Page 74 of The Pumpkin Spice Romance
She turned to the door and stopped short because there was Buck, leaning casually in the way, one arm up against the doorframe. Something in her couldn’t help but appreciate the way his tall, muscular body seemed to take up most of the space in the doorway, and a fair amount of her miniscule office as well.
She cleared her throat to indicate he was in her way. He didn’t move, like he was making a silent point after her little speech about who was in control here. She felt her heartrate pick up.
“Excuse me.” She raised her brows emphatically. His full lips turned up at one corner and he slowly moved a step to the side to show he’d heard her. His head gave a little jerk to indicateshe could go on through, but he still took up most of the space. She walked toward him, sucking in a breath and feeing suddenly nervous with his full attention on her. His eyes were half-lidded as they followed her approach, like he wanted her to come closer. Like she was prey.
That is ridiculous, Carrie!She shivered at the thought and her heart began to pound.He is not going to eat you up.She held his stare as she walked the last few steps toward him, until he dropped his gaze to rake her up and down with his eyes. She shivered again, feeling more excited than she had in a long time.What if . . . what if I want him to eat me up?She had no answer for that errant thought and she dropped her eyes to squeeze under his arm.
She walked unsteadily to a rack of unsold Halloween costumes, her heart racing and very aware of him silently stalking after her.Get ahold of yourself, Carrie!She took a deep breath as her shaking fingers drifted across the costumes, unable to keep from fingering a filmy, blue harem girl number. No, she was not going to think about how it had felt to try that on after everyone had gone home.Delicious,that interior voice supplied.
“What did you wear for Halloween?” His voice was rough behind her.
“Hmmm?” she asked innocently, pretending not to understand his question.
“What. Was. Your. Halloween. Costume?” He spelled out like it was causing him some sort of internal pain. “One of those?”
The rack held adult-sized costumes, “adult” being the operative word. She’d tried telling corporate that this was atoystore, you know, for kids. But they’d said the sexy costumes sold well to teens and college students, and that was the most (read only) important thing.
“Oh, no. I was working,” Carrie replied. “Handing out candy.”
She heard him inhale and slowly exhale. His voice came out more normal. “So, what was it?”
“Oh, um, racecar driver.” She didn’t add she’d gone as Janet Guthrie, first woman to compete in the Indy 500. She hadn’t won, so most people didn’t remember her, or that womendidrace at the highest levels. She couldn’t wait to see a woman take the checkered flag at the Indy 500 and NASCAR someday.
Focus, Carrie.
She stopped stroking the filmy harem costume and threw on the black hooded cape she’d come over here for, taking the matching Scream mask in hand. They’d sold thousands of the things a month ago. Anyone could have one. Last, she grabbed two empty shelving carts and rolled them to the back door, pausing to put the mask on and make sure the alley was empty.
She got to the back door of JoElle’s and realized Buck was following her. She ignored him, about to put the key in the lock and praying the locks hadn’t been changed. The store managers before Carrie and Tracey had had a better relationship. She doubted anyone even remembered the long-forgotten key at the back of her desk drawer.
She heard Buck sigh. “Hang on, Cutie,” Buck said behind her.
Carrie turned to him in shock. She was Cutie now?
“What?” Carrie wasn’t sure if she was questioning the nickname or why she was waiting.
“You don’t know anything about breaking and entering, do you?”
“Well, excuse me, but there weren’t courses on theft offered at my university.”
“I can tell. Welcome to Crime 101. Besides that camera right there,” he pointed up to a camera high above the door that seemed to be pointing exactly where Carrie was standing. She jerked back, hiding the key behind her back, reaching up to make sure her mask was in place. “Stop panicking. We’ll take care of that as soon as we’re in. But besides that, as soon as they realize they’ve been broken into, the first thing the cops are going to do is look at the doors and ask, ‘who’s got a key?’ So, I highly suggest you wipe your prints off that and chuck it into the river tonight.
“Next, put these on.” He handed her a pair of latex gloves from his pocket, already wearing a pair himself. “Ideally we want them to think this lock was jimmied, which could have been anyone and doesn’t point to you.”
He pulled a length of stiff wire, like a cheap, straightened clothes hanger, from his back pocket, bent it into a U shape and inserted the two ends into the lock, scrubbing it around roughlybefore finally turning it. He opened the door and gestured Carrie to go ahead. She tried not to be impressed at how easy he’d made that seem.
They entered the craft store’s dimly lit back warehouse among racks and racks of craft supplies, the unholy trinity of fake scents hitting her like a brick: Pseudo Cinnamon, Never Evergreen, and—
“Gah!” Pukey Pumpkin Spice. She clapped a hand over her nose and hurried past the rack of candles nearby, unmistakable in bright red, green, and deep orange.
“Not a pumpkin spice fan?” he asked, as if they were just out for a nice walk around the neighborhood.
“No, ugh! It’s so fake.”
“It gets to be fall and the whole city starts bathing in pumpkin spice,” he observed. “It’s a sign of the season.”
She turned to Buck.“Whyare you here? This is my skin in the game, remember? My part to play. Plus, aren’t you worried your guys will skim off the top while you’re gone?” She glared at him from behind her mask. He had the hood of his black sweatshirt up, mirrored sunglasses on, and that was it. She had to admit that he looked much cooler than she did. He looked at her over the rims of his aviators.
“Lighten up, Scream,” he said, booping the mask’s nose. “I had to make sure you were committed and not going to the fuzz, but here you are! Strait-laced Carrie all dressed up and pulling a B and E. Never thought I’d see it. And my guys knowbetter than to let the count come up light.” A dangerous glimmer shone in his eyes. The smile dropped from his face and he held out his hand. “Now give me the envelope.”
