Free Crossing Abby Road by Ophelia London Page A

was into me, too.
    But right now was all we had. This was it. And I knew damn well that way too soon, I’d be the one who had to leave. Even if I didn’t, she’d be gone tomorrow anyway.
    I winced when I felt that knot in my stomach tie tighter.
    We crossed 30A and I led us around the outskirts of the other shops instead of right across the middle of the courtyard. No reason to draw attention to her if we didn’t need to. I held open the door of my store. “After you. This’ll only take a second.”
    “No hurry,” she said, smiling again.
    Two customers were leaving, each carrying a large bag, and Chandler was behind the counter, still working on that pile of clothes from the new shipment. “What’s with the dang holdup, boss man? I’m starvin’ like Marvin!”
    “Minor detour first,” I said, about to hand over his bag of food, do a quick check of the receipts, then get the hell out of there. The clock was ticking.
    “Sorry, it was my fault.” Abby stepped out from behind me.
    Not that I was worried Chandler would shriek at Abby like the girl at Modica’s, or that he’d start tearing off her clothes like she was Usher—
    Tearing off her clothes.
    No, that was my job.
    I spun around, stopping Abby’s forward motion while also blocking Chandler’s view. “Are you sure you want him to see you here?” I said in a quiet rush, ready to haul ass out of there if she said the word. “I can just drop this off.” I lifted Chandler’s bag of food. “Just give me two seconds and we can leave. He doesn’t have to bother you.”
    As she lifted up on her toes to glance over my shoulder, the expression in her eyes was that same sharp, steely look she’d had while psyching herself up to go into Modica’s. “I hate being afraid,” she whispered between her teeth, barely audible. “ Hate it.”
    I blinked and waited.
    A second later, her steely eyes returned to me, and she leaned forward like she was about to skirt past me. The polite comfort-zone etiquette would be for me to move back to give her space. But I didn’t, challenging her instead, wondering if being this close to me was one of the things she was afraid of.
    Her eyes pinned me in place, challenging me back. When she shifted toward me another inch, I was about to drop the food to free my hands so I could wrap my arms around her waist.
    “Earlier, you claimed you’re safer than an armored car,” Abby said in a whisper, taking the bag out of my hand. “Let’s see that muscle now, big guy. Prove it.”
    The girl kicked the breath out of me.
    “Oh. You’re good,” I said, knowing she’d have to be made of stone to not feel the electricity shooting between us like live wires. “Hey, Chandler,” I called out behind me, “want you to meet someone—”
    “Hold up.” The voice of my employee hit my spine and shook me awake. He’d come around to our side of the counter and was pointing at Abby. “Hey, you look exactly like—”
    “Chandler!” I barked.
    He jumped and dropped the shorts he’d been holding, but at least he was looking at me and not gawking at Abby. I kept my eyes on his for a long moment, giving both of us time to focus and assess.
    He wasn’t a bad guy by any stretch, but I wasn’t about to let him freak Abby out because he was addicted to YouTube. It was probably safer just to get it out in the open, proving my muscle or whatever.
    “Chandler. This is Abby…okay?” I said, doing my best to stay calm and in control, though prepared to grab my employee in a sleeper hold. That wouldn’t be necessary, because Abby pushed past me and walked straight up to him.
    “Hi,” she said brightly. “It’s very nice to meet you, Chandler. I’m Abby.” She extended her hand but Chandler was frozen. Starstruck. After a beat, Abby took his hand herself and gave it a few friendly pumps.
    I stood back and watched, amazed to see her in action. She was completely poised and gracious, probably from years of meeting strangers who fell