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Meka laughed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because I’m such a partier.”
The customer was at the counter with her purchases before Samantha could respond. She rang her up and made small talk, letting her conversation with Meka fall into the back of her mind. It was Story Hour day, so between the steady flow of customers and preparing for their little guests, there wasn’t much time for serious conversation. Meka and Samantha fell into their roles and Samantha let her mind wander back to Bryce.
It was probably a good thing that rehearsals began the next day. Keeping busy would keep her thoughts away from the way Bryce’s mouth felt on hers. No matter what Meka said, she was convinced everything that happened between them was just a reaction to grief and stress. It was common for people to seek comfort from those who shared their grief. And the Florence Nightingale effect was certainly nothing new. Eventually, she would forget about it and things would be back to normal.
“Okay, girl. It’s time for you to get out of here,” Meka announced, yanking Samantha back into the present.
Looking at her watch, she couldn’t believe it was already five o’clock. “Wow. Okay. It was really great working with you.”
“Stop it,” Meka warned. “I’ll see you in a couple hours. Don’t start your goodbyes now. It’s not even goodbye since I’ll still see you.”
Samantha sniffled as she nodded her head. The bookstore was where she had always gone to escape. She felt at peace in the small building. She knew how to do her job and never had someone looming over her, waiting to point out any error. The escape was no longer necessary, but she would miss the comfort her part-time job brought.
Samantha slipped on her jacket and swung her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Get out before I start crying.”
Bryce patted the spot next to him on the sofa. Asher quickly jumped up and cozied up next to him. The dog had only been with him for a week, but he acted like he’d been there forever. He’d called the dog shelter the day after rescuing him, and they had no problem with Asher staying in his house. The shelter was overcrowded, and they were having to double up to save space. After requesting a picture for their website, they promised to call him if someone was looking for a dog who met the description.
Bryce was confident no one was looking for the dog since he had no collar and was slightly underweight according to the vet, and the official stray hold time was over. The dog belonged to him. Asher leaned into the ear scratches while Bryce flipped through channels. He was trying everything to get his mind off Samantha. Going over to Rayelle and Dominic’s house wasn’t an option; Rayelle would want to talk about what happened the weekend before. He had managed to avoid any one-on-one time with his friend while trying to figure things out for himself.
There was no denying the immediate connection he’d felt to Samantha. If circumstances had been different there’s no way he would stay away from her. If circumstances were different… whatever that meant. There were no real circumstances keeping them apart. She had been married to his brother, sure. But his brother was dead. Til death do us part. No matter how he wanted to look at it, Samantha was single. But still…
“Where have you been hiding?” Dominic asked from the doorway.
Bryce rolled his eyes and looked at Asher. “Some guard dog. It might be time I changed the locks.”
Dominic walked the rest of the way in and took a seat on the couch next to the dog. “Yeah right. Anyway, Rayelle sent me.”
“Of course she did.”
“So, Samantha? You could definitely do worse.”
“Really? Not sure there’s much worse than wanting my brother’s wife. That makes me a real piece of shit,” Bryce said with a sigh.
Dominic took over the ear scratches when Asher climbed part of the way into his lap. “Your brother is dead. I don’t think he’ll mind.”
“Okay, then. I want my dead brother’s wife. That makes it sound so much better.”
Dominic moved the dog over so he could get up and make his way to the kitchen. The house had an open floor plan, so Bryce didn’t have to get up to see where his friend was going. He opened the refrigerator and then looked at Bryce over the open door.
“You want a beer?”
Bryce rolled his eyes. “Sure. And help yourself.”
Dominic opened the two bottles before making his way back to his spot on the couch. After passing one over, he made himself comfortable. “Back in the day, a man was supposed to marry his brother’s widow.”
Bryce took a long pull from his beer. “This isn’t back in the day. And this has nothing to do with any obligation I feel toward Brandon and everything to do with the things I wanted to do when she was soaking wet and straddling me in the tub.”
“Wait. What?”
Bryce looked at his friend who sat frozen in place with his beer halfway to his mouth. “Rayelle didn’t tell you? I thought you said she sent you over here.”
“She did. But she must have been holding out on me. All she told me was that you obviously have a thing for Samantha and now you’re doing that thing you do where you avoid everyone and overanalyze everything,” Dominic explained. “Now, what happened in the bathtub?”
“She must have mentioned the dog. You didn’t seem very surprised to see him.”
“Yeah, but it looks like she gave me the short version of that, too. So, bathtub?”
