Page 1 of Entangled By You
MONDAYEST MONDAY EVER
LEXI
It’s always the same:“Can I get this in a different size?” And, of course, that stupid size is never within reach. My core tightens as I stretch, trying to keep myself balanced as I wobble and reach as high as possible. Being five-one on a good day, even with the addition of my favorite platform sandals, isn’t enough. My fingertips brush the edge of the shelf, but there’s no hope of snagging the stack of jeans perched tauntingly up there.
“Here, let me grab that for you.”
The deep timbre of his voice rolls across my skin like distant thunder, and the heat radiating from his body seeps right through my thin cotton dress. The unexpected closeness to an unknown male jolts me backward, crashing into his firm chest.
“Whoa, there. Sorry about that.”
I whirl around, startled by his presence, and shove against the first solid thing my hands touch—him. Leave it to my brain to not process the situation quickly enough.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry,” I squeak. “I didn’t realize it was you, Officer.”
“No harm, Ms. Kane. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you.” His kind smile does nothing to calm the wild thrum of my heart.
He holds out the stack of jeans between us like a peace offering. I snatch them up, giving my nervous fingers something to dig into.
“Excuse me, I need to go help my customer.”
He tips his hat and steps aside, but I don’t hear the distinct clomp of boot sounds fading toward the exit. I heave in a deep breath and plaster my fake customer service smile back on my face.
“Here we go. These are the other sizes we currently have in this style. Let me know if you’d like to try them on.” I drop the stack on the table next to where she’s browsing our new arrivals.
When I turn around, he’s still there, just as I expected. He leans casually against the front counter, right where I need to be. These weekly drop-ins are getting old. I don’t know how many times I can tell the police I don’t know where Evan is.
“You’re still here,” I say, more chipper than I actually am, but that’s the Lexi everyone expects me to be.
“I just wanted to follow up and see if you’d heard from Mr. Montgomery.”
“Like I told you and the other officer who stopped in last week, no, I haven’t heard from Evan. I don’t know why he went to South America. We broke up a while ago. Why do you guys keep harassing me, especially at work?” My irritation bleeds through, and he takes notice.
“The mayor just wants his son to come home. If he’s in trouble, you can tell us, or we can arrange a meeting with the mayor, and you can tell him directly.”
“Oh my Go?—”
“Ma’am?”
My wonderfully needy customer interrupts what was bound to be a mini tirade on the local police department’s use of their taxpayer-funded time.
I don’t trust myself to speak. Instead, I hold up a finger and head across the boutique.
“None of these are the size I needed. Are you sure there’s none in the back?” she asks with the attitude of someone who’s never worked a day in her life but thinks she knows better than the employee helping her out.
I take back my compliment. What a bitch.
“As a small, local boutique, we keep our stock on the floor. Unfortunately, if we don’t have your size here, we don’t have it. I can look and see if I can order it for you. You can pick it up in-store, or we can ship it directly to you for free.”
She harrumphs as if it’s my fault Bethany May is too cheap to keep more than one size of something in the store at a time.
“I’ll just order them online. What good is having a boutique in this town if I still have to order online anyway?”
She spins on her heels, her overly bleached platinum hair slapping me in the face. I take quiet satisfaction in knowing she probably spent thousands on that dye job, while mine’s natural. Her Prada slingbacks clack across the stone floor as she storms off. I cross my arms tightly, more for comfort than defiance, and watch her go.
Officer Thorne—fittingly named since he’s been a thorn in my side for weeks—watches the scene keenly. Always lingering. Always observing. For what? I have no idea. I’ve said all I need to say to him.
“Have a great rest of your day,” I call out when she’s already through the front door, knowing full well she won’t hear me.
