Page 19 of Love That Sass

“Something wrong?” he asked, sniffing the air after her.

Shoot. She’d been caught. Gwen’s face really started to burn just then, and she bit her lip. How embarrassing!

“Um, no. Sorry, it’s just I have allergies to most air fresheners and perfumes, but it smells good in here and it’s not bothering my sinuses. I was just trying to identify the brand.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding surprised.

“Um, what is it? The fragrance, I mean,” she murmured, wishing a hole would open up and swallow her.

“I dunno. I don’t like strong scents, so I stay away from them myself. Could be my deodorant, I guess.”

Weylin lifted his arm and Gwendolyn barked out a laugh, was he smelling his own armpit? Sure enough, he did. Even offered her a go, but she just laughed it off and shook her head. It wasn’t too long before he joined her in a deep, throaty chuckle.

“Guess that’s silly of me,” he said, and seemed embarrassed.

For some reason, that made her like him even more. Maybe there was more to Weylin Scott than met the eye. She hadn’t known many men, but Gwendolyn liked to think she had a good intuition.

Danger. Danger.

The man is dangerous, Gwenny. He’s a bartender and likely has a million phone numbers saved in his contact list.

She felt a stab of jealousy at the thought, but she shook it off. Gwen had no reason or right to be jealous of the man. They weren’t dating or anything. She had no time for that nonsense at all. With all her hangups, it would take a man with the patience of a saint to break through her barriers—figuratively and literally.

Weylin Scott didn’t strike her as a saint. Too bad really. She wouldn’t mind getting to know him better. Not at all.

Why would he need to be a saint, Gwen, when a man is all anyone could ever want?

“What are you thinking about so quiet over there?” he probed.

“Oh, nothing. My mind just wanders,” she said, offering him more trail mix. “You know, I never shared snacks in a U-drive with a boy before,” she blurted, and her cheeks heated with embarrassment.

Weylin’s grin got bigger, and he held out his hand for more of the stuff. Gwen obliged, wondering why she told him that little tidbit. She watched him pour the handful of salty sweet goodies into his mouth without spilling a thing.

He chewed and swallowed, winking at her when he caught her staring. She was making an idiot of herself, but she couldn’t seem to stop. He was intriguing, and Gwendolyn was curious by nature.

“So, the bar must not be doing well if you’re moonlighting with U-drive, huh?” she asked, worried now that she thought about it.

“What? No! The bar is doing great. I just do this sometimes when I am feeling bored,” he said, smiling tightly.

“Oh, okay.”

Hmm. Was he lying? He had no reason to, but she had a feeling he was holding something back from her. Odd. Very odd.

“We’re here,” Weylin announced, pulling into a parking spot.

“Okay, well, thank you very much,” she began, but he was already out of the truck and opening her door.

“You are fast,” she murmured.

That brought another pink blush to his cheeks, and she watched mesmerized as Weylin lifted his arm and rubbed the back of his neck. His biceps looked likely to shred the t-shirt he wore, they were so dang big. Holy cow. He must work out like a madman to be so fit.

Looking down at herself, Gwen could only shake her head. No one would ever accuse her of being a gym rat. But she was who she was, and she liked her body just fine. She just wasn’t made to be one of those slender females. Gwendolyn had curves on her curves, even with the lousy diet she’d been on, but you could blame the FDA for that.

The United States of America allowed way too much garbage in their food, and that alone accounted for the increase in obesity and disease among the poorest of its citizens. Other countries did not have that problem, something Gwen had become aware of after she’d gone to England with her high school with her honors history class.

Whatever.

She and Weylin were not an item. It didn’t matter if she was chubby and poor, and he was a veritable demigod. Not that she cared about money or looks. What the heck was going on with her? She had more important things to attend to than worry over a nonexistent relationship with her new coworker.

---