Free Sweet Talkin' Scoundrel by Tess Oliver

blushing, wide-eyed audience.
    I hurried to pick out the last items on the list, feeling it was my civic duty to the other customers to remove the six foot plus diversion from the checkout area. Much to my dismay, by the time I reached the register, Dax had left the store.
    The cashier, a young girl not more than twenty with brown eyes and a nose ring, popped her strawberry scented gum as she began to swipe the items in my basket. She took a few seconds to retrieve all the parts of the bubble gum with her tongue before speaking. “Did you find everything you needed?”
    “I did. Thank you.” As she continued to ring me up, my attention drifted to the parking lot. Dax was leaning against his jeep laughing with yet another woman. “Jeez, like moths to a flame,” I muttered.
    “Huh?” the cashier asked over her wad of gum.
    “Oh nothing. Sorry.”
    She glanced back toward the window to see what had my attention. Another bubble emerged and disappeared. “Is Dax waiting for you?”
    “Yes, he’s my ride. Are you friends with him?” I asked, and quickly reminded myself that every woman in town seemed to be friends with Dax.
    She laughed from behind another bubble. Her talents with gum seemed to have no boundaries. “Dax? He’s such a sweet talkin’ scoundrel. What’s not to love? Never gives his heart to anyone though. Broken plenty, that’s for darn sure.”
    “A sweet talkin’ scoundrel. Yep, that sounds just about right.”
    She looked at the box of gloves and was easily thrown to another topic. “You must be the new tutor on Wildthorne Island.”
    “Uh—yes, I am.”
    “I could tell by the gloves. Not too many people buy ‘em. How long have you been out there?”
    “This is my first week.” Not wanting to stay for a long chat, I began boxing my items.
    “The last girl was gone in two.”
    “Well, then I’m halfway there.” I shot her a smug smile as I handed her the money. She dropped the change into my hand. I wrapped it up in the list to keep it separate in my purse. I picked up my bags and headed out to the parking lot, trying not to think about what she’d said and yet finding it impossible not to wonder why the last tutor left after two weeks. The island had its charm and its obvious drawbacks, but Becky was a wonderful kid. I just couldn’t understand what the problem was or why someone like Dax, who seemed to be the cocky-grinned toast of the town, hated the Underwoods so much.
    Dax was still leaning against his jeep as I walked outside. The pert little brunette who had been talking to him gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before sashaying away. He reached for the bags as I neared the jeep. I watched the woman head over to her car as Dax put the bags in the back. He turned around.
    I shook my head. “You’re like the only piece of candy in a town where every girl has an insatiable sweet tooth.”
    “Yeah? Never thought of it like that.” Then, without warning, he stepped so close to me the tips of his work boots touched my sneakers. “What about you, Rabbit? Do you have a sweet tooth?”
    I fidgeted under his pale gaze for a second. A horn blasting somewhere in the parking lot snapped me out of the haze his nearness had created. “Nope. I like no nonsense vegetables. They’re much healthier. They don’t cause cavities.” I was actually having to steel myself to look up at him. He had the kind of face that you just couldn’t stop looking at.
    The tilted, teasing smile had faded as his gaze locked with mine. My heart did a ‘double shot of espresso’ tap dance, which caused a chain reaction that pushed a rush of oxygen through my body and right up to my head.
    “Rabbit, remember?” I said weakly, just before giving way to an urge that I hadn’t expected or known how to control. I hopped onto my toes and threw my arms around his neck. His mouth covered mine long before I could finish what I’d started.
    In one swift, barely perceptible move, he had me spun around and pressed