Page 53 of Anything but Mine

Bella pushed her sweaty bangs out of her eyes and peered down at her best friend from the ladder. “I mean no. I have no answers. I am brain dead. Whatever it is, you don’t need my input.”

Nic licked the corner of her deep burgundy lips, then slapped her hands on her hips. “You’ve been out of sorts since we opened this morning. What’s going on?”

Bella turned back to the top shelf she was dusting.

“You’re cleaning.”

“We have a few thousand people taking over our quiet little town. I want the shop as perfect as possible.” She swiped the beeswax-laden towel into the back of the shelf.

“No. You’re cleaning with,” she leaned into Bella and sniffed, “with beeswax.”

Bella rushed down the steps and moved to the next set of bookcases. “I do this once a month.”

“I know. And you did it two weeks ago. So fess up, woman. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Sharon was here, and we went over the vendors. She’s down there right now directing traffic.”

“Isn’t that your job?”

Bella climbed up. “She’s taking the first shift.”

Nic leaned against the ladder and folded her arms over her black and white polka dot blouse. “And you’re not hovering…”

“Sharon’s a big girl.” Bella moved a stack of books and a charming elf book end so she could rub in the wax and wipe it off. The antique bookcases required special attention, dammit. Her arms ached and her thighs screamed from her dozens of trips up and down the ladder that day.

She’d been working since six that morning. That was when she’d given up on sleeping. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Logan’s eyes staring up at her as she sat astride him in the truck. Or she relived the look in his wild spring green eyes as he went down on her, driving her absolutely mad.

She couldn’t get him out of her head.

And even more horrifying, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. The last man she’d been with had been sweet and non-threatening. His idea of a wild night had been Chinese takeout in bed after very pleasant sex.

Pleasant and nice didn’t even belong in a sentence with Logan.

Nic slid under the ladder and peered up at her. “You had sex.”

“What?”

“You’ve got that manic cleaning thing going on.” She snapped her fingers. “You had sex. Or, you didn’t actually get to have the sex, but you’re

thinking really hard about it.”

“Shut up.” Bella gave the top shelf one more hard scrub with the towel and came down to her level. “You’re not even close.”

Nic tipped her head to the side. “Oh, I’m close.”

Bella started taking things off the shelf in front of her.

Nic leaned in and sniffed. “You stink like sex.”

“I do not.”

“Like good sex. Like he rocked your world. Oh, yeah.” She gave a shimmy to her hips and pulled Bella away from the bookcase and hugged her, hopping them both in a circle. “That’s what happened.”

Bella couldn’t stop a laugh. “Why is my having sex making you so happy?”

“A-ha! I knew it! I wasn’t completely sure, but now I am.”

Bella covered her face. “Oh, Nic. What am I going to do?”

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