Page 11 of Heart of Stone

I was talking way too fast, my words coming out in a rush, but his mere presence was unsettling. He made me feel like a scatterbrain and I found it difficult to stay composed. However, if he noticed my hurried ramblings, he didn’t let on.

“It was no trouble at all, Miss Cole,” he assured me.

“Well, it’s like Jim said. I could have gotten up on my own, but I was a little stunned from...”From you. Stunned from you.“From smacking my head on the end cap.”

His eyes narrowed at the mention of Jim, and I wanted to slap myself for bringing him up. After all, they hadn’t exactly hit it off the day before.

“Yes, Jim. I spoke with him a few moments ago,” he paused, and seemed to be considering his words. “Is he your boyfriend by chance?”

“Oh, no!” I almost laughed, but then stopped myself when I realized that Stone was dead serious. I frowned, curious as to why whether or not Jim was my boyfriend should matter. “What made you think that he might be?”

“He just seems rather protective of you, that’s all.”

Just great. Not.

“We’re only friends. We’ve known each other for a long time. That’s all.”

“I see,” was all he said, although he seemed to relax after hearing my explanation. Either way, the atmosphere had become awkward, and I felt the need to explain more.

Maybe I should have said coworker, and not friend. I sort of made it seem like Jim and I were close.

“Well, thanks again for helping me out,” I said, resorting to politeness rather than tack on more unnecessary babble.

“I can assure you that it was my pleasure,” he said, emphasizing his last word. A hint of humor glinted in his eyes, causing a blush creep up my neck and into my cheeks. It was suddenly very, very warm in Wally’s Grocery Store.

Did he really need to say the word ‘pleasure’ like that?

The word rolled off of his tongue like ice cream melting from a cone. A vision of Alexander Stone’s tongue, working its way around an ice cream cone, unexpectedly came to mind. Between my overactive imagination and his ridiculously hot gum chewing, I couldn’t stop the wicked ideas that ran through my head. The angel on my shoulder appeared with folded arms and shook her head in disapproval at me. I fought the urge to flick her away.

A ghost of a smile turned up the corners of Stone’s mouth – almost as if he knew what I was thinking. I fought to ignore my awareness of him by focusing my energies on our conversation.

Just don’t look at him chewing the gum.

“Your boss told me that you’ve worked here for a while,” he casually stated.

Small talk. Good. I can handle that.

“Yes. I started here after I moved to New York, so...” I did a quick calculation. “It’s been about four years. I’m a student and the flexible retail schedule is convenient.”

I didn’t want to tell him that I had received my diploma months ago. It was too long of an explanation and I was embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t found a job yet.

“You’re a student? I didn’t realize,” he said.

I could swear that I saw a shadow of disappointment come across his face, but his expression was so impassive that I couldn’t be sure. He folded his arms and considered me carefully.

“Well, Iwasa student, I should say. I just recently graduated,” I clarified reluctantly. “Most of my fellow classmates were able to land jobs at the places where they interned. My place of internship closed up shop, leaving me back to square one. Unfortunately, I learned a hard lesson about not putting all of my eggs in one basket, if you know what I mean.”

I was talking too fast again, but at least I wasn’t being a mute like yesterday.

“Yes, I do,” he murmured contemplatively. “Do you like your job here, Miss Cole?”

“I, um…” Another question.“Yes, very much so. Mr. Roberts is really good to work for,” I answered evenly. I wished that he would just spit out the gum. It was distracting.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

He shifted in place and glanced down at his watch. He looked like he was getting ready to leave. As nice as the view would surely be, I wasn’t quite ready to see him go. I racked my brain trying to think of a way to stall him.

“What about you, Mr. Stone? Do you like your job?” I blurted out.

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