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Excerpt
"Hey, stop that! This isn't a playground." Lexi O'Brien whipped out from behind the cash counter of Grin & Bare It. Only five minutes until closing on a Friday night and she had to be saddled with a couple of college-aged gorillas playing Toss the Condoms dangerously close to the massage oil display.
The taller kid leered at her. "Sure, it is, hot thing. Want to play with us?" He lobbed the giant box of Mint to Please You condoms at his guffawing friend. They both reeked of beer.
Lexi jammed a hand on her hip. "No, I do not want to play with you. I want you to stop. Now. Before I call the cops."
No other customers lingered in the small adult novelty shop, but Lexi wasn't afraid of these drunk kids. The short one swayed, and the blond guy's eyes crossed whenever he caught the condoms. A well-placed kick to Shorty's crotch and a blast of pepper spray at Blondie would send them both crying home to their mamas.
"Aw, I could make it worth it your while." Blondie winked.
"That I sincerely doubt." Shooting them a pointed look, Lexi grabbed the phone off the counter and tugged her spray from a front jeans pocket. "I said now."
Blondie flung up his hands. "Okay, okay."
The short goon flipped him the condoms. The carton whacked Blondie's chest and careened to the floor. The huge box split, dozens of mint green packets scattering.
Blondie stared down at them. "Whoops."
Lexi rolled her eyes. "Now get out of here."
The kid's gaze rose—then he grinned. "You asked for it, sweet stuff." He snatched a bottle of massage oil from the display and hurled it at her. "Catch!"
"Shit!" Lexi slammed down the phone and lunged for the flying bottle. Her hand gripping the pepper spray collided with a display shelf, and pain shot through her wrist as the safety glass crashed to the floor. Several vibrators bounced on the linoleum. Two or three began humming.
"You assholes!" Lexi shook her aching fist at the kids.
They raced to the exit, hooting and hollering.
"Come back here and clean this up!"
"Can't! Gotta go get pizza!"
Agh. Lexi plunked the pepper spray on the counter, then pushed her hair out of her face and surveyed the damage. The bottle of massage oil had landed on a stack of rude and funny T-shirts, but the shattered display case would take ages to tidy.
She blew out a breath. Damn her deviant Aunt Beth for escaping the sub-zero Calgary winter weather by fleeing to Mexico at the last minute and asking Lexi to watch over Grin & Bare It. Managing her outrageous aunt's store was not her idea of a good time, but the city was enjoying an unprecedented boom, rendering it almost impossible to retain employees continually on the lookout for something better. Besides, Beth had been a friend to her for years, so she'd wanted to repay her.
Gingerly, she lowered to one knee and brushed aside the safety glass chunks clustered around three buzzing vibrators: one a light flesh tone, another vibrant purple, and a massage wand of white plastic.
She fished out the flesh-colored unit and turned it off, then reached for the purple Hum-Ding-Her. Two more weeks. In two weeks, Aunt Beth would return and Lexi would be outta this den of debauchery. She didn't mind selling the joke stuff or sensual massage and aromatherapy items, but talking up the sex toys to a certain element of customer always made her feel smarmy.
As she switched off the purple Hum-Ding-Her, the shop door tinkled. Damn it, she should have locked up first.
"Sorry about the mess." She remained focused on her task, placing the purple vibrator beside the flesh-colored dick-stick before cautiously extracting the massage wand from the safety glass debris. "Feel free to browse, and I'll be with you in a minute."
"Thanks, but it looks like you could use some help."
That voice. Lexi froze with the massage wand vibrating in her hand. Warmth suffused her panties, and her nipples perked to attention. There was no mistaking the deep, husky timbre and sensual, naughty undertones that had supercharged her fantasies throughout the long winter.
It's him. Her favorite customer—and drop-dead gorgeous dream lay.
The one downside to leaving her aunt's employ was the thought of never seeing him again. Gage. Even his name inspired erotic images in her sex-starved mind. Gage...Cage...shackles...handcuffs.
Fuzzy leopard-print ones.
Yup, it worked for her.
Nerves fluttering, she glanced up as he crouched beside her. His gray trousers stretched at the knees... and groin, outlining an impressive bulge.
Blushing, she flicked her gaze to his smiling midnight blue eyes with sooty lashes thick and long enough to leave a girl crying in envy—especially a mascara-dependant redhead like Lexi. Whisker stubble emphasized his sensual lips and strong jaw. And his ebony hair, worn neatly trimmed but luxuriously textured, hinted at natural curl if he grew it any longer.
High school biology might be a distant memory, but Lexi figured there was no way in hell their kids would have straight hair. Not with her corkscrews contributing to the gene pool.
