I set the magazine in my lap, glancing up at my would-be customer.
Except it wasn’t a customer at all.
It was Landon-freaking-Hill. Yet again.
I stared at him. Without blinking. I didn’t touch my hair. Or shove my shoulders back, which was sure to “draw attention to my best assets.”
“Welcome to Herbal Remedy,” I said, in the best faux-customer service voice I could manage. “Home of the immune system kick start, for the bargain price of $19.99. How may I service you?”
“I can think of a few ways,” he said quickly.
I stared him dead in the eye, disdain dripping from my words. My cheeks flushed as the double meaning sunk in. “We don’t sell a remedy for being an asshole, just so you know. And if it’s an ED pill you’re after, that’s prescription only. Can’t help you there.”
One side of his mouth quirked up, revealing a crooked smile. One that should’ve looked… I don’t know, something other than devastatingly handsome and maybe a little dangerous.
“What do you want?” I snapped, desperate to change the subject. “My boss should be here any minute and I don’t want him to think I’m just hanging out with old friends.”
His smile unfolded then, slow and lazy across his face, and dread spiraled through my limbs. He knew something I didn’t.
“What?” I asked, hanging on to what nonchalance I had left. I stared at the register, trying to stop the knots in my stomach from multiplying.
“See, here’s the thing…” His voice trailed off, and then, as if he realized I refused to look at him, he grabbed my chair on either sides of my thighs, twisting it around until I was facing him.
He took a tiny step back. “I’m your boss now.”
“You got hired at Herbal Remedies?”
He snorted. “God no. I bought the kiosk.”
“Why?” I asked, completely stunned. He had to be joking.
Landon gave a slight shrug. “I’m going to use it as a sales tool for Prestige Sports Medicine. It was the cheapest kiosk in the mall.”
My breathing turned shallow.
No.
Noooooooo.
I couldn’t work for him.
Wouldn’t.
His grin widened. “That makes you my bonus.”
“I’m not anyone’s bonus,” I snapped. “I’m not anyone’s anything.”
Ugh, did I have to add that last part?
He let my words hang there so long I started to wish I hadn’t said them. Because he was so bloody arrogant, but he knew the truth. It was too easy to read, and it was written on my face. I found him irresistible.
“So you were just playing along in the closet last night?” he asked.
I struggled to act impassive. “That was one kiss. For old time’s sake. You’re out of my system now.”
“Well if it was for old times’ sake, maybe we ought to do a little more. Recreate the moment,” he said.
“You’re an asshole.”
“I don’t to pretend to be anything else.”
His answer surprised me, throwing me off kilter. Maybe it was the way he spoke, his words flat. Honest. Like he actually saw himself as an asshole and was fine with it. Which only infuriated me more, because you can’t insult someone if they’re okay with the labels you sling at them.
He spun a watch around on his wrist, studying me. His eyes raked over me, from my messy, air-dried hair to the toe of my Chuck Taylors. I looked like the teens who frequented this mall, and he looked like he could stroll through Wall Street. His eyes were like liquid gold, burning, simmering. Jesus, I’d need an ice bath after this.
“I talked to my brother about you,” I said, desperate to change the subject. “I bet he’d love to hear about this little conversation. You know, your best friend? He’d be thrilled to hear you’re hitting on his little sister.”
“You may be his sister, but you’re not little.”
I swallowed. “So how is this supposed to work?” I asked.
“What?” His eyes snapped upward, to meet mine.
“You. Owning this thing. Am I fired?”
His expression changed, from one of burning sexuality to an empty, calculating one. More business than pleasure.
“Of course not. I need someone to run this thing, don’t I?”
I shook my head. No way was I getting into an employee-boss relationship with him. That could only end in disaster. “I don’t run this stand, I just put in eight hours and go home. Rudy was the one who ran it.”
“So I’ll promote you to manager.”
“Don’t you dare,” I spit.
His eyes widened, almost imperceptivity. I realized, then, that he wasn’t used to being caught off guard. “What did I do wrong now?”
“This isn’t a career. Don’t give me some stupid title like I’m going to do this for another forty years. I don’t want it.”
“Taryn, you need to—”