Having the tops of the bookshelves cleared and the crevices of the store emptied out helped. They still had a lot of work to do, but it was progress. Kincaid had spent most of the day sorting the books into boxes and rearranging shelves. When he found her in the children’s section of the store, she somehow looked ten times fresher than he did. She had her back to him as she rearranged one set of shelves, but her blond hair was in a big, floppy bun on top of her head, her tank top had managed to stay clean, and her jeans only had a little dust on them. He knew she’d been working hard, too, so she must’ve cleaned herself up at some point.

Ash opened his mouth to let her know it was quitting time, but the words got caught in his throat as she bent down to put something on a lower shelf. Her tank top rode up a little at her waist, giving him a delicious glimpse of her smooth, creamy skin and the dip of her spine. God help him. Attraction, white-hot and electric, hummed through him as if he’d been plugged into a socket.

His fingers itched for him to step forward, grab her by the waist, spin her around, and push her up against one of these bookshelves. He’d pin her hands above her head, knocking books to the floor, and kiss her. He could almost taste the lip gloss she’d been reapplying all day. It smelled like peaches and probably tasted like pie. He could imagine how soft she’d be in his hands.

And it was completely not okay to be having those fantasies. He tried to ignore the heat building behind the fly of his jeans. He’d thought he was over this kind of physical reaction to Kincaid. When he’d brought Melanie home for the holidays, he hadn’t been affected by Kincaid like this. He and Kincaid had tension between them because of their past, but not this kind of tension. He’d locked that door firmly shut. Apparently, the old attraction had just been lying in wait while he was busy in another relationship.

Shut it down, man.

If he was going to shift from a committed relationship into casual hookups, Kincaid was not a candidate. There was nothing casual about their relationship. He adjusted the front of his jeans and then cleared his throat to let Kincaid know he was behind her. She stood quickly and turned around. She pushed an errant lock of hair away from her face, her cheek smudged with dust. “Oh, hey.”

“You ready to wrap up? I think we’ve put in a solid day. I may need to shower twice, though.” He pulled his T-shirt away from his chest and let it go, laughing when a puff of dust released into the air.

She smiled. “You and me both. I can’t believe how much stuff they have crammed in here. The sorting alone is going to take forever.”