| |
I hit the swinging door to the back room and hurried over to the little bathroom to run my scalded hand under cold water. “Son of a sea cow,” I breathed, trying to get my racing heart under control. Just when I thought I was over this bullshit, there it was, jumping right back up to slap me in the face.
The man had been absolutely gorgeous. And he reminded me vaguely of someone, but I was too busy working myself up to a full-fledged panic attack to puzzle that out. Gods, I’d been so rude. I had snapped at a customer for no reason. I bent and splashed some of the cold water over my face, then stood looking at my dripping face and wide, startled-rabbit eyes while I counted the length of my inhalations and exhalations, slowing them down the way I’d been taught. It was fine. It was good. He wasn’t him. They looked nothing alike. Even the sleek, perfectly-fitted business suit he wore was nothing like the one that featured in all my nightmares.
“Get a grip, Coraline,” I said firmly to the girl in the mirror. Then I grabbed some paper towels and dried my face and hands.
Of course, before I could fully put myself back together, the back door opened and Brier came in carrying a bank bag and muttering to himself. When he saw me through the open bathroom door, he froze and yanked his dark sunglasses off. “Cora? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I huffed a short laugh. My boss was one of the kindest people I’d ever met, but he’d die before he ever let anyone know it. “It’s nothing. I’m fine. Just...someone came into the shop, and I had a bad moment.”
He was there in a flash, hauling me out of the bathroom and plopping me on the ratty second-hand couch we had shoved over in the corner to make a “breakroom.”
“What happened?” he demanded. “I haven’t eaten human in a long time, I could treat myself.”
I shook my head. The goblin was a strict vegetarian. He was just being dramatic. “I’m fine. Honestly, he didn’t do anything. Just ordered a coffee and possibly, maybe, flirted a little.”
Brier’s big yellow eyes narrowed. “Some creep was hitting on you while you were trying to work? If he comes back again, call me immediately. That’s unacceptable. Harassment. You don’t have to put up with it.”
I smiled, most of my panic fleeing in the face of Brier’s ridiculousness. He always treated me like I was a child. “I’m not made of glass,” I reminded him. “I am perfectly capable of fending off perverts in a safe public setting with a counter between us.”
He huffed. “Doesn’t mean you should have to. And not in my establishment.”
I sighed. His protectiveness would almost be cute, if I thought for a second it meant he saw me as anything other than a little girl in need of protection. The dark, scary goblin was probably the only guy who could have hit on me and not provoked some kind of stupid PTSD response. But he never would.
“What?” he said, studying me suspiciously. “Are you going to be ill? Do not vomit on me, woman.” His long, pointed nose twitched and he reached out to snag a nearby trashcan and plop it down on the floor between us. “In there.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not going to puke. I was just thinking about something. That’s all.”
He raised a dark brow. “Well your thinking face looks like your puking face. I’ll go take care of the counter until you don’t look like you’re going to vomit on the customers.”
I laughed and went to get my purse. A little makeup would hide the worst of the “Girl’s been crying” look.
I looked down at my reddened hand. It didn’t really hurt any more, it just looked a little sunburned. Gods, I’d acted like a fumbling idiot in front of the hottest guy I’d ever met. What would it be like, just for one damned second, to be able to function like a normal, well-adjusted adult?
Luckily for me, I’d probably never see the guy again. So at least there was that.