Her throat tightened. Their kids? Right. Next stop: business school.
But if she were ready for the picket fence and a couple of rug rats, a guy as attractive and nice as Gage Templeton would top her candidate list.
She returned his friendly smile. "Thanks, but I don't need any help. I'm nearly done."
His deep, rich chuckle tunneled from her chest to her toes. "You've barely started."
He didn't stand, so neither did Lexi. She liked having him a scant whisper away, their knees nearly bumping and his musky aftershave teasing her nostrils. His large hand covered hers, and the vibrations from the massage wand spread up her arm, soothing her sore wrist.
"Let me help you. What happened here, anyway?"
"Uh..." Heat pooled between her legs. Lordy, for nearly five months now she'd dreamed of Gage Templeton touching her, fondling her...fucking her. However, aside from a few accidental hand-grazes when they'd visited the bistro around the corner for one of her rare coffee breaks, he hadn't come close.
But then, why would he? A sales rep for a Toronto telecommunications firm, he visited Alberta maybe once a month, staying overnight in Calgary and then Edmonton further north. Considering the vast quantities of condoms and massage oils he bought whenever he dropped into the store, the man possessed one wild sex life and no doubt a woman or two or twenty in every port. With such an extensive harem at his disposal, why would he want an everyday Jane like Lexi in his bed?
"College kids broke the display case," she said. "They were fooling around and got carried away."
He glanced around the disheveled store. "You should report them to the cops. This is nuts."
"I will." No, she wouldn't. Not anymore. In a strange way, she owed the two buffoons. If not for their antics, she would have closed shop before Gage arrived.
And missed her last chance to see him.
His blue gaze drifted to her hand, his big thumb grazing her scraped wrist. "You're hurt," he murmured, concern deepening his tone.
The massage wand continued buzzing. She shrugged, oh-so-nonchalantly. Hopefully harem-like. "A little."
"Do you have ice? It would help prevent swelling."
She shook her head. "There's a mini-fridge in back, but no ice trays."
He smiled. "We should turn this off."
Good luck. Her nipples might never retract again. But of course he meant the massage wand.
"Okay." She didn't move.
Another low chuckle issued from him. "I'll buy some ice around the corner. In the meantime, find a chair and relax. I'll deal with the mess while you tend to your hand."
She'd rather he doctored her, and she'd tidy the place later. "Thanks, Gage, but you don't have to go to all that trouble."
His thumb brushed her wrist. "I want to."
Her pulse skittered like a hummingbird's on speed. "Um, but you dropped in to...buy something, right?" Like another three dozen condoms. "There must be somewhere you need to go." And someone you plan to pleasure all night. Sadly, not me.
"No place." One corner of his mouth crept up. "I came to see you."
"You did?"
Nodding, he slipped the jiggling massage wand from her hand. "I'm in town until Tuesday. It's not often I stay more than one night, as you know." He turned off the unit and set it aside with the others. "I was hoping you'd show me the sights...unless you're seeing someone."
She grinned. "Are you kidding? With the double shifts I've been working this winter, the only guy I'm dating these days is Juan Valdez." And that was how it would remain. Thirty months of planned celibacy while she took her MBA loomed before her. Maintaining her grades would demand all her attention.
However, with Aunt Beth coming home and Gage unlikely to return for a month, the opportunity to grab some harmless bone-jumping time presented itself. She could harem it up with Gage Templeton this weekend and then never see him again.
Her heart tweaked at the finality of that last thought, but she bumped the sadness away.
"I'm on tomorrow until five, but I don't work Sunday or Monday."
"Great. We'll start with dinner tomorrow night. My treat."
She sucked in a breath. Courage. Tell him what you want.
"All right," she murmured. "But dessert is me."
He laughed. "You mean dessert's on you."
Pulse hammering, she tried a coy smile. "Is me...on me...your choice. However, if on me is how you want to go, might I suggest raspberries and thick, rich cream?"
His gaze widened in surprise...and pleasure. The emotions warred on his face before disbelief all too quickly arrived and walloped them both.
Grinning, he shook his head. "You're quite something, Lexi. A jokester, like your aunt. You had me going for a second there." He patted her knee.
A blush singed her neck. She declared her desire to increase his Calgary harem, and he gave her a freaking knee-pat?
She forced a laugh. "I did good, huh?"
He studied her. "You sure did." He rose and adjusted the collar of his black leather jacket. "Now rest that hand, and I'll find some ice."
Lexi focused on his perfect butt as he left the store. Then she dropped her head into her hands and groaned. Her one chance in months to indulge her hidden wild side—and she'd blown it.
Damn it, she needed a sex fix, and the only guy who could satisfy her craving was Gage.
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