Page 25 of Frosty Felicity
CHAPTER NINE
A Leg Up
Break would be over in five minutes.
Felicity leaned against the counter in the back of the pharmacy and popped a potato chip in her mouth as she casually stared at a heavyset red-headed man who was shoving bottles of vitamins and bags of Halls cough drops in his prosthetic leg.
“…I don’t believe this shit,” she muttered.
Everyone else seemed oblivious to what was going on because they were busy helping customers at the counter and drive-through window. He plopped down on the floor in the middle of the aisle, looking both ways, but strangely never in her direction, as he tried his best to wrangle the leg into position. Once he had, he worked himself back up on both feet—the flesh-and-blood one, and the other made of the finest of titanium and acrylic resin—and hobbled away. She casually licked her fingers and picked up the phone to ring the front of the store.
“Thank you for calling Walgreens. This is Rebecca speaking.”
“Rebecca, you don’t have to say that when answering internal calls…”
“Oh… Well, how do I know it’s an internal call?”
“The button will be red instead of green. Look, there’s a tall, heavyset redheaded guy with a hobble when he walks approaching the exit. Get Dan up there. He just stole at least two hundred dollars-worth of vitamins and sore throat lozenges.”
“Ohhh! I think I see him… Wait. He stopped at the candy aisle.”
“Oh… perhaps he wasn’t done. Well, he’ll say he has nothing and probably threaten to sue, throw a scene. It’s in his fake leg.”
“Which one is fake?”
“The left.”
“My left, or your left?”
Felicity took a deep breath. There was no way in hell this girl could have possibly been valedictorian of her high school like she claimed. Just last week, a customer came to her with two items she’d bought the day prior. The lady explained that she needed a refund. She’d purchased a package of crackers, and some toilet paper. She said she was returning one, because it was expired, and the other, because the packaging was torn open. Rebecca enthusiastically said she’d help her get it straightened out, but first, she needed to know which of the items was expired…
“Rebecca, if I invited you out for drinks, and told you that the wine and beer was my treat, that it was on the house, would you go get a ladder?”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Look, just tell Dan dude has enough Vitamin C in his damn leg to turn into a human orange grove.”
Felicity ended the call, noting her break was over, and went to the restroom to wash her hands. After she was finished, she jumped right into the thick of things, helping customers, arguing with a couple of insurance companies, chasing doctors who hadn’t filled out prescription information correctly, and the like. In the near distance she heard a customer talking about a police officer who was in the store arresting someone, and that they’d poured out a bunch of cough drops, Hot Wheel toy cars, hard candies, chocolates, and vitamin bottles from his leg. Dumped it on the floor like the innards of a piñata.
When her shift was over, everyone was talking about the terrible weather, and how in the last hour, things had gone from doable to damn near impossible. Ice was all over the place, and accidents were abundant. She groaned when she looked out the window and saw the sleet and snow blanketing the streets and sidewalks, cars barely moving, and the streets covered in layers of frost. Going to be another slow drive home tonight…
After she’d finished her professional tasks for the night, she gathered her belongings, said her goodbyes, and headed out the door. A chilly draught blasted her in the face as soon as the automatic doors opened, and she watched her step as Clayton, the store manager, sprinkled salt down.
“Have uh safe drive tonight, Felicity.”
“Yeah, you too, Clayton.” Taking tiny baby steps, her white Puma sneakers slipping and sliding, she’d made it halfway across the parking lot when she screamed. “Ahhh!”
“It’s me, it’s me! It’s okay.” She found herself staring into Brett’s amazing ice blue eyes. Looping his arm around hers, he held her close so she wouldn’t fall. His grip on her was warm… powerful… comforting.
“Oh my God,” She smiled and shook her head in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
“I tried to call you a couple of times to tell you I was on my way, but you must’ve been busy. The weather got pretty bad, pretty fast, and you said your car was makin’ a funny noise, so I just thought that, uh… you know… it would be a good idea for me to swing by. Just wanted to make sure you got home safe.”
The snow fell in soft, fluffy flakes, coating the black shoulders of his police uniform coat and hat. In the near distance she heard bells jingling. Someone was taking donations for a charity, with a little red bucket at their feet. She didn’t turn to look, but the sound seemed to soften with each moment, as if time was freezing around them. The world became muted as they drew closer, and closer, until she burned up from his searing kiss. Wrapping her arms around him, she fell into the comfort of his embrace, her body throbbing with need.
When they dared to break away from one another, she went in for more. A second serving of all that was he. The man’s soft lips felt like a dream, and his body smelled of soap and sexy aftershave. She swallowed and pressed into his hard, muscular form as he deepened their kiss, his tongue dancing with hers.
They stopped at last, but pulled away at the same time. Desire soared, making her hot all over despite the temperature outside.
