How You Know It Won’t Work:
He purrs while you kiss
“No, ma’am, I can’t check you out here,” I told the old lady for the thirtieth time. Why she couldn’t understand was beyond me. The fitting room counter didn’t have a cash register. She could see it. I could see it. The customer standing behind her waiting could see it.
“But I don’t want to walk up front.”
She’d told me this twice now.
To which I replied, again, “Well that’s the only place you can purchase your items. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.”
I showed her my sickening sweet smile that hid my desire to wrap the dress she had in her hands around her neck. Tonight was the night for pushy customers, because I already had a young couple try getting into one of the men’s dressing rooms together to do God knows what.
Well, I had a pretty good idea of what it was they wanted to accomplish, but I was so not losing my job because of a couple horny teenagers.
The old lady turned up her nose, smacking the dress onto the counter. “Since you’re obviously not going to help me, I’ll take my business elsewhere.”
Good riddance.
My smile remained, though I internally rolled my eyes. “There’s a JCPenney’s right across the mall. I hope you find what you’re looking for there.”
She turned on her heel, leaving behind her cart full of random knick-knacks before strutting away.
I blew out an exasperated breath. “Sorry about that,” I said to the other customer.
After the fitting room was cleared, I opted to go through the return rack and separate the clothes based on department. When the familiar beat of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” came over the speakers, there was no stopping my hips from moving to the rhythm. I wasn’t ashamed of being a Swiftie—the woman was an idol of mine. And despite Wilkins playing the same songs on repeat (Every. Single. Day,) the catchy break-up anthem never got old.
Swaying in the black wrap dress I wore, I shook my hips as the chorus played out. Brushing out the wrinkles in a sweater hanging on one of the hangers, I hummed along to the lyrics, knowing that singing them aloud would be detrimental to anyone’s ears within a five-mile radius.
“Somebody is having fun,” an amused voice chuckled from behind me.
The voice made me freeze mid-sway. Slowly, I turned around to find nobody there.
Blowing out a breath of relief, I peeked around the corner to be sure I was alone. Except, I wasn’t. Nathan Evans backed up with a half-grin on his face; brown eyes twinkling over catching me shake my ass in public.
Awesome.
“I have no chill when Taylor Swift comes on,” I informed him, trying to play it off. It was hard to do when my face was the color of a fire truck. Why couldn’t I have been caught by a customer who I’d never see again?
He tried hiding a smile behind his fist. “Hey, you’ve got to have fun at work.”
Nathan and I had worked together since the Christmas holidays, seemingly always gravitating toward each other no matter where we were stationed. Okay, maybe I purposely found him while he did recovery, but that never stopped him from making conversation. He’d even sought me out if we weren’t working the same shift, which made butterflies flutter in my tummy. Or maybe that was gas, but I was aiming for butterflies.
He wasn’t like the typical guys I harbored crushes on, and I took that as a good sign. If I didn’t attach myself to the same type of man, they couldn’t hurt me like others. After all, Nate’s laidback carpe diem lifestyle was one I admired. He wasn’t afraid of anything and lived how he wanted without hesitation. In a lot of ways, I aspired to be like him.
After Iris and Janine pressured me into cyber stalking him for a picture a few months back, I’d learned that he was ten years older than me, a former army vet, loved hiking, and had a cute chocolate Labrador named Denny. Thankfully, the profile picture he had was from before he’d grown out his goatee and shoulder-length hair.
The problem with crushing on your coworker was how awkward it got when everything went wrong. I’d made that mistake once, when I’d first been hired over a year ago. Only then, Connor Mason had been the one seeking me out—I just tricked myself into believing I’d be happy with his advances since I’d never been on the receiving end of one before.
And that went sour quick.
Maybe it was destined to. I mean, who had two first names? That was up there with naming your kid North West or Brook Lynn. It wasn’t cute, it was cruel.
The biggest problem I had with Connor was his determination. While persistence could be sexy, he made it…well, not. And after hanging out twice as friends to get to know each other, he’d already had three names picked out for our future children—Raymond, Leroy, and Nellie.
As if that didn’t shrivel up my ovaries on the spot, his sudden move to kiss me did. It wasn’t just a bad kiss, it was terrible—one that would be engraved in the back of my mind forever, officially kicking Lucas Croft’s kiss out of the realm of awful.
