Page 5 of Enemy Crush
I want to scream. Why else would I have gone out of my way to play this game of 20 questions? “Well, I am. Now, do you want my help or not?” I cross my arms and wait.
His face wrinkles. “Well not if it’s going to be like this. Your attitude…no wonder you’re still single.”
It feels like he’s smacked me across the face. “Oh, ouch. That really hurt. And being such a charmer has gotten you what? No wife, no fiancée, no girlfriend even, and a failing store.”
“How’d you know about me and Stacy?”
I scoffed. “The whole town knows about you and your high school sweetheart. It’s been the topic of conversation for three weeks now.”
He rolls his eyes. “That’s fucking great.”
I laugh. “You didn’t honestly think that something could happen here without the whole town knowing, did you?”
He shrugs. “I was hoping if a big deal wasn’t made that nobody would notice.”
My eyes widen. “Oh, they noticed. Mrs. Burnsberry told the whole diner the next morning after she watched you two packing her car with boxes.”
He shakes his head. “I seriously need to move out of this town.”
I smile. “Good idea! Leave the store to me. I’ll take care of it. I might even let ya come back and visit the books.”
He snorts. “I’ll do that,” he mocks.
I shake my head and pick up a pen from the counter, writing my number down. “Look, it’s been fun, but I really need to get going. If you want my help, give me a call. If and when you decide you really want to keep this place open, I mean.”
“Wait, why would you think that I want it to fail?” he asks as I push the piece of paper with my number on it over to him.
I shrug. “I mean, this doesn’t really seem like you.”
“It doesn’t?” he asks, pulling his brows together.
“The whole town knows that the only reason you even took this place over was as a favor to your father. He’s too old to keep it going. It was close it and piss off the whole town or you run it. We all know you don’t want to be here.”
“That may be true, but I love this place,” he says, sounding a little angry. “I have a lot of good memories here too. I was in this place more than anyone in this town and if you think I’m sinking it on purpose, you’re full of shit. You really think I want to go to my dad and tell him I failed? That I let him and my mom down? That I ruined a place she worked so hard for? If that’s what you think, you really don’t know anything about me.”
I feel taken aback. I’ve never seen that much passion from him about anything. Not even when he was the captain of the football team in high school. I smile.
“What?” he asks, wrinkling his face out of anger.
“That was passion. You want this place to stay open. In fact, you want it to thrive. Don’t let pride get in your way. I’m offering to help. Call me.” Without another word, I turn and walk out of the store. I can feel his eyes watching me as I leave.
I walk back to my car and climb behind the wheel. I feel amped up on my drive home. I feel like I just went twelve rounds and won. I’m excited, but exhausted. Luckily, I don’t live far and the moment I’m home, I’m climbing out of the car and rushing toward the door.
I lock it behind me and drop my purse on the couch as I walk to the bathroom for a shower. I strip down and climb beneath the hot flow of water, letting it relax my tired muscles. I take my time washing my hair and shaving my legs. After washing off, I climb out and wrap a towel around me while I drag a brush through my hair. I take a few minutes to moisturize and I walk to my room for some comfy pajamas. After dressing, I hit up the kitchen, eat, then make a nice, hot cup of tea and take it back to my room so I can sip it while I read a book before bed.
I crawl beneath the blankets and pick up my book, removing the bookmark and setting it to the side. I sip my tea while my eyes run across the lines on the page, but I can’t focus on the story. All I can think about is how this book is only book two in the series and how the bookstore may be closed by the time I’m ready for book three. I guess I could just go tomorrow and buy the rest of the books in the series, but what happens when I’ve read them all? What will I do when I need more books? I want to save the bookstore, but, more importantly, I have to get Paxton to let me save the bookstore. I hope he calls, but I guess I can’t blame him too much if he doesn’t.
Our whole lives have been spent hating one another. That’s a hard thing to get over, especially when you ask that person for help. I’ll give him a few days to make the right choice. If I don’t hear back from him, then I’ll sleep okay at night knowing I did what I could. There’s only so much I can control.
Deep down, I hope he calls. I never thought I’d hand my number over willingly to Paxton. It’s true that I’ve always hated him, but I’ve also had a secret little crush on him as well. I mean, who’s never had a crush on him? He’s tall, tanned, has dark hair, and green eyes. The man is sex on legs with his muscular shape. He could take any woman to her knees just from a wink and smile from him. Thinking of him still makes the butterflies in my stomach flutter their wings. He can make my blood boil in rage or excitement. He’s the most frustrating man I know, but he is also so much more. So much more than I can even begin to understand.
I finish my tea and close my book since I can’t seem to pay attention to it anyway and I set both items on the bedside table. I sink down into bed and shut off the light. Though I toss and turn, fluff my pillows, kick out a foot, and then a leg. Sleep doesn’t find me. All I can think about is Paxton. I run through our conversation over and over, imagining different things I could’ve said and how he’d respond. Before I know it, my little daydream turns on me and I picture myself in his arms, his mouth against mine. My blood is boiling but not from rage. It’s from excitement. The muscles in my stomach tighten in anticipation and my whole body feels alive as the blood rushes my system.
Thinking about kissing Paxton makes me excited?
What’s wrong with me? He’s done nothing but torture me. He’s made me miserable. How can I even think of kissing him? Even though he is good looking. That shouldn’t be enough for me to sweep everything under the rug, is it? I’ve never in my life prayed so hard that a guy would call. I refuse to start now.
Lola is going to get a kick out of this one.
