Page 7 of Feverburn

He squinted,“Do you usuallydemandpersonal stories within seconds of meeting someone?”

“Do you usually barge into strangers’ homes, breaking the door down like the Kool-Aid man, only to never return?”

“By the way, don’t open that bathroom window for a few days. The raccoons keep crawling up the back of the building somehow.”

“Noted. Now spill.”

He gathered a breath. “My parents visited Nevada for a work conference for my mom. They got drunk and conceived me in a hot tub. They were in Carson City, you know, the capital. So there you go.”He shrugged like it was the most boring thing he had ever muttered.

“Wow. That is haunting,”I teased. He shook his head, trying not to laugh, so I continued.“It could have been so much worse. They could’ve been in Reno.”That did it. He cracked a smile that flashed against his dark beard.

A deep, throaty chuckle escaped him.“Nothing good happens in Reno.”

“Well, convince me something good happens in Carson City,”I said, running the rag over the counter.

“What? Was rescuing you from a purple raccoon not enough?”

“You broke my damn door!”

“It’s already fixed. I put a new one in an hour ago for you.”His gaze darted down to my lips and back up to my eyes.

“Thank you.”I didn’t know what to say. I was awestruck yet annoyed that he was so efficient and all up in my space.

“Don’t mention it. What’s Rosie short for? Let me guess, Rosaline?”

“You’ll never guess.”I picked up a scrap paper, scrawled out my full name, Roisin, and turned it towards him.

He squinted, taking awildstab in the dark at pronouncing it.“Roey-sin?”

“Solid try. It’s Irish. You pronounce it row-sheen,”I said with exaggerated clarity.

“Row-sheen,”he echoed back with a determined nod.

“Exactly. It means little rose in Gaelic, therefore—”

“Rosie,”his eyes flashed to my hair.“Fitting.”

Ignoring whatever that was, I picked up a plastic cup.“Let me repay you for saving me. Can I make you a drink?”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to order at a place like this.”

“Are you tootoughto drink some girly iced coffee?”I asked while tamping the grounds in the puck to make espresso.

“Nah, it’s not like that. Make me something foofy.”He jutted his chin up,“How ‘bout you surprise me?”

“Foofy. Got it. Do you like thingsspicy?”I asked before I could think.

He pushed his tongue to the side of his cheek to not answer for a moment.“Just surprise me.”His face morphed into a smirk, making myheartdrop. Trying not to get flustered, I focused on the drink,gratefulto do something with my hands.

“So, Rosie, why Pine Bluff?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Touché.”

“To be honest, I was getting sick of Boston. I wanted a new chapter, more nature. What about you? Your sister mentioned that the hardware store has been in your family for generations. Is that why you stay?”

“Don’t have much choice.”

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