Firecracker
April hurriedly tied her hair back before opening her car door. She grabbed her coffee and bagel then kicked the door shut before rushing through the parking lot towards the large farm supply store. She couldn’t believe she was late to her first day at her job. The alarm clock she had bought the day before hadn’t worked.
She recognized the woman who had done her interview immediately. She had long brown hair and blue eyes. Her smile was as contagious as her friendly demeanor as she waved to April from the customer service counter.
“Hi, April!” The woman smiled. “Just a reminder, I’m Bethany. Let me show you the back. There’s a short video you’ll have to watch then someone will fetch you for a quick tour.”
April nodded, “Absolutely and I’m so sorry I’m late.”
Bethany glanced at the clock and to April’s surprise chuckled. “Five minutes doesn’t count here. We’re lucky if the boss is a half hour late. I love my brother to death but Tuck is notorious for being late.”
“Oh,” April frowned, uncertain how to respond to that declaration as she followed the other woman down the hall.
“Okay.” Bethany smiled, drawing out the word. “This is Tucker’s office. Just hit the spacebar to begin, and don’t worry about finishing your breakfast in here. He really won’t care.”
“Okay, thank you.” April returned the woman’s smile.
“Not a problem. I am thrilled he finally agreed to hire someone with accounting experience.” Bethany waved as she headed to the door. “Oh, also, the bathroom is right across the hall and it’s ridiculous how often people come in thinking this is it. If someone comes in just redirect them.”
“Absolutely.” April nodded as the door slid shut.
April really liked Bethany. She seemed really sweet and April wondered if they might become friends. She quickly pushed the thought away. Someone like Bethany Davis probably had more friends then she could handle and certainly didn’t want more.
Since moving to town, a month ago April had only really talked to her brother. Mick was entertaining as could be, but also annoying as hell. April refused to tell him where she was working until after her first day. Partly because he was driving her crazy asking, and partly because she didn’t want to jinx it. This job was the first really good thing in her life in a long time. Longer than she would care to admit.
She absently fidgeted with her left ring finger. Pain and anger warred in her brain as she thought over the last three years. Her ex-husbands words echoed in her head, and she shook herself stubbornly. She was more than capable of anything she put her mind to. At least that’s what she wanted others to believe; needed them to.
A couple hours later April had been tasked with wandering the store and learning where merchandise was. She heard two men talking nearby, but chose to ignore them. She figured they probably knew more about the store then she did.
As usual she tried hard to avoid listening to anything they may be saying. Instead, she leaned closer to read the label on a bag of horse treats. An unwelcome wave of fury swept through her as she felt something smack her ass.
Without thinking twice April turned and swung, slapping the closest man across the face. Both men gaped at her. One was old, easily in his nineties and used a wooden cane. He was balding and his wrinkled face spread into a huge grin as he began to laugh.
The young man next to him was who she had smacked, obvious by the blushing across his left cheek. He had dark brown hair and a full, well groomed, beard and mustache. His icy blue eyes were wide and almost the same color as her hair.
“Sorry about that young man. They don’t normally react like that.” The old man laughed, waving his cane around.
“This is why I insist on staying with you Mr. Lewis. You never did learn to keep your hands to yourself.” The man glared down at the crotchety old man.
“Pft. I spent my whole damn life keeping my hands to myself. Now that I’m going to die anyway I may as well enjoy myself.” The old man winked at April playfully.
April stared slack jawed as the man shuffled down the row. Next to her the younger man studied her with a smirk. She couldn’t decide whether to be mortified or furious at his clear amusement.
“You should keep a better watch over your grandfather.” She snapped, deciding anger worked better.
“He’s not…” The man started but she wasn’t done.
“I don’t care how old he is, that is insanely unacceptable behavior.” She crossed her arms, glaring at him. He just smirked down at her, leaning back against the shelves. “If the owner saw that, he would be completely within his rights to trespass him from the property.”
“Nah, I don’t think Tucker would do that.” His arrogant grin infuriated her and she wished she had slapped him harder.
“Oh, really?” She snapped. “Why would you say that?”
There was a short silence as he met her gaze, his dazzling blue eyes glittering with amusement. As the silence grew and her anger faded she felt something else. A tension that made her both want and despise the man for simply existing.
“Tucker!” Bethany’s voice called from the end of the aisle. “Where did Mr. Lewis go? You promised you were going to keep an eye on him.”
For the second time in the ten minutes she had known this man; April felt like a complete idiot. Tucker’s smile widened as he watched the realization cross her face. Her heart jumped at the expression, but she hardened her own fighting to regain control of the situation.
“Oh, you met April.” Bethany trilled.
“Not officially.” Tucker stood straight as his sister approached.
“Okay then Tuck this is April Miller. April my brother and the store’s owner Tucker Davis. April’s the one I hired to manage the books. Well technically you hired her.” Bethany shrugged before glancing back and forth between the two. She shifted awkwardly before continuing. “I’m going to go find old Mr. Lewis before he gets himself into trouble.”
Then she hurried down the hall in the direction Tucker indicated with a jerk of his head. There was another long silence but April stubbornly refused to break it this time. It seemed she had said more than enough already.
“Out of curiosity; do you make a habit of smacking your boss on the first day? Or am I just special?” Tucker smirked playfully.
April felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and she wished she could just vanish. As far as first impressions went, this was horrible. She could bounce back from this though, or at least she hoped so.
Tucker couldn’t have stopped smiling at the firecracker of a woman if he wanted to. In the last ten minutes he had learned she was strong, independent, brave, and sexy as hell when she got angry. Frankly she was just as breathtaking when embarrassed.
He wanted to reach out and tug on a strand of her long ombre hair. The strands seemed to fade from black to blue to silver at the ends. It looked stunning with her fair complexion and dark brown eyes.
She stood at least a foot shorter than himself and no more than a hundred pounds soaking wet. Her curves, while subtle, were mouthwatering. He had never seen a man stand toe to toe with someone when they were clearly unevenly matched, but his girl did.
Suddenly he was taken aback. His girl? He knew nothing about this woman, and while he meant to rectify that immediately, she was in no way his. Yet.
“You lied to me.” She glared defensively.
“Oh, really?” Tucker asked, taken aback.
“You led me to believe you weren’t the owner.” April insisted. “That’s fraud.”
Tucker couldn’t help but laugh out loud this time. When he stopped, he saw her face had gotten even more red and she was biting her lip. He wanted to taste that lip too. Subconsciously he reached out, running his finger across her bottom lip, loving the feel of her slight gasp on his fingertips.
“My brother-in-law is a sheriff. Should I borrow some handcuffs?” Tucker murmured seductively, watching her every reaction.
Slowly her lips parted, and her brown eyes widened before darkening with desire. Tucker had never wanted to kiss someone so much in his life. Before he could say or do anything else her expression shifted into a devious smirk.
Stepping closer she snarkily retorted, “If only you could be that lucky.” With another teasing grin she turned and walked away.
