Page 2 of After Felix
“I told you not to try to keep up with her. Your liver will fail first.”
“Her liver must be made up of bile and bad intentions like that nursery rhyme said.”
“Wasn’t that sugar and spice?”
“Not for Auntie Val,” I say darkly.
“So, you’re buying Charlie that book? Ooh, if it’s got pictures, take some photos of them for me.”
“I’m not taking photos of pictures in a boring old book so you can wank over them without having to pay the recommended retail price.”
A woman giggles, and I grimace apologetically at her. “He won’t,” I assure her. “He prefers his porn to be actually moving. This isn’t the dark ages.” She laughs and walks away.
“Are you going to have to do your usual thing with Charlie?” he says sympathetically.
I sigh. “Yep. I’ll have to read it too, so we can discuss it. Fucking hell, it’s huge. It’s going to take weeks of my life that I’ll never get back. I’m far too young for the wrinkles that reading this shit will give me.” I seize a copy. “Wow, it’s so fucking heavy too. Still, if Charlie doesn’t read it, he can always use it as a doorstop.”
A loud laugh comes from behind me, and when I spin around, I find a man leaning against the entrance to the travel section. He’s staring at me. He’s obviously the source of the laughter because it’s still flirting with the edges of his wide mouth and dancing in his dark eyes. He’s tall and broad-shouldered with thick black hair that falls in shaggy waves and frames a high-cheek-boned face.
I blink and consider rubbing my eyes because I have never in my life seen anyone this gorgeous in Waterstones before. I hope it’s a sign that my luck has changed. As I smile at him, I make a mental note to buy a scratch card on the way home.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
He straightens from his leaning position. I let my eyes roll down his body, and it’s well worth a slow pace. His ancient jeans cling to the long lines of his legs and catch on the edges of a pair of battered motorcycle boots. A white T-shirt and a leather motorcycle jacket with stripes down the arms complete the outfit.
“Just listening to your little book club,” he says casually, folding his arms over his chest. “It sounded lively.”
“Oh, really? Did you want to join? I have to tell you that there’s an admission price and you’ll have to learn the password and the group theme song.”
“What’s the theme song?”
“Pink Floyd’s ‘We Don’t Need No Education’,” I say.
He laughs.
“Oh myGod,” Tim hisses in my ear. “That’s your sexy, snarky voice, Felix. You’re flirting with someone, you dirty bitch.”
“Bye, Tim,” I say, clicking End on the sound of his laughter.
The man comes towards me and leans against the table of books. I catch the warm scent of sandalwood, and a smile plays over my lips as his dark eyes run all over my body. I let him look, secure in the knowledge that he’ll like what he sees.
I’m not the best-looking of blokes, but I work with what I’ve got, and I’m dressed in skinny jeans, black Converse, a white T-shirt, and blue tweed jacket that I found in a second-hand shop. I’ve wound a big scarf around my neck, and my hair is behaving at the moment.
I fold my arms and cock my hip slightly. “Like what you see?” I say boldly.
He grins wickedly. “I don’t know. It depends if I need a password for you too.”
I bite my lip, and when his eyes fall to my mouth, I deliberately run my tongue over the bite. His eyes glitter, and he leans closer, sending a wave of heat from his body.
I wink. “And what do you think my password will be?” I gesture down at myself. “Got to be something brilliant to unlock all of this magic.”
He raises his hand and trails one long finger down my arm. Even through my jacket, my arm tingles, as though he has magic in his fingers. We stare at each other, locked in a silent bubble in the packed bookshop.
“I think the password is ‘Room sixty-two at the One Aldwych’,” he whispers.
Usually, I’d laugh at the blatant come-on, and his eyes dance as ifhe’s expecting it, but then his hand strokes down my arm again, and my cock throbs in my tight jeans as if it’s connected to my arm. I breathe in sharply. His own chest rises and falls as his smile falls away. Silence falls for a long few seconds, and then I make myself step back.
Immediately, disappointment crosses his face.
