Page 61 of Breaking the Ice

“You seem kind of…”

She held her breath. Sexy, hot, desirable?In fact, I think we should shut up shop, go to your apartment and boink like there’s no tomorrow?

“…weird today.”

Samantha laughed. Okay. Weird. That was good. Exactly the cold dousing of water she needed on her incendiary libido. “Don’t worry, I’ll try and not act weird with the customers.”

She couldn’t promise the same thing with him, however.

Which turned out to be truer than she would have liked. The morning was super slow but Nick was still there and she was excruciatingly aware of every breath he took, acutely conscious of his presence hovering in the background.

Just before noon the third customer of the day walked through the door and Samantha was so relieved she almost kissed him. He browsed for a short while and brought his purchases to her to ring up.

“I can’t believe this place is still here,” he said. “My mom used to bring me here as a kid.”

“Really? That’s fantastic.” Samantha smiled at the customer as Nick walked by with an armful of returns and she swore she could feel the air currents he’d disturbed, swirling around her body.

“You worked here long?”

Conscious of Nick’s strong hand placing books on shelves in her peripheral vision, she shook her head absently. “Only a couple of months.”

“I’ve just moved back to Tetworth last month. I’m starting at Brooks College next week.”

Samantha barely registered the prestigious private school as Nick’s hands ran along book spines searching for the correct spot. She shivered thinking about his finger running alongherspine. “Oh.” She returned her attention to the customer. “You’re a teacher?”

“Math and physics.”

“Really? They were my favorite subjects,” she said as Nick walked out from one lot of shelves and into another.

“Ah. A woman who likes numbers. Be still my heart.”

Through the shelves she could see the tanned column of his throat. “All women like numbers, you just have to make it relatable,” she said with a smile.

“Good tip.” He laughed. “I’ll have to remember that.”

Nick, his arms now empty, chose that moment to walk behind the counter, making her acutely aware of the fan of his breath across her neck as he leaned down to retrieve something from under the counter.

She swallowed. “I’m full of useful tips. If you need any more you know where I work.”

“I may just take you up on that.” He held out his hand and Samantha automatically took it and they shook. “My name’s Andrew.”

“Samantha.”

He departed with a smile, but Samantha barely noticed. Nick was squatting and his jeans had pulled taut across his thighs and his incredible scent – somehow sweet and peppery all at once – made the hair on her arms stand to attention. Suddenly a vision of them going for it against one of the bookshelves swamped her and she plonked her ass back on the stool.

Glancing up, he caught her watching him and she must have looked strange because he frowned and said, “What?”

A little panicked, Samantha’s mind went blank. “What do you mean, what?”

He slowly rose from his squat and God help her if she didn’t ogle the way his quads moved beneath the denim. “There’s something weird happening with you today.”

“There is not,” she denied. “I wasn’t weird with that customer.”

“Oh yes you were.”

“I wasn’t. I was nice and pleasant and chatty.”

“Exactly,” he said, clearly exasperated. “The man was flirting with you. He fits your demographic to perfection and yet you were completely disinterested.”

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