Page 56 of Breaking the Ice

Samantha blinked.Timmy?The universehadto be messing with her now. She watched as Nick’s irritation melted away and he pumped the other man’s hand with enthusiasm, merriment twinkling in his eyes.

If he dared laugh she was going to run the cart over his toe.

“I’m Samantha,” she said, recovering quickly and smiling at Timmy because she refused to have Nick witness another pick-up disaster.

So, the man had a name that was… unexpected. If that was all that was wrong with him she was doing okay.

“I’m not interrupting anything I hope?” Nick asked looking innocently at her, his damn eyes still twinkling.

Samantha clenched her teeth and shot him ago awaylook. “Not at all.”

He grinned but took the hint. “Only an hour to go,” he reminded her.

“Bye.” She sent him a sugary sweet smile and watched him pushing his cart away, his shoulders moving up and down suspiciously.

“Was that your boss? He looks familiar.”

Returning her attention to her companion, Samantha smiled. “A lot of people say that.” She waved a dismissive hand – she wasn’t his goddamn agent. “He’s just got one of those generic kind of faces I think.”

Samantha waited for a bolt of lightning to strike her dead. There wasnothinggeneric about Nick. Thankfully none was forthcoming.

“I hope I didn’t get you into trouble.”

“No. Don’t be silly, T… Timmy. He’s just being an asshole.”

She tried not to stumble over his name but honestly, what kind ofadulthad such a juvenile name? Even if your mom did lumber you with a name that had a use-by date of five, surely, you’d shorten it or lengthen it as you got older? Somehow Tim or Timothy seemed so much more appropriate for a man nearing his middle years.

It wasn’t remotely his fault but Samantha couldn’t escape the fact she found it hard to take him seriously. “I suppose I should get back to work, though.”

“Ahh, okay. Here.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a business card. “I’d like to take you out to dinner some time? Give me a call if you’re interested.”

Samantha was about to refuse but then she saw Nick across the room watching her with an amused smirk on his face and she smiled and took it. “Thanks, T… er, I’ll think about it.”

Her stomach growled as Timmy moved away both in hunger and what she suspected was judgment.Great. Not only had Nick been responsible for her ludicrous diet today but he’d just goaded her into lying to a perfectly decent man and giving him false hope.

She and her eggs were going to fry in hell.

19

An hour and two full carts later, Samantha stepped into the elevator with Nick close on her heels. They were going to grab an Uber once outside to ferry them and their cargo back to the shop and she couldn’t wait to be out of his company. She couldfeelhis suppressed laughter slowly seeping out and filling the cramped elevator space and she was way too hungry for this.

So,of course, given how much luck she’d already had tonight, the elevator chose that moment to grind to a halt. The lights flickered out, then came back on again but the elevator did not move.

She fixed Nick with an incredulous look. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Shrugging, he pushed some buttons. And then some more buttons. Nothing. Opening the hatch to the emergency phone, he lifted the receiver and Samantha listened as he talked to the person at the other end, hoping like hell this was just a momentary glitch.

Please do not let me get stuck in a lift with Nick on an empty stomach with the Timmy disaster still so fresh.

“There’s been a mechanical failure somewhere in the system,” he said as he replaced the phone. “They’re working on it, but it could be up to an hour.”

“Great.” Just great. Samantha pushed their carts forward till they touched the doors then slid down the wall to sit on the floor, her stomach letting out an almighty growl.

Nick shook his head. “You have the loudest intestines I’ve ever heard.”

“Yeah? You should hear them from over here.”

“Have you checked your bag?” He pointed to her DKNY holdall. “There must be some stray food in that monster?”

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