Page 53 of Breaking the Ice

“Oh, look at your necklace, how gorgeous. Did one of Bec’s girls make that for you?”

“Jessica,” she confirmed, shooting Nick anI-told-you-solook over the old lady’s head.

“What a sweet girl you are, wearing something so ugly because little fingers made it so lovingly. Isn’t she sweet, Nick?”

“Like apple pie,” he agreed with teeth gritted, causing Samantha to smile despite herself.

“The things we do for kin,” Dulcie said with a smile as she headed for her dose of Barbara.

The morning was busy, which didn’t allow for much chat between the two of them with suited Samantha just fine; she was still pissed at Nick anyway. She couldn’t really articulate why other than the fact he waseverywhereincluding, now, apparently, in her dreams.

Wasn’t it bad enough she had eight hours of salivating at work? She’d lost count of the number of times he had brushedpast her and she’d wanted to yank him behind a bookshelf and kiss him senseless. Or a muscled arm would come into view and the urge to lick it was almost overwhelming.

At the first sign of a lull, Nick announced, “I’m going to Martha’s. One friand or two?”

Samantha looked up from cataloging books out the back. “None, thank you.”

“Really?”

“I’m on a diet.” She wasn’t but the surprise in his voice, like he couldn’t believe she could go without a goddamn friand, irritated her even more.

Her eggs were being really bitchy today.

“I thought you were okay with your curves these days?”

“We have a love-hate relationship.” Which wasnota lie. The constant battle and internal chatter about her round hips and thick thighs never went away fully. One moment she was fine with them, the next she wasn’t. It was exhausting, frankly.

“Well, if it helps, I think they’re awesome.”

No, itdid nothelp. “That’s because you don’t have to wear them,” she replied waspishly.

He departed with a shrug and her stomach grumbled and the urge to kick over a bookshelf rose like a vengeful beast.Great!Now she was going to have to pretend to be on a stupid diet because she couldn’t tell him the truth.

I’d much rather gnaw on one of your biceps, Nick, if you don’t mind.

Nick got the hell out of the shop. Samantha was in a strange mood today. In fact, there’d been a strange kind of vibe between them for a while. Since the alley. Kissing her had been a mistake.Going to her apartment the night of the vibrator – forever to be known as V-Day – had been a mistake.

The closer he got to Sam the closer he wanted to get. And Samantha and her eggs weren’t in his plans. Nor was he in hers.

It was good to get out and breathe in the fresh air and sunshine and put some distance between them. Inside the store everything revolved around Sam. Outside the store with people recognizing him, he remembered he had a professional sporting career to get back to.

Distance – that was all he’d needed. Distance.

From gnarled pasta and those curves. From pirates and tattoos. From her eggs and their wacky demands. Next time the desire to push her behind the shelves and kiss her senseless came over him, he’d just step outside.

Easy.

Nick decided against a friand for a change, buying a lemon meringue tartlet instead and returning with it to Birdie’s in case the lull had ended. It hadn’t so, ignoring the daggers coming from her direction, he wolfed it down at the counter, the sweetness of the fluffy meringue and the tartness of the lemon dragging an appreciative moan from his throat.

“Hmm.” Nick stretched, drumming his fingers on his belly. “That wasgood.”

Sam glanced at him from the couch where she was reading what must be her hundredthLarry and Stretch, her gaze coming to rest on his hand. Not just rest but linger.

His fingers stilled. Hell, hisbreathstilled.

But then her eyes lifted, flicking upwards, meeting his briefly before returning to her book and he wondered if it had happened at all.

“You have food on your mouth,” she murmured as she turned a page.

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