Page 2 of Hooked
“I love you.”
“Love you too.” Tayla dropped the pills and the tissues into her bright pink shoulder bag. “But I don’t love your trees.” She put on her sunglasses and started walking toward the lot where she’d parked her car, then she turned and glanced back at the shop.
Light. Pretty white blossoms scattered on the sidewalk. Empty sidewalks.
“Stop!” She held up her hand. “Emmie, before you go back inside—”
“Morning outfit pic?”
“Yes.” Tayla took the bag off her shoulder and adjusted the belt on the striped wrap dress to adjust the amount of cleavage it showed. “They just sent me this bag, and the light is perfect for spring photos with the flowers and everything.”
She hurried back to Emmie and the line of blooming pear trees. “Can you prop the shop door open?” She glanced at the adorable new yellow bike Emmie had bought the month before that was chained to the rack in front of the shop. “That’s good if we can get it in the background. I think if I stand here…” She looked up. “Ethan, can you shake this tree a little bit?”
Ethan, who’d been leaning in his doorway, looking bemused at the impromptu photo shoot, frowned. “You’re already sneezing and you want me to shakemorepollen on you?”
Noooooo, her nose yelled. She glanced at the bright vegan “leather” bag she’d been given and thought about handbag hashtags, follower counts, and her bank account. “Yeah. More flowers.”
Emmie took Tayla’s phone and opened the camera while Tayla gave her makeup a quick check. Her skin had a nice glow—that new highlighter was really working—and her gold-framed sunglasses and eyebrows were on point. She put the mirror away and held the bag in both hands, pushing her bust together as she positioned herself under the tree, looked up, and let out a fake laugh.
“It’s so weird when you do that,” Ethan said, reaching up with a rake and shaking one of the pear tree branches. White flower petals rained down on the sidewalk and onto Tayla.
“Fake laugh equals natural smile,” Tayla said. She changed positions a few times. Put the bag over her shoulder. Looked at the camera. Then away from it. Turned and walked away. Turned back. “Emmie, how we doing?” She could feel her nose starting to twitch.
“Give me one more second…” Emmie stepped back, then stepped forward. “The light is tricky.” She took a few more pictures and held out the phone. “Check ’em.”
Tayla held her handkerchief to her nose and scrolled quickly through the photos. “I can use at least three of these, and the bag looks amazing. Thank—Achoo!”
“Achoo to you too,” Emmie said. “Take your antihistamines.”
Tayla slipped her phone in the bag and gave up on her embroidered handkerchief to blow her nose with the paper tissues. “Thesetrees.” She leaned over and kissed Emmie’s cheek quickly. “You’re the best.”
“It’s kind of cold.” Emmie looked down at her feet. “Have I been barefoot this whole time?”
“Yes. Go back inside before Ox comes and yells at me for making your precious little feet shiver.” She turned Emmie by the shoulders and shoved her toward the door. “See you at lunch. Don’t forget to post on the blog today. With pictures! Don’t forget the pictures.”
“Okay.” Emmie waved over her shoulder. “See you.”
Ethan walked back to his shop and propped the rake against the front of his display windows. “What about me? Do I get a kiss too?”
Tayla sashayed over to his doorway and crooked her finger at him. “Better believe it, handsome.”
Tayla kissed Ethan’s bearded cheek when he leaned down. Then she pulled away just as another sneeze exploded from her nose. “I think I’m allergic to you too.”
“Nah.” He grinned. “But I bet Jeremy would like it if you were.”
“Hush.” She shooed him away with a smile and a flip of her manicured hand. “Don’t start trouble.”
Ethan was an adorable bear of a man. Tall, broad shoulders, tan skin, and hazel-brown eyes with a belly that said he enjoyed a pint or two at the Ice House after work. He loved live music, trivia night at the pub, and bingeing the latest sci-fi or fantasy series on the weekend. He drove a big pickup truck and liked his women with more than a handful of ass.
In short, he was exactly Tayla’s type.
And yet… no chemistry. None.
“Bye!” She walked down Main Street and turned right at the crosswalk. On the corner of Main and Ash were the dark windows of Top Shelf Comics and Games where the man who was definitelynotTayla’s type would be opening his door in about an hour.
Jeremy Allen was sweet, geeky, and handsome as sin. His body told the story of a skinny kid who finally grew into his limbs and put on a nice amount of muscle. He had skin the color of mahogany, and his dark brown eyes glinted with humor. He wore his short hair twisted at the ends and a trim beard Tayla desperately wanted to run her fingers over. He had a near-obscene number of eyelashes. It was truly unfair.
That part of Jeremy was all Tayla’s type. But in addition to loving comics and games, Jeremy lovedeverythingabout the outdoors. He climbed mountains in his spare time. He camped. He fished. He kayaked. He rode down giant hills on his bike.
