“Pretty sure,” I agreed.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go!”

At his urging, I practically ran to the front. However, had I known what a piece of meat I’d feel like, I would have stalled a bit longer. Seriously, it felt as if I was walking the catwalk—or at the very least a live action version of those dating/rating apps you’d find for your phones.

Swipe left.

I gulped and hurried toward the register, reddening as I felt females undressing me with their eyes. To my disappointment, Rocky wasn’t one of the oglers. Her eyes were dipped low, making her appear as if she were glaring at the computer screen.

Barely looking up at me, she snapped, “Um, you’re not trained to handle the register.”

I rolled his eyes and stepped up beside her. “Trust me; I’ve handled plenty of registers before. It doesn’t take a genius to swipe barcodes over a scanner.”

“There isn’t anybody else back there?”

God, did she hate me that much?

Fighting through the pangs of hurt, I managed to say, “They all called in sick. I’m your last hope. C’mon, do you really think your dad would have sent me out here if there was anybody else who can help you out?”

“Fine,” she shot back through gritted teeth. “Just keep up. This line is long enough as it is.”

“Whose fault was that?” I blurted out, and immediately felt a sharp pain in my shin. She actually kicked me. Holding back an amused laugh, I remarked, “Still a little spitfire, huh? Well, why don’t you try your best to keep up with me?”

To my surprise, her lips curled up. Seeing her smile again caused the rush of electricity that I’ve missed so much, instantly waking parts of me in a jolt.

“Fine. Bring it on.” Her tone came out breathy, causing my dick to twitch more. She really wasn’t fighting fair.

But neither was I.

I’m not arrogant, to say the least. I mean, what would I have to show off? My laundry list of bad choices and have nots? Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but flaunt my registering prowess no matter how pathetic it might have been. I mean, at least the customers seemed to have a lot of fun with me.

“That’ll be twenty-four fifty, Miss.” I flashed a grin at a woman who had to be eighty years old. Her bluish tinted hair was piled into a particularly stiff and heavy looking beehive on top of her neck. I was surprised she could keep her head upright.

“Miss? Oh, I haven’t been a miss in years!” She fanned herself slightly and blushed. “Thanks for making an old lady feel young again.”

Fluffing someone’s feathers was the best way to gain a repeat customer. Besides, it felt great making someone’s day.

“You’re not old. Just experienced.”

Okay, maybe that response was a bit much.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Rocky muttered, obviously perturbed by my two customer lead on her.

Unfortunately, the old woman lingered, slowing down my pace. Just when I was ready to kindly shoo her off, she leaned over and asked, “Do you have a tip jar?”

“No tip jar, Ma’am,” Rocky answered before I could even open my mouth.

“I was talking to him,” she snapped back.

My gaze was still on Rocky when I felt skinny fingers go under the collar of my shirt. I took an involuntary step back and gasped.

She didn’t just…

I reached into my shirt and pulled out a five dollar bill.

Oh, my gosh, she did!

“Um, we don’t take tips.” I cleared my throat and winced a bit.

“Trust me, sonny. You deserve it!” With a huge grin on her face, she grabbed her stuff and scuffled toward the door, bouncing youthfully the whole way out of the store.

Still in shock, I hardly heard Rocky comment, “You were always good with the ladies.”

“Ha! You wish.” My eyebrows furrowed. I wasn’t sure if she was kidding or not. Did she really think I was that much of a male slut? I had a ton of shit to fix, and it was nobody’s fault but mine.

An hour flew by, and before I knew it the line had finally trickled down. Feeling ecstatic that I was finally going to have some alone time with Rocky, I turned toward her only to be immediately shot down.

“Hey, beautiful.” The douche Ethan was back, and it took everything in my power not to punch the smug look off his face. Of course, the joy I felt from seeing Rocky’s less than stellar greeting was enough to placate me—for the time being at least.

“Ethan! What are you doing here?”

Possibly aware of Mr. Rossi’s ‘no untrained people behind the cash wrap’ rule, he leaned over, reaching out for Rocky. Struggling to hug her, he soon gave up and coughed, “I couldn’t speak with your dad without seeing you.”

“Why were you speaking to my dad?” she asked almost suspiciously.

My head snapped to the side. Why did Rocky seem so scared of him? Immediately my protective instinct came over me, but I knew I was probably overreacting. To calm myself down, I busied myself by dusting off the keyboard and picking at some lint wedged between the counter’s crevices.

“We were discussing marketing plans for first quarter.”

“Oh,” she sighed with relief.

As if just noticing me, the douchebag glanced over in surprise. “Hey there, my man. Looks like they got you trained on that thing.”

“Looks like it,” I shot back a bit more forcefully than I had intended.

Ethan’s annoying smile faltered a bit. “Well, I better get back to the office. I’ll see you later?”

“Uh, yeah sure.” Rocky ran her slim fingers through her beautiful mane of dark brown hair and leaned back slightly.

Knowing that a goodbye kiss was inevitable, I desperately looked around for an escape route. Unfortunately, the only way to get out of the enclosed cash wrap was by walking through the little door that Ethan was now draped over. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me run away from him, so though it would be hard to stomach, I gritted my teeth and prepared myself for a game of tonsil hockey. To my surprise—and relief—there was no kiss in sight and Ethan left without a fight.

I looked after him and shook my head. “Douche.”

“What was that?” Rocky’s head snapped in my direction.

“You heard me.” I grinned sheepishly.

“You don’t even know him. How can you judge him?” Rocky sneered.

“Since when do you go for pretty boys like that? You never were into that type.” Please don’t tell me she grew up into one of those prissy girls I despise so much.

“I never had a type in high school! Besides, what would you know about me? If memory serves me correctly, which it does, you haven’t spoken to me since college. What do you even know about me anymore?”

I winced. She was right of course, but I couldn’t let her stay mad at me. Figuring a joke might placate the situation, I shot back, “I know you grew about two cup sizes since I last saw you.”

“Stop being such a jerk. You know what I mean!”

Okay, maybe that was the wrong route. Then again, I couldn’t help myself! Standing face to face, it was really hard not to eye her rack at least once. Though Rocky was still pretty petite, she had curves in all the right places. Gawking was definitely the only option that I had.

My eyes lifted, catching the unamused twist of Rocky’s lips. A slight dimple shone in her left cheek, but I knew it wasn’t from smiling. Recalling Stephanie’s visit, I knew I had to face the music and sighed. “I know things were left a bit odd between us. I also know you won’t believe me, but I have a perfectly good excuse why.”

“Try me.”

“Jesse to the stockroom. Jesse to the stockroom.”

I bit back a groan. Of course Mr. Rossi would choose that moment to call me back to The Dungeon. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a hidden camera or some listening device and was busy eavesdropping on us this whole time.

Pouting slightly at my dumb luck, I said quietly, “I really did miss you. I know you don’t believe me, but I really do want to make it up to you.”