If she weren’t my best friend and highest-selling employee, I’d fire her right here and now, in front of this father-to-be.
“Oh, yeah?” The man’s eyes glint as he smiles, laughing just a little. He’s looking at me differently now.
“No, no, no.” I wave both of my hands before burying my face in them. “She’s crazy. I’m not like that. I would never.”
“But she should,” Presley adds.
I could punch her right now, and I’ve never punched anyone in my life.
“This girl lives in Vegas, and she’s never even set foot in a casino. Can you believe that?” Presley combs her fingers through her dark tendrils and then twirls a strand around them.
“Really?” He wrinkles his nose, making him equally sexy and adorable.
“Presley, that’s enough,” I say before turning back to our handsome patron. “I’ll deliver these books to you tonight just past seven, okay? Thank you so much for coming in today.”
I place my hand on his back, just beneath a curved shoulder blade, as I walk away. He’s pure muscle. Solid and warm. The man flashes a perfect smile, and my heartrate quickens for a moment.
“I think you embarrassed her,” he says to Pres, his gaze falling toward her nametag. “I guess when you’re named after The King and you live in this city, you can pretty much do whatever you want, huh?”
I can’t tell if he’s sticking up for me or not. I almost think he is.
“Exactly. That’s what I try to tell her.” She grins at him before turning to me. “This one’s always so serious. She can’t take a joke these days. She doesn’t get me like you do . . . sorry, what’s your name?”
“Crew,” he says.
“She doesn’t get me like you do, Crew,” Presley continues. Anyone else would say she’s flirting right now, but I know better. It’s just how she is.
He doesn’t take the bait. Instead he turns to me, drinking me in and cocking his head to the side like he’s trying to read me. Like I, of all people, am more fascinating to him than drop-dead gorgeous Presley.
Not that it matters. He’s clearly a taken man.
“Anyway.” The store’s grown ten degrees hotter in the last five seconds. “I’ll drop these off tonight.”
I glance down at the address and stop dead in my tracks.
“301 Vollmer Street,” I say. “The Desert Oasis apartments?”
“Yeah,” he says.
“That’s where I live.”#p#分页标题#e#
It’s a relatively tiny complex. Two buildings, with eight units each.
“Small world,” Presley says. “You probably know her next door neighbor then.”
“I’m not home much. And when I am, I don’t really talk to anyone.” He turns, squaring his shoulders with mine. “And I’d definitely remember seeing you.”
I don’t need a mirror to know my face is halfway between cherry and scarlet right now. I think he just gave me a compliment, and I hate that I kind of liked it . . .
Maybe it’s the arid heat or the fact that I skipped out on breakfast this morning, but my vision blurs in and out as I try to make out the apartment number. I think it says 11.
Yep.
11.
I’m in 12.
“I think you’re next door to me.” I try to swallow, but my throat is as desiccated as the late morning heat outside.
“Really?” His face scrunches. “How long have you lived there?”
“Few months. Not long.”
Too long, if I’m being honest. What I wouldn’t give for a full week of solid sleep.
“You’re in 12?” he asks.
“Yup.” I glance at Presley. Her hand hides the grin on her brightly hued lips.
“So you’re the Jackhammer.” Presley smirks.
“The what?” he asks.
“Ignore her.” I shoot her a pinched stare and will her to shut her mouth this instant. When Crew glances away, I mouth to her, “You’re so fired.”
Presley shrugs like the defiant little wench I’ve come to love the last couple of years. She’s the bratty kid sister I never had, occasionally my voice of reason, and usually quick to offer an unsolicited, brutally honest opinion when I need it most.
Crew slips his phone out of his pocket. I didn’t hear it go off. Maybe he’s pretending to take a call to get out of here? Can’t say I blame him.
“Noelle,” he says. “What’s going on?”
Ah. I bet he’s talking to his girlfriend or wife or whatever. I watch Presley’s eyes dart toward his ring finger, which is clearly naked. Okay, so Noelle is his girlfriend. Fair enough.