“What are you doing here?” Aaron asked as soon as the shock of seeing me wore off. “Were you trying to...”

Was he seriously about to ask if I was trying to break in? Embarrassment gave way to total disbelief. I propped my hands on my hips and scowled.

“I work here.”

He blinked a few times, giving me the same blank stare he gave to my surroundings as he glanced around the shop. I could practically hear the wheels turning in his head as he mentally took in the sex toys and my presence and tried to connect the two.

Ah, there was the humiliation. Right on time. I wish I had turned the lights down before he showed up. My face was on fire.

“You work here?” he drawled, an eyebrow cocking up in disbelief. “Since when?”

“Since Monday. I-I’m sorry to bother you. It’s my first night closing up by myself and I messed up when I tried to arm the system.”

Aaron nodded slowly, but his eyes were still floating around the store. As much as I wanted to close my eyes and attempt to convince myself this was just a terrible nightmare, the reality of it was all too clear. There was no way I could imagine such awkwardness on my own.

So I did the only thing I could think of—I rambled mindlessly while I tried to divert his attention away from the store and its contents.

“Like I said, I’m so sorry. I tried to disarm it when it started to make that noise but my coworker took the sticky note that I had the code on and I tried to call Mandy but it was too late and—”

“Slow down, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart. I managed not to outright swoon, though it did shut me up instantly. It wasn’t anything new coming from him, but it’d been a few months since I heard it. After moving out of my parents’ house, our interactions were sparse.

It broke my heart a little when I left even though I knew it was for the best. I needed to move on from my ridiculous crush.

Yet three years had gone by and I was no closer to forgetting about Aaron and his charming personality. I had no new love interests and the sight of him still made butterflies bat around wildly in my stomach.

“Would you mind waiting to make sure I don’t mess it up again?”

Aaron’s gaze swept back to me and a small smile appeared as he said, “Sure thing.”

Once the noise fully stopped, I carefully entered the sequence to arm the system once more. This time, the double beep and the robotic voice hit my ears and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Let’s go before I somehow set it off again.”

Aaron grabbed my purse from the counter while I made quick work of the light switches.

“Let me. These systems can be a pain in the ass,” he said after we stepped into the back. He punched something in on the security panel and opened the door for me, pausing only to ask, “You’ve got keys for this door, right?”

“Yeah.”

After locking the back door behind us, we walked in silence to the side gate. I unlocked the chain and slid it open before stepping back to linger beside my borrowed car.

“Again, I’m really sorry to waste your time.”

Aaron waved it off with a smile. “It’s no trouble. Isn’t that your mom’s car?”

“Yeah. She’s letting me borrow it while they’re on vacation.”

I could see the recognition dawn in his eyes before he even nodded.

“Oh yeah. Europe, right? When did they leave?”

“This morning. I agreed to get the mail and feed the cat in exchange for using the car.”

“Good deal.”

“I thought so.”

He was still smiling at me, but that didn’t stop the awkward silence from descending. I shuffled around on my feet, grimacing to myself as I finally realized how sore they were from my first week of steady work.

“I, uh... I need to drive through the gate so I can lock it behind me.”

I fully expected him to take the dismissal, wish me a good evening, and disappear through the gate. Which was why it was so alarming when he gave me a blindingly handsome smile and moved to the passenger side of Mom’s sedan. Since I already pressed the button to unlock the doors, there was nothing to stop him from dropping into the seat and pulling the door shut behind him.

I froze. We hadn’t been in such close quarters in a very long time. Not since he gave me a ride home when I was still in high school.

It felt different now. Now... I was an adult. Did he see me as an adult? Or was I still Roger’s little girl? Could I be both of those things at once in his eyes? Was it even—

Tap, tap, tap.

I looked down at the driver’s side window and felt my face flame when I spotted Aaron’s questioning face.

“You okay?” he mouthed from behind the glass.

“S-Sorry!” I spluttered as I opened the door and got in. “Like I said earlier, it’s my first time closing up by myself. I was mentally going through the steps to make sure I didn’t forget anything.”

Talk about a smooth move. He nodded in understanding while I praised myself for such quick thinking.

I buckled my seatbelt and Aaron laughed, causing me to frown and glance over at him.

Big mistake.

His body—a little too large to comfortably fit in the small space—was turned toward me. One arm was up against the window and his knees were spread as far as they could go. My face flushed as I immediately noticed how tight his slacks were in this position.

If his shirt was undone, it would look like a picture on the cover of one of those romance novels Mandy had at her place. The ones I was always too embarrassed to ask if I could borrow.

“Did you forget something?”

His low voice drew my attention up to his blazing eyes and I knew I’d been caught checking him out. The smirk was evidence enough. I was just lucky he was nice enough not to throw it in my face.

“No. But you forgot your seatbelt.”

His mouth parted as if to argue, but he snapped it shut after a split second and softly chuckled as he reached back to pull it across his chest.

“Guess I don’t have to worry about pulling you over for anything.”

He really didn’t, but that didn’t stop my imagination from running wild. I pictured myself leaning against the car with Aaron standing directly behind me, feeling the warmth of his body while he handcuffed my wrists behind my back.

Where did that come from?

Before I could dive into yet another zone-out session in his presence, I started the car and pulled forward. When I started to unbuckle to get out and lock the gate, he snatched the shop keys from the center console and hopped out.

I watched him in the rearview. He pulled the gate closed and fastened the lock, jerking the chain a few times to test it. When he turned around, his eyes went right to the back window and seemed to stare into the mirror I was watching him in.

How did he know? I looked away as he approached, pretending to fiddle with my cell phone. I was so engrossed in my coy act that I jumped when he tapped on the window.

Once the glass rolled all the way down, he leaned in and dropped the keys gently in my palm.

“It was good to see you again, Jessa.”

“Y-Yeah. You too. I’m sorry about—”

“No need to apologize. Seeing you was the high point of a long, boring shift. Most of these night shifts involve chasing off teenagers that are making out on private property. It’s pretty dull.”

“At least you’re not being shot at or something,” I said half-jokingly.

In truth, I used to worry about him far more than I should. Being a police officer always seemed very risky to me—much like being a firefighter. The last thing I wanted was for Aaron to get hurt.

“In a town like this? It’s pretty unlikely,” he said with a laugh. “You never know, though. I’m as careful as I can be.”

“That’s good to hear. Thanks for your help tonight. I’ll try not to do it again.”

“I wouldn’t mind it if you did.” Before I could respond to that, he straightened up to full height and said, “Have a good night, Jess.”

“Thanks. You too.”

He waved before heading to his car. I didn’t hesitate to pull out of the lot and start driving home. I certainly didn’t want him to think I had turned into a total space-case, even if it was starting to be kind of true.

Space-case or not—it didn’t escape my notice that his headlights followed me all the way to my apartment complex.