"She's a smart girl."
"You didn't think that when she pranked your least favorite customer last week," I threw out, finally finding my keys.
"Well, that's because sometimes that Tressa acts like she's still in high school. Besides, anyone with a brain knows it's not the best idea to wrap a store toilet bowl with Saran Wrap. Most people who use our bathroom really got to go, and having their pee puddled in their shoes is not good. I could not for the life of me figure out why there were wet footprints trailing from the bathroom door."
"It was gross," I laughed. "But you have to admit it was pretty funny how the minister's wife, Shelly, scurried out of the store thinking she had missed the toilet."
"That was the only highlight of the whole incident," Fran replied, chuckling along with me. "She's always judging others whenever they look anything less than perfect."
"Exactly, which is why Tressa hatched the idea."
"So, you're telling me Shelly was the target all along?" she asked, quirking her eyebrow at me.
"Um, yeah," I stammered, knowing I'd just given away my part in the prank.
"And how did dear Tressa know that Shelly would be the one to use the toilet?"
"I might have told her. Come on, you have to admit, her catty remarks every time she uses the bathroom get old.
"How did you know it would be her who got pranked?"
"Because she comes in every week after her ladies' tea..." My voice trailed off as I backed away from the door before I could implicate myself further. "I'll see you on Monday," I called over my shoulder, hurrying down the path.
"I knew you were involved," she called after me before closing her front door.
I laughed at her words as I approached my car. I threw my purse over on the passenger seat and climbed in behind the steering wheel. I was backing up my car when some kind of movement off to my right startled me. Whipping my head around, I saw a lone runner making his way down Main Street. Woodfalls had its share of walkers, but there really weren't any runners, and definitely not any like the one who was currently crossing the street in front of me. Ordinarily, I would have scoffed at a man running without a shirt on, wondering what he was trying to prove. Nathan, though, was a different story with his glistening pecks and rock-hard abs. It would have been sinful to deprive the female population the opportunity to gawk. I sat motionless in my seat, watching as he ran by my car window. My heart thundered in my chest as I watched a trickle of sweat track its way down the deep contours of his well-muscled back, disappearing inside his shorts. He was long gone by the time I shook myself out of my fawning comatose state enough to drive home. I felt feverish. Glancing in the mirror, I saw that my face was flushed.
"God, you're a mess. What are you going to do if you ever see him naked? Spontaneously combust?" I asked my reflection.
***
The ringing of my cellphone woke me the next morning. I fumbled around my nightstand trying to find it while still keeping my eyes shut.
"Yeah," I croaked into the phone, my voice still heavy with sleep.
"Are you sick too?" Brittni's voice croaked back at me, although she sounded much worse.
"No, I was just sleeping. You're sick?" I asked the obvious. She was either sick, or she'd swallowed a very old frog.
"Yeah, my mom made Dr. Baker come out and check me. He said it looked like strep to him. I bet I got it from my damn students," she complained. Brittni subbed at the elementary school while she worked on getting her teaching degree. I found it ironic that she insisted she wanted to be a schoolteacher, but didn't seem to like kids all that much. Tressa told me the dislike thing was actually an act. "She may be gruff, but she has mad skills when it comes to teaching," she had stated.
"Well, crap. I'm sorry you feel crummy," I offered, trying to hide my disappointment that I wouldn't be able to cross an item off my list.
"I'm sorry I'm bailing on you."
"It's no biggie. Just get better," I reassured her.
"Okay. We'll go when I get back from that stinking training thing next week," she promised before hanging up the phone.
I sat up, contemplating my list in my head to see if I could tackle one of the other items. Coming from hot-as-hell Florida, most of the items on my list centered around winter-related activities, with the obvious exception of the activity that possibly involved Nathan. A mental picture of a shirtless Nathan flashed through my head, making me jump out of bed abruptly. There was no way I was going to mope around all day. It was bad enough that thoughts of him had kept me up tossing and turning half the night.
I made my bed hastily, and threw on a pair of cutoff shorts and t-shirt with a hooded sweatshirt over it. Ten minutes after hanging up the phone with Brittni, I was headed for Mason Bridge over on the county line. The air had a nip to it, making it clear that summer was over and fall was right around the corner. It felt glorious knowing it was September and already cooling off. In Florida, it would be several months before they saw similar temperatures. After a lifetime of missing real seasons, I was greedy for them to begin. I wanted to see the barren trees once they shed all their current multicolored leaves. I wanted to make a snow angel and build a snowman. All three were items on my bucket list that would take little effort as long as I was still here. I just needed enough time. >It took the entire walk back to the hotel for everything she instigated in my body to return to normal. Once my mind was able to focus on something other than what it would feel like sliding into her, I made a decision: Forget my rules this time and make her mine. We would do the deed once and the hunger would be abated. The magnetic pull she had over me would disappear, and I would complete the job I was hired for. I just needed to work her out of my system, then I'd turn her over and she would cease to be my concern after that. I felt more in control once I had the plan worked out in my head, despite the small voice that told me I was full of shit.
Chapter 5: Freefall
Ashton
"Gettin' pretty friendly with the customers there," Fran teased after Nathan finally strolled out of the store, seemingly unaffected by the fact that I was practically in a liquid state from his actions.