Free WhiskeyBottleLover by Robin Leigh Miller Page B

it soon?”
    “Of course, Master,” he replied in that monotone voice and
in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
    Chance gave a relieved sigh, pulled up along the curb and
parked her car. Jenny sat out in front of the shop in that stupid, broken-down
chair. The woman must have dragged it out of the dumpster this morning. That
did it, she was taking it home and throwing it on the burning pile.
    “I was hoping you’d show up soon,” Jenny shouted as Chance
crawled from the car. “Already sold a dozen items. People are in a hurry to
spend their money today.”
    A dozen? “It’s your gorgeous, smiling face that does it,
Jenny.” Chance unloaded her car and carried the items inside. “I’m gonna burn
that chair tonight and you won’t be able to recover it.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with this chair. It’s just old.”
Jenny came in behind her. “I thought you liked old things?”
    Jenny had a way of turning her words on her. Chance grinned,
turned and shook her head. “That’s not going to work.”
    “Does that mean I’ll get thrown out soon? I’m old and my
parts aren’t working so well anymore.”
    Chance gave a heavy sigh, emptied her arms and then gently
placed her palms against Jenny’s cool cheeks and smiled. “I love old things,
yes, but that chair is going to hurt you and that would break my heart.”
Deciding some concessions needed to be made, she dropped her hands and jammed
them on her hips. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take it home tonight and see what
I can do to fix it. If I can’t it gets tossed. I’ll get you another one.”
    “Suit yourself. That chair has good miles left on it
though.”
    The front door opened, ending the chair conversation. Jenny
proceeded to do the friendly meet and greet, leaving Chance to put out her new items.
Another couple entered, followed by a male couple. After a few easy chats and
sales, Chance took a moment to pop back into her small office to check her
online store.
    Sales were going well today. If business stayed like this
she’d actually have a little money in her savings before the snow started
falling. Things only got better when she saw five sales pending on her webpage.
A few clicks of the mouse and Chance had the shipping information sitting in
front of her.
    “People seem to like your store.”
    Chance kicked back in her chair with a jolt, papers flew and
a strangled squeak emitted from her throat. As her heart skipped, hammered in
double time and skipped again, she struggled to catch her breath. Giving Hayes
one of the nastiest scowls she could twist her face into, Chance sat there
until she could pull herself together enough to speak.
    “Stop doing that.” He’d give her a blooming heart attack if
he didn’t quit with the sudden appearances.
    Hayes grinned, a sort of lopsided, mischievous smirk that
pissed her off and made her stomach flutter all at the same time. “My
apologies. I forget myself sometimes.”
    “You don’t look all that sorry,” she whispered in a hot,
snarky tone. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were going to be
invisible?”
    The smirk slipped away and for a moment a hint of pain,
maybe even sadness appeared before it vanished. The man standing before her now
wore a blank expression. Even his dark eyes were void of emotion. Guilt flashed
through her along with a sudden memory of hearing similar words spoken to her.
    Chance pushed that memory away with force and allowed her
irritation to ride a second or two longer before taking a cleansing breath.
With her heart and mind settled, she gathered her papers and said, “I’m sorry.”
    “No, you have nothin’ to be sorry for,” he spoke simply.
“I’ll stay outta your way until you summon me.”
    “Hayes, you startled me.” She looked up to find the small
room empty except for her. She had no idea if he could hear her or not so she
simply let her apology drop. Well, no time to brood over it, she had customers
to attend to.
    The afternoon