Like make out-session-turned-weird-when-he-started-purring kind of awful.
Yep. Purring. Like a cat.
And sure, he knew I loved cats, but there was no amount of love that could get me past the fact that he’d sounded like one while we swapped spit. I didn’t want him kissing me to begin with, much less snogging me like he as living some furry fantasy.
I shivered over the memory.
“You cold?”
I’d forgotten Nathan was standing in front of me. “Uh, I’m good.”
It was chillier towards the back of the store, but there was nothing he could do about that. Tugging on the hem of my dress like it was suddenly too short under his gaze, I moved behind the kiosk.
“So, I was thinking,” he began, leaning against the top of the counter. “There’s usually this bonfire my buddies and I do when the weather is nice, and you should come. It’s at my house.”
My heart leapt in my chest. Did Nathan just ask me to hang out with him outside of work?
Holy crap.
Unlike Purr Boy, I actually liked Nathan. There was no tricking myself into believing there could be something between us, or anticipate anything to grow. The feelings were already there.
He pushed off the counter, giving me a crooked grin that melted away some of my hesitation. “It’s a casual thing, you know? We’ll grill some hamburgers and hotdogs, and chill by the fire.”
Did he mean that things between us would be casual, or the bonfire itself? And if I went to his house, what would his friends think? Did he bring girls home often? Invite them to hang out? The questions were endless and saying ‘no’ was on the tip of my tongue when my heart decided to overpower my brain.
“Sure,” I found myself saying. I forced a small smile, hoping it didn’t show any of my fear or nerves. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
He drummed his fingers against the counter. “Cool.”
In a moment of rare boldness, I wrote down my cell number on a sticky note and passed it to him. “You should text me your address.”
Slipping the paper into his pocket, he shot me a cocky grin. “I definitely will.”
His lingering gaze made my whole body feel flushed, my weight shifting from one leg to another as we stared at each other without blinking.
Backing out of the fitting room, he tipped his head to where I was standing before. “For the record, you can shake your ass anytime you want near me.”
He shot me a wink before disappearing.
I blinked.
Some song I didn’t normally dance to came on.
I danced anyway.
My leg bounced in a rapid rhythm against the pavement as my eyes watched the black phone screen, willing a message to appear.
“Maybe he isn’t going to text me.” Biting down on my thumbnail until it cracked from the pressure, I thought about Saturday night all over again. It’d been two days since I’d given Nathan my number, and while I hadn’t expected him to use it right away, I figured he would have said something by now.
Iris smacked my hand away from my mouth. “He’s just following the three-day rule.”
“He’s thirty-three, not a teenager,” I grumbled.
She offered me a cheeky grin. “Look at you, getting flustered over something with a penis. It’s like my little baby has finally grown up. Does this mean you’re not going to give my brother a shot?”
“I like Nathan.”
She put her hands up in surrender. “Fine. I’m just saying…”
I thumbed through old texts, like his would magically show up. “I know what you’re saying, and I’m not going there. Isn’t there a rule about not dating your friends’ siblings?”
“That’s a stupid rule,” she informed me.
Couldn’t argue with her there.
“Plus,” she added, “You two are adults. Who cares what I think if you want to be together?”
I set my phone down on the table. “Well, we don’t. So, stop trying to make it happen, Gretchen Wieners.”
She propped her chin in her palm and looked up at the sky. “Imagine your freckles and skin tone and his eyes on a blond-haired baby.”
My eyes popped open at the thought. “Back waaaay up, cowgirl. There will be no baby making with Caleb. Or anybody. Got it?”
“Not even Nathan?”
I shook my head.
She eyed me for a few moments too long, then relented. “Fine. I still think you and Cal would make really adorable babies, though.”
Shivers wracked my spine. It wasn’t that I was against having children, but I couldn’t see where they fit into my plan. I was twenty-three with a bachelor’s degree in English working as a laundry attendant and retail associate. My life was a mess that I had yet to figure out. There was no way I could add another human being—one that depended on me—into the mix.
Looking around the lawn, I took note of the same setup I’d seen for years. The ten parking spaces, old wood fence, huge pines separating our property from the neighboring motel. In the distance was Otsego Lake and docks where people kept their boats during the summer.
