Their breath fogged the glass, obscuring my view of this perfect specimen of manhood.
Given their ages, he was probably late teens or early twenties. I owned older T-shirts. That I bought new.
“Crap on a cracker.” Arden stumbled back, bumping into Camber. “He’s coming this way.”
“The way you two were gawking at him,” I said with a snort, “I can’t imagine why.”
Poor guy probably thought they were trying to get his attention, maybe to hand out free samples.
“Everyone.” Arden smoothed the white blouse that topped her smart black trousers. “Act natural.”
Chuckling as they jostled for the prime spot nearest the door, I sat on the floor behind the counter.
“I’m going to inventory the dried flowers,” I announced as I got comfy. “Practice safe sales, ladies.”
Neither laughed at my joke, but I doubt they heard me over their racing hearts.
The frantic ba-bump, ba-bump set my fingers twitching, but I made fists until I got it under control.
Usually, I blocked it out, but the louder their hearts beat, the harder my stomach clenched with hunger.
I’m a white witch. I’m a white witch. I’m a white witch.
A metallic rattle brought my head up, but I couldn’t see the entryway over the counter.
“What in the…?” Arden groaned as if the world was ending. “I forgot to unlock the door.”
Metal clicked, and the door jiggled, but the lock was bad about jamming.
Getting that fixed really was topping my to-do list.
“Get out of the way.” Camber’s low heels clicked on the linoleum. “Let me do it.”
Winter rosebuds.
Inventory.
Focus on that.
Not their rising panic Mr. Perfect would give up on them and leave before one or both got his number.
Winter rosebuds.
They kept disappearing from under the register. I trusted Arden and Camber, but I would have to check the security feed, see if I could figure out who, or what, was helping themselves to that specific item.
Glass rattled when the knob smacked the pane beside it, and I crossed my fingers neither one cracked.
“Hello,” the girls chorused. “Welcome to Hollis Apothecary.”
“The sign says you’re open,” a silky voice spilled into the store. “I’m not interrupting your break, am I?”
A hard thud shook my ribs, and all of a sudden, the only heart I heard was my own.
Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum.
Murmuring a soft spell under my breath, I forced my pulse to slow and match Camber’s less frantic beat.
“Interrupt me anytime.” Arden hiccupped with nerves. “I’m Arden.”