Page 5 of Baby For The Billionaire Silver Fox

John took that as a compliment and headed to the checkout with a grin on his face.

Politics were not for me. No way. Running for office meant everything you’d ever said or done was put under a microscope and held up for all to see. I liked my privacy. And I had things in my past that were best left in my past. Things I wasn’t proud of. They weren’t anyone else’s business.

Plus, I knew I was no longer cut out to work behind a desk in an office environment with more work to do than a person could handle in a day. Been there, done that.

I grabbed a cart full of products from the back room and wheeled it out to stock the shelves. As I bent over to add boxes of cake mixes to a bottom shelf, I again heard my name.

“Dan? I can’t tell for sure, but I think that butt belongs to you. My sincere apologies if it’s not Dan’s butt.”

I straightened up and turned. “Hey, Lexi.” Then I noticed she wasn’t alone. My heart inexplicably did a double beat.

“Well, now,” I drawled with a lazy grin on my face. “Nicole, right?” She was just as beautiful as I remembered from our brief meeting last year. She wore tight jeans and a cropped camo t-shirt. Both hugged her curves quite nicely. Her dark hair was long, thick, and wavy and fell to her front on one side, skirting her chest. Long lashes fringed her dark eyes, and they had all my attention.

“Big Dan,” she answered with a smirk. “Do they still call you Big Dan? I see you still work out.” She checked out every inch of me before her gaze settled on my biceps.

“You ladies aren’t going to have a problem with the blueberries and bananas again, are you?”

“Sheesh, that was over a year ago. Let’s just forget it ever happened,” Lexi said, exasperated. Nicole just laughed. It sounded like sweet musical notes.

“Are you here for another visit? You must like Lexi a lot to drag yourself away from the nail-biting excitement of the big city,” I commented.

“Hey, I like Cooperstown. And actually, I’m starting a 13-week stint here as a travel nurse. So this town will be stuck with me for now.”

“I’m sure Cooperstown will do its best to entertain you while you’re here,” I said, bowing my head slightly. “Hey, are you a music lover? We have our first-ever music festival coming up.”

“I do love music. I hope you lined up some good acts,” Nicole responded.

“I hope so, too,” I said. “It’s a bit of a mixed bag. We aim to make each person in town happy for at least 30 minutes.”

“Is that your slogan?

“Yep. The good ones were already taken.”

Nicole laughed, then looked around her. “Well, I guess Lexi has already wandered away, so I’d better go find her. I wouldn’t want her to buy the wrong brand of mac and cheese.”

I spontaneously reached for her hand and brought it to my lips. I placed a light kiss on the back of it, and my lips tingled where they’d touched her skin. Her hand was soft and smelled like orange. It reminded me of a Creamsicle ice cream bar. I closed my eyes momentarily before I came to my senses and released her. Shit, I looked like an idiot.

She pulled her hand back and rubbed the kiss spot softly with her thumb. She looked down, noticed what she was doing, and stopped.

“That’s grand,” she quipped in a cockney accent, “a kiss from a gent such as yourself. I feel like a proper lady now.”

I laughed, watching her saunter away in Lexi’s direction.

This day had suddenly become quite interesting.

I left the store when my shift was up and headed to the gym. I had enough time to get in a good workout before my buddy, Bennett, came to my place. I worked hard, trying to get rid of this excess energy I had.

In between sets, I found my thoughts wandering to Nicole. What was it about her? Was it just physical? She was beautiful in a Princess Jasmine kind of way with her dark hair, dark eyes, and full lips. Yes, I knew my Disney princesses since I’d watched all the movies with Bennett’s daughter, Chloe.

Nicole was a flirt, which was always fun, but she also seemed intelligent and interesting as well. But what did I know? I’d only exchanged maybe ten sentences with her ever.

I added more weights before my next set, surprised that my mind wouldn’t let go of thoughts of her.

Finally finished, I showered and headed home. Bennett was already on my couch, drinking the last bottle of my favorite beer.

“Just let yourself in. I don’t mind,” I grunted at him.

Bennett just looked at me and gulped down the beer. His brown hair was a mess, he had the beginnings of a sorry-looking beard, and he looked exhausted.

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