I set his glasses aside as he works one hand into my hair, his fingers fiddling with the elastic holding my ponytail. I help him pull it out, sending my hair falling around my shoulders. Ryan groans like he’s in pain, grabbing fistfuls of my hair and tugging down to move my chin up so he can kiss my neck, tilting my head so he can move to the other side. His stubble is rough and his mouth is soft and it’s all I can do to hang on to his shoulders. When his teeth scrape my earlobe, my knees give out.

And then I’m lifted off the ground so easily I feel weightless, one of his forearms wrapped under my butt, the other hand still in my hair, fingers rasping against my scalp. He sets me on the edge of the counter, and I spread my legs so he can step between them, my skirt riding up my thighs.

My neat stacks of cash are now jumbles of bills fluttering to the floor, and I have the vague thought that we have a security camera trained right on the register, that the lights are on and it’s dark outside and anyone passing by could see us, but those feel like problems for future us to deal with. Here and now, Ryan is kissing me like he’s drowning and I’m desperate to inhale as much of him as I can before my brain catches up and reminds me that I’m the idiot who wanted to keep things professional.

One giant hand cradles the back of my head; the other slides around to encircle my neck, thumb trailing down my throat and dipping into the front of my blouse between my breasts, sending goose bumps across my skin. When he reaches the first button, he starts fumbling with it, and I let go of his shoulders and help him.

As soon as my blouse is open, he slips his hand inside and then it’s all rough callused palms on my skin, and I’m humming with pleasure as he shoves my bra up and out of the way. I wrap my legs around him and pull him against me; his breath rushes out and he dives in for another deep kiss. He’s rock hard, and I get a flash of him buried inside me, gasping and unraveling.

“Condoms?” I say. “Do you have one?”

He kisses my mouth, hard. “In the—” Another kiss as he waves a hand in the direction of the register. “Jar.”

Of course they have a jar of condoms next to their register. I’d laugh if I wasn’t so turned on.

I reach for the jar with one hand, the other grabbing for his belt, but he shakes his head and kneels in front of me. Flushed cheeks and bright eyes. Gazing up at me like I’m the most beautiful sight he can imagine.