Page 61 of Beat around the Bush
He shook his head, taking the small bag from my hands. “This one is perfect. My name’s JP, by the way.”
I didn’t ask, but okay.
“Alright, JP, let me get you rung up and out of here before it gets dark out and the roads ice over.”
Making my way around him in the aisle, I headed for the register, coming around the back of the counter. He set the bag in front of me, pulling out his wallet.
“Where were you skiing anyway? There’s not any good slopes within an hour of here. You need speed to really get a feel for it,” he said as he pulled out his card.
I scanned the bag, then clicked enter for the total to show up on his side. I didn’t want to tell him where exactly I was because that was just creepy. “A friend’s house.”
He scoffed, inserting his card into the terminal. “That’s why you kept falling. Your friend probably doesn’t know how to ski. Guys try to act like they know everything.”
“I never said it was a guy,” I pointed out, staring at the buttons on the register.
He shrugged. “Figured it was. Probably wanted an excuse to touch you.”
I met his gaze then. “Isn’t that what you were doing?”
His brows furrowed. “What?”
“When you offered to teach me, is that not what you were doing? Trying to find an excuse to hang out with me and touch me?” God, I needed to shut up. The last thing I wanted to do right now was piss him off.
“No,” he clipped, pulling his card out with a little too much force, then shoving it in his wallet. “Thanks for the dog food.” He grabbed the bag and headed out of the store before the receipt finished printing.
I tossed the paper in the trash bin, then placed my hands on the counter with a sigh. I hung my head for a moment, then checked the clock on the wall. We closed in two minutes, and I was over interacting with customers for the day, so I walked around the counter to the door to lock it.
Maybe I did want an excuse for Lennon to put his hands on me again, but it wasn’t going to be through skiing lessons.
24
Lennon
Ipulled my hat off, running my hands through my hair, then fit the cap on backwards. I was tired of being in this stuffy office all day, but I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries with Oakley again.
From our conversation this morning, it was clear she thought the kiss was a mistake, but all I could think about was her damn mouth and her little gasp. I wanted to make her gasp again, but for all different reasons.
Oakley appeared in the doorway, lightly knocking on the door jam twice to get my attention off my computer screen. “I’m ready to go,” she stated as she entered the room with her hand on the knob.
“I’ll be done in just a minute,” I said as I looked back down at my computer screen to finish the report I was working on.
The door to my office clicked, and I looked up to find that she had closed it and was slowly prowling toward me like a cat stalking its prey. I watched as she came around my desk, the tips of her fingers trailing the top of it, before she twisted my chair so that I was facing her.
She used her leg to nudge my knees apart, stepping between them. Her hands trailed up my chest to my neck, wrapping around the back of it. My back hit the back of my chair as she lifted one leg, then the other, so she was straddling my lap.
“Oak,” I warned. She didn’t know what she was getting herself into like this. This position was too much. She was too vulnerable for me to take.
“You scared to kiss me now, cowboy? I thought you liked touching me,” she practically purred.
My hands came up to grip her hips in case she got any ideas and started grinding on me.
“I did. I do, Oakley, but we shouldn’t do this if you don’t want it.” I didn’t want her to regret it again. Regretme.
“All I’ve been able to think about since you kissed me was your mouth, and I’m fucking aching, Lennon.” Her lips were slightly parted as I tilted my head back to look up into her green eyes.
Something about that fucking look just did it for me. Fuck staying away.
“Tell me what you need, Oak. Anything, and I’ll do it.”
