“Thanks. Is she done yet?”
I shook my head. “Pass her here.” I reached over and took Tegan from him, including the cloth, and put her in the same position he’d just held her in. Within thirty seconds, she’d burped with only a little spit.
“That’s not fair,” Seb said, staring at her. “I did all the hard work.”
“Don’t worry.” I got up to put her back to bed. “I’ll tell Ivy you were a superstar.”
“Hey, if I’d left when you told me to, you wouldn’t have made that sale.”
That was true. And it wasn’t like it was just one book. It was a ton of books, both for now and for next week when the next order came in.
“All right.” I sat down and patted his thigh. Ooh. Solid. “Thank you. I really appreciate your help.”
His eyes bore into mine. “That really hurt you to say that, didn’t it?”
My nose twitched as I fought a laugh. “I don’t know what you mean.” My tongue stuck in the side of my cheek.
Damn it!
Seb grinned. “You did the tongue thing.”
“I hate you for pointing that out.” I jabbed my finger in his chest and got up. I had no desire to wake Tegan, and I was mad he’d told me that because now I was super aware of it.
“Oh, come on.” He followed me out, pulling the door closed behind him. “Admit it. You needed me just then.”
I leaned against the counter and folded my arms. “I wouldn’t go that far. She would have come back. The woman has six kids.”
“Six kids?”
“Mhmm. Better her than me,” I added as an afterthought. “So no, I didn’t need you, but I do appreciate that you stayed to help.”
“So… Are you saying you owe me one?”
“Where could you have possibly gotten that from?”
“I stayed to help.”
“Sebastian.” I held my hands up in front of me. “Last weekend, I pretended to be your girlfriend and am now stuck in that same lie as it spread through town.”
He rubbed his chin. “Yeah. Forgot about that.”
“If anything, you owe me like, ten.”
“How about I cook you dinner?”
“A ploy to talk me into a date.”
“No. It’s not a date. You’d know if it were a date.”
“There’s no reason for you to cook me dinner except to corner me into another uncomfortable discussion I don’t want to have today.”
“Dinner tomorrow?”
“I’m busy.”
“How about the next day?”
“My God, you’re like a bad rash, aren’t you?” I picked up the baby monitor, made sure it worked, and headed for the storeroom. If the store was closed, I was going to make use of this time and sort some books.
And if Sebastian was here, well, I’d put his muscles to work.
No, don’t you look at me like that.
All right, fine. I’d put his muscles to work so I could look at them. Happy now?
As I’d suspected, he followed me through to the storeroom.
“I’m not going to give up.”
“I assumed as much,” I said dryly. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and help me move some of this stuff around and I’ll consider your offer?”
“How heavy are the boxes?” He glanced around at the myriad of boxes that were in a mess and driving me nuts.
“Well, they’re books, so I expect USPS to take each box and send it for less than ten dollars.”
“Smartass. I can’t lift anything too heavy, remember?” He shrugged his bad shoulder. “I could hurt my shoulder and put my recovery back.”
Shit. Of course.
I sighed. “What’s the use of having a hot baseball player in my debt if I can’t even get him to move heavy shit around?”
“I’m hot, huh? Why? Did you want to perv on me?”
Looking over, I saw the glint in his eye. Yet again, he was baiting me. I’d slipped up in my last sentence, and he was trying to get me to do it again.
Oh, screw this.
WWTHD?
What Would The Heroine Do? It was a question I had to ask myself. I happened to be reading a fake relationship romance, and I knew exactly what she would do.
She’d play him at his own game.
I wasn’t going to win by being awkward and a pain in the ass, and I really wanted to win.
I didn’t know what I was winning or what the prize was, so this was a slightly dangerous game, but I wanted to win.
“Yes,” I said, tilting my head to the side. “I did.”
My change in attitude threw Seb for a moment, but he recovered quickly. “I can make that happen.”
I waited.
He pulled off his sweater and sat there in his tight white t-shirt.
“What am I supposed to perv on?” I asked. “If you’re not moving anything, you’re just a hot guy in a t-shirt watching a girl do all the heavy lifting.”
“I didn’t want to have to do this to you, but you leave me no choice.” He gripped the back of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head in one swift motion.