I head to the back to check the shelves of pottery for the fourth time. Yep, right where I left them. I wander around, wiping down surfaces, and then I go back out to the main floor to clean paint palettes left by the sink. Once I’m done, I glance around the room, eyeing tables and seeing if I can get anyone anything. Finally, my eyes fall on Ben and Caroline. She’s leaning toward him, laughing, while he brushes paint on his dog. Her hand reaches out and rests on his forearm, and I can feel my face turning red.
I turn and make my way back to the counter to pull out my phone.
Pepper: He’s here.
Andi: Who?
Pepper: Ben. Try to keep up.
Andi: ON HIS DATE?!?! *surprised face emoji*
Pepper: Yes. *sad face emoji*
Andi: What a douche canoe.
Pepper: Guess this means he really doesn’t like me.
Andi: What if he brings her back to the apartment?!
Pepper: Not. Helping.
Andi: Sorry. Want to stay with me tonight? I have wine and ice cream.
Pepper: Yeah. I’ll run home after work and then head your way.
Sighing, I put my phone back in my pocket and put my chin in my hand, resting my elbow on the counter. I angle my face away from the one person I want to look at and don’t want to look at, at the same time.
Baroline.
Carojamin.
Benjaline.
At least they won’t have a cute couple name. Not like us.
Bepper. Who can beat that?
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ben stand up and make his way back to the paint station, and my head turns to follow him without my consent. Until I see Caroline glaring at me from the table. I quickly glance away, trying to look busy, but since I manically cleaned everything earlier, there isn’t anything to do.
Once Ben sits back down, Caroline leans over and whispers something to him, and I watch in horror as his gaze shoots to me. Those piercing brown eyes meet mine, and I want to sink through the floor right then and there.
What did she tell him? Are my irrational fears coming true? Does anyone else hear wedding bells?
I don’t look at them again until they are standing in front of me at the counter, their painted pieces with them.
“All done?” I ask as I ring them up.
Caroline smiles and leans her head over on his shoulder, and Ben moves a little, shaking her off as he reaches for his wallet.
My mind is in a fog as I open the register and deposit his money before retrieving the change.
I drop it in his palm, making sure I don’t touch his hand, and then look up to meet his eyes. “Don’t forget that these will be ready in a week. Thanks for coming. To paint. Thanks for coming to paint.”
Caroline’s gaze narrows on me, and she gives me a small smile that looks more like a sneer before wrapping a claw around his hand and turning to leave.
“Thanks, Peppa,” she says over her shoulder.
“It’s Pepper,” I grumble, grabbing their painted pottery and depositing it on the appropriate shelf.
They are gone when I come back out, and I breathe a sigh of relief. All the air was sucked out of the room for the last hour and a half, but now, I can finally relax.
I clean up their table, contemplating taking the palettes and brushes home to burn in a séance behind our apartment, but then I realize I don’t want the supplies taken out of my paycheck. I drum my fingers on the counter before pulling out my phone to check the time. I’m almost off, and then I can go home, grab my stuff, and head to Andi’s.
Thank goodness for friends.
When I pull into the apartment, I immediately see Ben’s truck.
Great.
The last thing I need is to walk in on him and Caroline getting cozy on our couch. Or God forbid, hear noises coming from his room. This is a nightmare. But I’ve got to get myself together, woman up, and get my stuff. Maybe it would be good for me to see something, help me quickly kill my flame of interest instead of dying a slow death.
I unlock the door, turn the knob, and push, glancing around before stepping inside. I don’t see anyone, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Close the door, Pepper,” Ben says, making me jump from where he’s hidden behind the open door, sitting on the couch.
“You scared me,” I say, stepping in farther and peeking around.
No Caroline.
“We need to talk.”
Just what I wanted to hear.
“What do we need to talk about?” My voice comes out in a squeak, and I make myself walk in.
My eyes are huge as I watch him stand and walk toward me until he’s right in front of me, his face hard and his chest rising and falling with heaving breaths. He reaches out to grip my chin between his finger and thumb, and he pulls up, raising my face toward him. Before I can speak a word, he lowers his mouth to mine, and a groan leaves his throat, igniting my body. The only part of our bodies touching at that moment are our mouths, but I feel like his entire being covers me.
I push closer to him, and his arms come around, resting on my lower back, pulling me to him, as he angles his head, his tongue tracing the seam of my lips before I relent and open, letting him in to taste me. The blood rushing through my ears sounds deafening, and my brain can’t work fast enough to catch up with what is happening right now. My body acts on instinct, lifting my arms to fasten around his neck, pulling his head closer to mine, and I breathe him in—his scent, his