Janine always told us that she knew this wasn’t a forever job. Nobody was expected to stay, though there were a few who were here longer than my seven years. But it was hard leaving behind something you knew so well. Familiarity and comfort were fickle friends.
“I got accepted into grad school,” I told Iris quietly, watching the subtle waves on the lake rock one of the boats at dock.
“What?” she screeched. “Bitch, that’s awesome! Why didn’t you tell me that you applied? Last we talked about it was right before you graduated undergrad and you weren’t sure.”
I shrugged, finally focusing on her. “I’m not sure if I should go. I’ve got enough student loans piling up, and just thinking about adding more gives me anxiety. I’ll have to sell all my organs to make payments.”
“But if you get your master’s degree, your chances of getting a better job would help you financially,” she pointed out.
“True.” I sighed.
“What did you apply for?”
“Education,” I admitted. “I want to become an English professor.”
She nodded, crumpling up her empty bag of chips. “I can see that. If it’s what you want to do, you should go for it. Don’t think about the student loans, think about the chance to teach a subject you love when you earn the certification.”
Talking to Iris always gave me a sense of ease—like her advice was one of the few things that could calm the voices in my head.
“I’d have to leave here.”
Her manicured fingers flicked my hand. “What is with you and leaving? Nobody here would be upset if you left to chase your dreams. Janine would be happy for you. We all would.”
Who liked to be left behind? It wasn’t just about being abandoned; it was about saying goodbye to everything you knew. I wasn’t exactly keen on welcoming new changes into my life, because you’d never know the outcome. It was all about chance.
“We wouldn’t see each other,” I added.
She grinned. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. I have your number, your Facebook information, and I know where you live. You’re stuck with me.”
I smiled, looking down at my phone. There was a little green dot flashing in the corner, letting me know I had a message waiting. My eyes shot up as I white-knuckled the table.
“I think he texted me.”
“Open it!”
I held my breath as I typed my password into my home screen.
Unknown: Hey, Paisley. It’s Nathan.
Four words sent my heart into overdrive.
“He texted me,” I breathed aloud.
My eyes went back down to the message, sweat dotting my forehead. For the first time in all my years on this earth, a guy used my number. And there was no rule book mentally transcribed in my brain, so I didn’t know what to do next. Text him? Wait? It seemed like responding too soon would make him realize I was waiting for him to reach out.
Anxiety weighed down my stomach, causing me to sink into my seat, the hard wood underneath me creaked with uneasiness.
“Well?” Iris pressed.
I showed her the text, unable to contain my smile.
“You’re glowing right now,” she mused.
“I just…nobody has actually used my number before.”
It was embarrassing to admit out loud but made this monumental.
“Are you going to text him back?”
“Of course.” I stared at my phone, tugging on my bottom lip with my teeth. “In a few minutes, though. I don’t want him thinking I’m desperate.”
She rolled her eyes, getting up to throw away her trash in the nearest bin. When she came back, she sat down next to me, looking over my shoulder as I programmed his name into my phone.
“Text him,” she whispered.
Blowing out a breath, I rolled my shoulders back like I was about to go into a boxing match. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my ribcage and sucker punch me in the face, so the comparison wasn’t far off.
Me: Hey!
I watched the message go from sent to delivered, wondering if I should send something else. But before I could put myself through the panic, he replied.
Nate: Fire tonight. You in?
Hell yeah I’m in.
Glancing at Iris, she nodded in encouragement. She was always better at this than I was, so having her in my corner made some of her magic rub off on me.
Me: What time?
Nate: Around 9?
Iris squeaked. “Girl, you’re going to be up past your bedtime tonight.”
She jabbed me in the side and made some heinous hand gesture that I was assuming indicated some sort of lude sexual act.
Knocking my shoulder against hers, I shot him back a confirmation and memorized the address he’d answered with.
I looked at Iris. “I’m going to a bonfire.”
“With a guy,” she added.
“Who texted me.”
We both broke out into a fit of giggles.
“Too bad it’s not Caleb,” she added casually, pushing herself up.
“Oh my God,” I groaned. “Knock it off.”
She gave me a quick hug. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
And for the first time in a while, I felt it.