Page 79 of Beat around the Bush
He approached the register like he was in a hurry, his eyes searching what was visible of my body behind the register. “Are you okay? I heard about the break-in, but you weren’t here yesterday.”
I gave a closed-lip smile, his concern for me slightly off-putting. The entire break-in was embarrassing to talk about in itself. I didn’t love expressing how scared I felt during the whole thing, even to Lennon. “I’m okay.”
JP’s shoulders dropped an inch with the breath he released. “That’s good. I thought you may have been hurt since you weren’t here.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly in thought. It felt like hewantedme to say where I was.
“I took the day off,” I said simply. I wasn’t about to tell this stranger that I was at my boss’s house being worshiped by his tongue.
He reached into the pocket of his jacket, fishing around for something. “Well, I got you this.”
My eyes followed his hand as he pulled it from his pocket, presenting a small black box.
“What is it?” I asked. The box wasn’t labeled with a brand or company. It was just a black, rectangular cardboard box that fit in his palm.
He held it out to me. “Here, open it.”
Furrowing my brows, I carefully plucked it from his palm, rotating the small package in my hands. Flipping the top, I looked down into it before pulling the slim metal item halfway out.
A pocket knife?
“What is this?” I asked, knowing what it was but confused why he’d given it to me.
“To protect yourself,” he said, like I should’ve known that’s what it was for.
I slipped it back into the box, having not even taken it out all the way. Holding it back out to him, I shook my head. “I can’t accept this.”
His forehead creased, not making a move to grab it from me. “Why not?”
“I don’t want a knife. I don’t have a use for it.” I mean, seriously, did he think gifting a stranger a knife was some way to get into her pants? Even if that wasn’t what he wanted, it’s not like we knew each other outside of me selling him dog food.
He shoved his hands in his pockets, clearly not taking the box from me. “But you do have a use for it. What if someone breaks in again?”
Setting it on the counter between us, I said, “It won’t happen again.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You know that for sure? I mean, no onethinksthey’re going to need to defend themselves, then bam, someone’s breaking into your store while you’re alone.”
“How’d you know I was alone?” I asked hesitantly. Maybe it was on the news that I was the only employee here at the time?
“Everything okay?” Lennon interrupted, coming up beside me.
I looked up at him, the tightness in my chest easing a fraction with his presence. “Yeah.”
“What’s that?” He nodded at the box sitting on the counter.
“A gift for Oakley,” JP stated, frustration clear in his tone at Lennon interrupting us.
“A gift, huh?” Lennon looked down at me like he was trying to gauge if I was comfortable with this or not.
I grabbed the box, shoving it into the drawer below the register. “Yep. JP just wanted to make sure I was okay after the break-in.”And gifted me a goddamn knife to defend myself.
Lennon moved his attention back to JP, who was shooting daggers at him. “Was there anything else I could help you with?” Possessiveness seeped into his tone, and after the other night, I didn’t blame him for feeling protective.
“Nope. Have a good day, Oakley,” JP said to me before he turned on his heel and strode out the door.
“Do you know him?” Lennon asked as soon as he was gone.
“No. He just comes in for dog food sometimes,” I said.
