Page 19 of Breaking Conviction
“Here, I’ve got a flash drive.” He pulled his keys from his pocket and unhooked what had looked like a normal key. He pulled it apart, revealing a USB port.
“Well that’s nifty.” She took it from him, again making sure not to touch him, before examining it. “Thanks.” She uploaded the document onto Wes’s flash drive before ejecting the USB.
“That was easy enough.” He took the fake key and returned it to his key ring before stuffing them into his pocket again. “Sure you won’t get in trouble with this?”
Naomi waved her hand and trilled her lips. “If it’ll help Ellie with whatever she needs, I’m down. That’s got this year’s list, and prior lists too, by the way. And, like I said, the whole secrecy thing is stupid as all get out. I couldn’t care less whether their little party was ‘outed.’ Maybe then they’d take me off the freakin’ party plannin’ committee.”
“Fair…” Wes laughed but scrubbed the back of his midnight hair. “Thank you for your help, Naomi.”
The fine strands looked so soft and she almost got lost in imagining running her fingers through them. Her eyes panned back to his face and her cheeks warmed at the seductive curl of his lips.
Seriously? A simple ‘thank you’ is all I need to get hot and bothered these days? Damn.
She snapped her attention back to her computer. “Well, I guess you’ll be leavin’ then. See ya.” Mad at herself that she even cared about where he was going, she stuffed her laptop in her bag, maybe a little too roughly.
“What?” The obvious question in his voice made her pause before tucking her laptop under the counter.
“I figured you were leavin’? You got what you came for, didn’t you?”
Wes jolted back as if she’d slapped him. The genuine confusion and hurt in his eyes made her second-guess herself and all her preconceived notions about him.
He stepped forward and gotso closethat comforting citrus and cedar flowed over her. She barely resisted inhaling on a deep breath, but when he stroked his hand down the outside of her arm, she couldn’t hold back her gasp. The thin material of her sweater did nothing to stop the warmth of his fingertips and good God, did she wish she was wearing short sleeves instead.
“Naomi, I came here because Nora called me to help with the security. I stayed foryou, not some list. I didn’t even know you had it.”
Oh... right. I’m an idiot. But what’s his play, then?
Now she was the confused one, and no matter how badly she wanted to explore whateverthiswas, she didn’t have the time, nor the relationship status, to play games.
She stepped back, out of the orbit of his citrus-cedar scent and away from his gentle touch. The space should’ve made her feel better, but it felt like ripping a Band-Aid from a wound that wasn’t ready for fresh air.
“I-I really should be gettin’ back to it. Nora should be here at any—”
The Sasha Saves cell phone dinged and Naomi checked the text.
HEAD BIC: Hay, girl, hayyy. Can’t come back tonight. Got a thing. But Superman should be good company
“Who... BIC? I swear this girl speaks a different language sometimes.”
Wes came up behind her and read over her shoulder. She fought the instinct to cover the phone but remembered that this was the Sasha Saves phone, not hers, and this was Wes, not Dean. There was no need to brace herself for a needless jealousy blowup or interrogation.
“Ah, that’s Nora. She definitely does and somehow I’m fluent. Lucky me. Do you want me to translate?”
“Ugh, yes, please.”
Wes laughed and took the phone from her hand. “BIC stands for ‘Bitch In Charge,’ I believe. She’s saying that she won’t be able to come back to Sasha Saves tonight but… she made sure I’m here.” His eyes narrowed at the screen before he typed. “Okay, I told her we’ll keep the place afloat.”
Naomi snorted before she realized what he meant. “Wait, you’re stayin’ with me until my shift is over?”
Wes’s brows furrowed. “Yeah, I mean, you’ve only got, what, like...” —he checked his digital watch— “less than an hour before you gotta close up?”
“Yes, but it’s my first night here! Shouldn’t I be, I don’t know, supervised? I don’t know what the hell I’m doin’.”
Wes laughed. “Look, I don’t come around here a lot, but I know a little bit about the store. I can help unload boxes from the back, I’m great at math if you need it, and I can make sure you’re safe. You shouldn’t be here all alone at night.”
Her emotions were warring inside her, unable to decide whether she was flattered by his chivalry or offended by his assumption that she was incapable of taking care of herself. She chose offended. Getting caught up in his manners was going to tear her to pieces inside if she let it.
“Thank you, but I’m not interested. I’d rather just be by myself.”
