Excerpt from LOVE POTION #69 by Alexa Silver

From the NAUGHTY HEARTS boxed set - Available February 1st

Copyright © Alexa Silver, 2015

“Hi, Jenna. I come bearing food.” He held up a bag, and she figured he’d given Rebecca her portion. She watched, admiring his tall frame as he locked the door and fiddled with the “come back in an hour” sign, adjusting the numbers to the next hour.

“Hi, Keith,” she replied with a little smirk. He sure wasn’t bad to look at, and there were worse lunch partners to have by far.

“Rebecca said we should eat back in the kitchen. Just you and me?” he asked.

“Simple and free,” she shot back, quoting a lyric from one of their favorite songs. They were karaoke monsters who’d discovered a few shared favorite songs, mostly ’70s classics.

He turned back to her, regarding her with a little smirk of his own. “How…Valentiney,” he said, and she could feel him taking in her red sweater and the infinity scarf with gold hearts all over it. Okay, she was kind of a holiday cliché, but the sweater wasn’t so bad and at least she’d paired it with black jeans and boots.

“Unlucky in love has to look the part,” she shot back.

He’d removed his coat and the brown sweater he wore warmed the angular planes of his face, the jeans hugging his long legs. His eyeglasses had fogged up a little and he removed them, wiping the lenses on his sweater.

“You’re just going to smear them, Keith. Here, let me.” She had some cleaning wipes in her purse, under the counter. He came closer, handing her his glasses, green eyes adorably squinted, and she caught her breath at just how gorgeous he was, her hand shaking.

“Watch out!” His eyes widened just as she reached out, sweeping over the display of vials, skittering them across the glass display counter and…

“NO! That’s a couple hundred dollars’ worth of—Oh, shit!”

She grappled to catch the last few vials, but the first half dozen were toast. Keith lunged forward, head smacking the edge of the counter with a pained groan, and he bobbled one vial, but the rest crashed to the ground, shattering and sending up shards of perfume, glitter and glass.

“Watch out, Keith!” Even though she knew she was too late, Jenna lunged too, her booted heel slipping on the muck. With a yelp, she crashed on top of Keith, sending them both careening to the ground.

Great. Just great. Happy frickin’ Valentine’s Day!