Page 17 of Breaking Conviction
The smug jerk crossed his arms before leaning against the counter like only men who were supremely confident in literallyeverythingcould do. It was downright infuriating, but he’d caught her fair and square.
She looked down her nose at the paper. “So it is.”
Deciding playing it cool with him wasn’t getting her anywhere, she tightened her lips before marching around the counter and back to the window display. Maybe if she ignored him, she wouldn’t be so tempted to flirt back. She’d wanted to make sure she finished her task before Dean called her for the fourth dadgum time.
“I really do need to shelve inventory and finish this display, so if you insist on bein’ on me like white on rice, at least help.”
Naomi was studiouslynotlooking at him, but she could feel his gaze warm her back. She imagined him rolling his infuriating—heart-stopping—eyes at her with that stupid—sexy—grin and she tried her best to hide the upturned corners of her own lips.
“You might think your attitude is scary, but I don’t think it’s having the effect you’re looking for.”
She opened her mouth to snap at him again, but she kind of liked that he really did seem impervious to her sass. Her parents had taught her to stick up for herself at an early age, and her cheekiness was one of her favorite parts of herself. Why didn’t she use it more often if it made her feel this good?
Because Dean doesn’t like this side of me.
“Trouble, trouble, trouble,” she muttered under her breath. The thought had sobered her, though, and she cleared her throat before resuming her task. She’d just finished setting up the window display when Wes arrived at the store, so she bent to grab the large box of shoeboxes. Before she could, two big hands landed on the sides and picked it up.
“What’re you doin’?” The words rushed out of her.
“You said if I wanted to be around you, I needed to help. So…” He lifted a broad shoulder and smirked. “Where should I put this, love?”
Chapter Seven
“Don’t call me that, either,” she hissed, but she had been feeling lonely in the store’s silence… and the boxwasheavy… and her back had already started to ache.
Still, he couldn’t know how much she appreciated him being there helping her. A woman in a committed relationship needed to keep a man like Wes at arms’ length. But, like a whale’s arm, which was real freakin’ long, according to Thea’s children’s encyclopedia.
She meant to glare at him, but her eyes had a mind of their own as they traveled up his strong, muscular arms, thick chest, and all the way up to that masculine jawline, until she met his gaze. Her mouth went dry, all the moisture pooling down to onespecificspot on her body as his icy blue stare grew heated with promise. Like he’d literally kneel at her feet and use those sinful lips to worship her pus—
“In the back!” she blurted out before clearing her throat, hoping it cleared her wanton thoughts too.
“What?” His eyes narrowed before she nodded toward the box and pointed toward the shoe area. “Oh, right. Yes, ma’am. Will do.”
Naomi massaged her temple.What the hell am I supposed to do with him?
“So how was work?”
The tension in her shoulders relaxed at the change of subject.Dear sweet baby Jesus, praise the Lord for small talk.
Mundane conversation was safe. She could do that, had actually perfected it with friends and strangers alike for years. It’s easy to hide secrets behind boring, meaningless words.
“Uh, i-it was good. My first day back since… since you last saw me.”
There was a pause and she was afraid he was going to come up with the same questions they’d ended on two weeks ago, but he surprised her, yet again.
“Congrats! That had to be a relief. You seem like the type who’s unable to sit still for too long. But I’m sure it was exhausting, too.”
“Um, yeah…” Not entirely comfortable with how good it felt that his reaction had been completely different from Dean’s. Him knowing exactly how she felt, no matter how ordinary the feelings, was refreshing.
No. Not refreshing. Unsettling. It’s unsettling. Hell, I can’t go swooning over any guy that’s nice to me, damnit. Especially not if he looks like that.
“It was and… I am. Exhausted, I mean.” She lifted a box of shoes and waved generally over the wall, studiously ignoring the impressive tattoos peeking out from his shirt. “We, um… need to unload these and shelve them.”
“Can do.” Wes nodded and grabbed a box. She waited to see which one he would get before reaching in. No fingers touching, electricity-sharing clichés for her, thank you very much.
“What do you do again?” Hell, he genuinely sounded interested. “Your daughter said something that sounded an awful lot like ‘sexy assistant,’ but I feel like that might not be the whole story.” He winked at her and Naomi snorted before shelving her box.
“Goodnight, that girl’s gonna kill me someday. I’m anexecutiveassistant to Gail Haynesworth, CEO of Charitable Technologies International.”
