My tongue about rolled out of my mouth when I read Ryan’s message. Mr. Future Policeman had a dirty mouth. Most guys weren’t that forward, or if they were, it came out disgusting. But hearing this from Ryan set my stomach coiling. He had the right mix of sexy and intrigue. The only two qualities that could pull off bold statements and send a flash of heat straight to the space between my thighs.
I’d composed my face a second too late, Ryan smirking at my reaction. The jerk liked to see me all hot and bothered. Well, he wouldn’t be smiling when I won this competition. I could just see him with that delicious bottom lip pushed out in a pout when he saw his name on the shift instead of mine.
Another stupid nineties song came on the sound system, giving me an idea.
He wanted crude? I could be crude. I quickly scribbled I’d make you say my name onto a price tag and handed it to Ryan. His father called him to the furniture section over the intercom before he could read it. When he came back, he shoved a price tag across the counter in between customers.
R: So selfish. It could be the summer of ’69.
Each of his notes had jagged squiggles outlining the perimeter, like he doodled while pondering what to say next.
J: I’m on bended knee.
R: You’ll be screaming Mmm Bop.
He raised a brow. “Too far?”
“Once you bring Hanson into the mix, there’s no going back.”
“Good to know.”
Another customer walked up to the counter, a guy with a comb-over and frumpy shirt tucked into his work pants. I nudged Ryan with my hip. “Excuse me. I need to ring up this customer.” Ryan bumped me once more with his elbow and disappeared into the back.
Mr. Comb-over pushed an electric pencil sharpener across the counter.
“Hello, sir, has Office Jax fulfilled your every office supply need?” God, I hated these stupid cheesmo lines Jack made us say, but the customers really seemed to eat them up.
“Yes, thank you.” He beamed and handed me his rewards card. I rang him up and sent him on his merry pencil-sharpening way.
As soon as the guy exited the store, the phone rang. I balanced the receiver between my shoulder and ear while I wiped down the register area.
“Office Jax, the place where your office supplies are all top rack at unbeatable prices, this is Jules, how may I help you?” I rolled my eyes as I said this.
A deep, sexy voice came through the receiver. “I was wondering if you had a certain model of printer in stock.”
Mmm, yes, hot phone voice, maybe I do. “Which model, sir?”
He rattled off a printer that I knew we had on display up front, but couldn’t see any stocked below the sample. I had to ask him the model number twice, his gravelly voice clouding my ability to process numbers. What was with me lately? Normally, hormones didn’t render me completely useless. This most likely was the result of the dirty-note-passing marathon today. Each time Ryan passed me a price tag, my stomach would dip as I waited for a moment without prying customers’ eyes. I focused back on Sexy Phone Voice Guy and wrote down the model number on a slip of paper and said, “Let me check, hold please.”
I turned to Courtney, who had just arrived for the afternoon shift, still tucking her Office Jax shirt into her pants. “Can you watch the registers for a minute? I need to check if we have a printer in back.”
She smiled and stepped behind the customer service counter, pulling her unruly curls into a ponytail. “No problem.”
I grabbed the slip of paper and looked at the printer endcap. No boxed printer underneath the display. The only other place it could be was in the warehouse area. I made my way to the back, casually eying the aisles for Ryan. Probably hitting on another cougar. I shouldn’t have cared, but I did. The way she looked at him, like he was something to eat, had my inner claws itching to protract. He was all sorts of lickable, but dammit, I didn’t want her to lay a hand on him.
As I stewed over stupid cougar lady, I pushed through the swinging double doors into the back warehouse. A strong arm gripped around my waist and pulled me into a cleaning supply closet, and Ryan slammed the door shut.
“You remember that printer model number?”
He kissed my neck, heat pooling in the bottom of my stomach like a volatile chem reaction. Ryan’s lips plus my neck yielded infinite endorphins named please give me sexy times.
“That was you?” I said between raspy breaths. God, he had a sexy phone voice, a little deeper than his normal tone. He lifted me and propped me on a step of a ladder leaning against the wall. My legs wrapped around his waist, and he moved closer, pressing his erection against me. Our mouths crashed together and I dug my fingers through his hair, fighting for breath.
He pulled away and cupped my face in his hands. “I’ve been thinking about you since last night.” He ran his hand over my thigh and gripped my hip tightly. “You’re driving me insane. Next time you stick your ass in front of me, I won’t hesitate to take you right there.” He rocked his hips into me for emphasis. I let out a whimper, wanting exactly that.
“I’d like a demonstration for clarification purposes.”