AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why I chased after Mikey?”
I shrug and he leans over the counter, brushing against my hand and making me shiver as he grabs the card and holds it up. I snatch it away and slide it back.
“You have an account for him, don’t you?”
Heat floods my skin. “It’s not much. Just when he gives me money, I record it and put away for him. That’s all.”
“You’re like a saint without all the annoying parts.”
“Are saints annoying?” I pick up the books and paperwork and hug them.
“I’m pretty sure sanctimonious counts as annoying.”
“Why did you go after him?”
He rubs a hand over the back of his neck. “Not to be sanctimonious. I just figured I could help him out.”
Magnus glances away a moment.
“It’s just some after school stuff, to do with the charity we went to. And I know how you feel about Sinclair, but…”
I come around the counter and give him a one-armed hug, breathing in his whiskey, dark citrusy scent, letting myself indulge in the heat of him for a moment. “That’s sweet.”
“I’m not sweet.”
I draw back. “You are, you know. Magnus-style sweet. And…I think you’re ready.”
“Don’t look at me like I’m a baby bird.”
“I’m not throwing you from a nest. I’m just going to duck into the back for a big part of the day, leave you to it. I have bookkeeping and other boring mundane things to do.”
Magnus doesn’t move and while I’m not expecting fireworks and leaps for joy, I don’t expect this. I don’t expect the stillness and the strange look on his face, but then he smiles. “Okay. I promise I won’t burn the place down.”
And with that, I go to tackle all the things I don’t want to, things I normally do in the evening. And for once, a touch of lightness comes over me. Maybe things are going my way.
Things going my way might be a little bit of a stretch, I decide hours later, but I’ll take the tiny nuggets.
I worked through lunch, just grabbing a cookie and a coffee. And I’m not checking up on him, but he’s with a customer, someone well-heeled, probably in from a few blocks over where the gentrification has set in. But she has books in her arms and Magnus is leading her towards the art books.
Smiling, I dive back into my little area and I smile deeper as the ding of the register sounds.
The day wears on and the normal sales happen and I let Magnus handle things because there are issues I have to deal with. Bills, and all the things that come with a business. There’s an estate sale coming up and the area at the foot of the Catskills is full of little stores and pop up garage sales this time of year, and I want to go because I can usually find books. We do get people coming in with bags of books to sell to us, but these things always hold gems. And it’s a nice way of collecting all sorts of books I might not normally be able to.
But getting all the grindstone work out of the way frees me up for such day trips.
Later in the afternoon, I join Magnus and the day passes into evening in a harmonious companionship.
One that’s layered by an unspoken awareness and tension that drips with sexual innuendo.
Magnus finally flips the sign at the end of the day and sighs, leaning against the door. “Want me to close the register?”
“If you’re ready.”
He raises a brow. “I think I can handle it.”
When that’s done he’s ready to leave, lingering and I’m doing the same. He approaches me slowly, and brushes a curl from my face, his fingers warm and gentle and a lick of flame rises in my belly.
“We’re done for the day,” he says.
