when he towered over me, his palm smoothing over his lips just before he said, “You’ve got quite a mouth on you.”
And I hated that I wanted to put my mouth on him.
George snuck up behind me, purring, and I shook away the shame of second-guessing myself. Guys like him brought all my insecurities to the surface. Sure, he was handsome, but he was also arrogant, argumentative, and an asshole. He gave me that smug half-smirk, and I knew all I needed to know.
Bending to skim my hand along George’s spine, I dropped my voice to mock Jason. “Can’t you just admit you’re wrong?”
George’s tail swished, uninterested in my impression.
“All right. Time for breakfast.”
In the kitchen, I said good morning to Spot and Leonardo, who poked his head out of his shell. “You like me, right?”
The turtle chomped his mouth open and closed.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” I patted his shell before swallowing an Advil with a gulp of orange juice then headed off to work. The humidity was on the rise already, and by the time I hopped off my bike in front of Bare Necessities, I was a hot, sweaty mess. A bell above me rang when I opened the door to the little corner store that sold all-natural products.
“Finally, Gem! I need your help,” my boss called from the back of the store, and I strolled to the storage room, where he jumped down from a small stepladder.
“Morning.”
Alex turned, his platinum hair styled exactly right, while his face was done up all wrong.
“Uh… What’s on your face?”
“Trying out the new line of vegan cosmetics. Too thick?”
“Way too thick.”
Alex pointed to a shelf. “Grab those boxes for me, please.” I did so as Alex washed his face off at the sink. “I have to do some paperwork this morning. Can you restock?”
“Sure.”
After patting his face dry, he walked alongside me to the front. “You look tired.”
“I am.” I set the boxes on the floor before dropping my arms onto the counter, next to the folders and notebooks Alex used for accounting.
“What happened?”
I pressed my cheek to the cool wood of the counter. “My mom’s getting married. Again.”
“What number is that?”
“Four.”
“Good for her. But why are you so tired?”
I stifled a yawn. “I had a little too much to drink.”
He handed me a small pill bottle from under the register. “It’s ginseng.”
