Page 60 of Beat around the Bush
I waved my hand, dismissing him. “Don’t worry about it.”
“What?”
“I was vulnerable, you were concerned. It’s okay.” I didn’t want him to feel bad about kissing me. He was probably having regrets. I mean, kissing your employee at your parents’ house after teaching her how to ski and touching different parts of her body all day trying to help her balance? He practically had guilt written all over his face.
“Is that how you see it?” he asked.
I nodded, grabbing my latte and jacket as I stood from the chair. “It’s all good. See you on the floor?” This was awkward, and I had to clock in anyway.
“Sure,” he muttered, keeping his eyes on me as I left the room.
I really hoped things didn’t get weird between me and Lennon at work. I had enough things to worry about in my life right now, and my boss firing me because he kissed me was not something I wanted to add to my list.
***
I was alone the majority of the day. Lennon had barely come out to take care of a few things, and then retreated back to his office to do God knows what.
In his defense, between him, Jacey, Leo, and myself, we kept the store in pristine condition, so there wasn’t really a reason for him to be out here besides to take care of inventory, pricing, freight, or helping with the front if it was busy.
Speaking of freight, with it being busy yesterday, Jacey and Leo hadn’t had the chance to finish unloading the bags of dog food, which was what I was working on in between customers. My body hated me for doing this after my other activities yesterday, but it had to be done. Other activitiesnotincluding Lennon’s mouth on mine and his hands in my hair.
Fuck. Maybe I shouldn’t have interrupted him in his office this morning when he was trying to talk to me about the kiss. Maybe he didn’t regret it, and he wanted to do it again.
Hell,Iwanted to do it again.
He tasted like whiskey and cinnamon, though I’m sure today he’d taste more like black coffee and cranberries. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him I didn’t mean what I said, or stick to it. For all I knew, if I told him I didn’t mean it, he’d tell me he actually did regret it, and I’d make an even bigger fool of myself.
I just didn’t know how long I could hold myself back from kissing him again. Now that I knew what his lips felt like on mine, I wanted more.
I shouldn’t have fucking played it cool in his office. I should have just shut up and let him speak, but of course, my lovely inability to stop talking when it was most important came out to play.
Bending at the knees, I hefted a fifty-pound bag of dog food up, hoping to make it onto the third shelf up from the bottom.
“Let me help you with that,” a male voice said as the kibble started shifting the weight in the bag.
He grabbed the bag from me, tossing it on the shelf it belonged on. “Now why would they have a little lady like you doing all this hard work?” he asked, dusting his hands off.
I faced the bag, unwrinkling the material, then turned to the man.
Scooby Snack Guy.
“I’m usually okay with the bigger bags. I’m just sore today, is all,” I said as a way of explaining that thislittlelady could handle bigger tasks. I wasn’t going to say no to working just because some tasks were harder than others.
He raised an eyebrow, his gaze traveling down my body, then back to my face. “Sore, huh?”
I took a step back to give myself more space from him. “I tried skiing yesterday and let’s just say, I won’t be doing it again.”
He chuckled, setting his hand on the metal shelf that he’d just set the bag on. “Skiing does take a lot of practice. I could teach you sometime.”
I pasted on a small smile. “No, thanks. Like I said, I won’t be doing it again.”
“Bummer,” he moped.
I inhaled a deep breath, sliding my hands into the back pockets of my jeans. “Was there something I could help you with? Ikind of have to get back to...” I gestured to the bags on the dolly behind me.
“Just here for another bag of dog food,” he said.
I reached to my right, grabbing the one I remembered I’d recommended to him. “You know, we have the bigger bag right here.” I gestured to the one on the bottom shelf.
