Free Crossing Abby Road by Ophelia London Page B

speechless around her. Funny, the same thing had happened to me this morning. But that was before I knew who she was.
    “Uhh, nice to meet me, too,” Chandler said, his voice croaking. I closed my eyes and stifled a groan. “I mean, I love you,” he tried again. “I mean…umm, er, uh?”
    Oh, buddy. He was losing it. He dropped her hand and backed into the counter. Abby turned to look at me, evident confusion on her face.
    “Yeah, we don’t let him out much,” I explained.
    She narrowed her eyes at me, playfully scolding, like we were in on a secret. “Don’t listen to him, Chandler,” she said, turning back to him, “and don’t worry about it. Here, we brought you lunch.”
    Chandler was frozen again. Poor guy. I hoped I hadn’t looked as dumbstruck when I’d first realized who she was.
    “Abigail Effing Kelly is bringing me lunch,” he finally said. Abby and I both flinched when he followed up this observation by busting out in hoots of laughter. “ Totally off the chain ! Wait’ll the guys hear this!” As he reached for his cell, Abby shot me a glance that needed no explanation.
    Even though my instinct was to jet-propel across the room and lock him in a sleeper hold, I strolled over calmly. “Hey man, be a mate and don’t mention this to anyone,” I said, but he was practically panting now, and his eyes were wide like plates, trying to zero in on Abby behind me. I clamped both hands on his shoulders, squeezed, and looked him dead in the eyes. “This never happened,” I said, dropping my voice. “She was never here, you didn’t see anything. Capiche ?”
    Chandler knew I saved my Italian for when I wanted to make a statement. He might’ve acted like a dumb-ass sometimes, but I never lost my cool with him, and he never seemed to be genuinely afraid of me, like those kids from earlier who’d been about to harass Abby on the street.
    Still, this couldn’t go any further, so I made sure Chandler was focused on me for a good few seconds before I nodded. He shot a quick glance toward Abby then back at me. Then he nodded, too. And we both exhaled.
    “ Buono ,” I said, before removing my hands and stepping back. I leaned against the counter and sifted through the new receipts. “You sold the ruby longboard,” I added, thinking it was more productive to praise him rather than threaten him like Scarface. “That’s great work, man. Really solid. Congrats.”
    “Yeah, uh, thanks,” Chandler said, running a shaky hand through his hair, his overly tanned face still all pale.
    Hell, I hadn’t meant to scare him that much.
    “Pretty hefty commission for you,” I continued. “Tell me about it. Who finally bought it?”
    “It, um, it was that dude from Miami who came in last week,” he replied after letting out another huge breath. “He said he might want us to send him another. He left his card. Oh! New customer. I got it, boss, I got it, it’s all good.”
    When Chandler dashed to the front of the store, I turned to check on Abby. She was back to looking normal again, so I leaned against the counter and hooked a thumb toward my chest. “Armored car, baby,” I said, reminding her of my promise, also seeing if it would make her smile.
    It did.
    Another point for Team Camford.
    I checked the last receipt, and since everything seemed in order, it was time to leave. “Well, we’d better shove off,” I said, knowing Abby had been ready to eat since we left Modica’s. As she said good-bye to Chandler and walked to the door, I noticed that annoying gleam in Chandler’s eyes was back.
    “Hey,” I hissed through my teeth, breaking his ogle that was glued to her ass. Really, though, who could blame him? It was a supremely nice ass. “When you see your buddies later today, are you gonna tell them anything about what went on here?” I held him in place by the shoulders again. “Or who was here?”
    “N-no,” he said.
    “What if one of those cheerleaders comes in? Will you say one word? One