Siren in Store (2 page)

He winced as his words were met with
a high-pitched squeal of approval.

“You’ve finally come to your
scattered senses,” she applauded the man of her heart. “You’re
finally acknowledging that we do indeed need a little help around
here.”

Woody nodded.

“It is a tough job for two people,”
he admitted.

“And it’ll get even tougher next
week,” Beth agreed, “when we head off to that comic convention in
Jersey.”

She froze as Woody’s head shot up,
and he shuffled his feet beneath him.

“Actually Beth, that’s another thing
I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” he folded his arms before
him. “It seems my cheap jack publisher is only willing to cover two
plane tickets to Jersey.”

“Well that’s cool,” Beth gave him a
look that screamed “And? I am one person. You are a second. That
constitutes two people, dear.”

“I’m taking Shonda,” Woody blurted
out, averting his gaze to the counter beneath him.

Beth bristled at the mention of
Woody’s assistant; the slender twenty something who inked his comic
books.

“At least that’s all I hope she’s
inking,” she bit her lip, adding aloud, “I understand, of course,
that she is your assistant. Yet since they’re going to have to
cover two hotel rooms anyway, why doesn’t your publisher allow
Shonda to bring her boyfriend,” she paused, staring her lover
straight in the eyes, “and you to bring me?”

Woody shrugged.

“I guess after shelling out for two
hotel rooms, they don’t have enough to cover four plane tickets,”
he said vaguely, turning away from her to fix his gaze to the gleam
of his computer screen. “Stinks, doesn’t it?”

Beth stared at him a long moment
before turning away.

“It sure does.”

*

Hours later, Beth sat before her own
computer, set up quite conveniently in an office far removed from
Woody’s post at the front counter. Still she couldn’t help but look
over his shoulder to observe that he was hard at work on his latest
comical creation which, shockingly enough, was a semi-nude woman
with balloon-sized breasts and no noticeable hips to match
them.

Sneaking a quick, self-conscious
look down her own fully made form, Beth shook her head before
lifting it with pride. She knew and felt the sublime power of her
blonde, voluptuous beauty and—blast it—she could fantasize too;
specifically about the tall drink of water who now approached their
counter.

The sculpted gold wonder represented
in himself a three-dimensional fantasy; an ethereal being with
flowing hair, bronzed chiseled features and a muscled
frame.

“He looks so familiar,” she pursed
her lips, leaning forward for a closer look. “I mean, I have to
look extra close just to see if I know him, right?”

Her spirits dampened as she detected
the direction of his own eyes.

The handsome stranger, it seemed,
was staring with wide eyes at the explicit image displayed on her
boyfriend’s computer screen.

“Oh come on,” she sighed. “Don’t go
and be like a real guy. Just be my fantasy.”

Woody, for his part, beamed with
encouragement at the stranger’s interest.

“Pretty hot,” he coaxed, “isn’t
she?”

He froze as his customer drew back
from the counter, fixing him with a concerned stare.

“Actually I was quite concerned when
I saw the model in the image,” he revealed. “She looks as though
she hasn’t had a good meal in ages. And her chest seems abnormally
swelled.” He stunned Woody with a pointed look. “Is your character
ill?”

Beth could stand it no longer.
Leaping from her seat, she bounded from her office and engaged her
customer in a warm, hearty handshake.

“To paraphrase Olivia Newton John, I
honestly love you,” she announced with a grin. “I wish I could
offer you my heart and my soul. As it stands all I can give you is
a free book.”

Joining in her laughter, the
stranger charmed her with a full-toothed smile that dazzled in its
ivory gleam.

“Ah how refreshing, a real woman.”
He raised her hand to his lips for a warm, soft kiss. “Beautiful,
voluptuous, and funny to boot. Now that’s what I’m talkin’
about.”

Beth chuckled at the way his
cultured tones massaged this trendy phrase, even as she trembled at
the feel of his soft, full lips as they caressed her sensitive
skin.

For just a moment she stared into
his azure eyes and the world dissolved around them, leaving a man
who seared her with a narrow eyed stare that bespoke warmth
and—could it be?—just a hint of passion.

Suddenly the pain that struck her
temple seemed to subside, only to be replaced by unbidden notions
of pure and unbridled lust.

Her heart beat just a bit faster as
she studied the stranger’s flawless face, one characterized by
carved cheekbones, sun-bronzed skin and full, moist
lips.

The troubles of her life melted away
as she lost herself in fantasy. With a drawn breath she clutched
the stranger’s hand as though it was a lifeline.

She felt lost and lustful in equal
measure, chills raced up her spine as she escaped into the
stranger’s gaze.

For the moment she felt happy and
serene, much like she did during her all too rare sojourns into the
azure blue sea.

And as per the course of Beth’s
everyday life, the moment didn’t last long.

“Are you serious here,
Dude?”

The annoying tones of Woody’s
cigarette tinged voice disrupted her dream, shattering her rapture
with its scratchy strains.

“You’d really prefer Beth over the
girl I’m drawing here?”

The subject of his pointed comments
gritted her teeth, feeling her cheeks flush as she suddenly hoped
for the convenient arrival of the hurricane, tornado or other
natural disaster; anything that would suck her violently into the
ground, thus rescuing her from this humiliating
situation.

Their visitor, for his part, turned
to her boyfriend with hard eyes and firm, drawn lips.

“Oh what’s wrong Dude?” He made a
mockery of Woody’s casual tone. “Did this lovely lady here turn you
down for a date?”

The broad beam returned to Beth’s
face as she considered these words.

“No, but on reflection I wish I
had,” she squared her shoulders. “As it stands, however, I’d now
like to offer you two free books today.”

“And my hand in marriage,” she added
silently.

The stranger chuckled, inclining his
head to acknowledge her offer.

“As a loyal customer at your place
of business, dear lady, I would indeed love to claim some
complimentary books from your shelves,” he grinned, adding with an
arched eyebrow, “I’d far rather, however, purchase them myself with
the aid of an employee discount.” He belied this declaration with a
short, sharp nod. “I’d very much like to apply for the job you have
posted at the front of the store.”

Beth thought a moment, then
nodded.

“You’re hired,” she
announced.

“Now wait just a moment!” Woody
seared her with a disbelieving stare. “Aren’t you even going to
quiz him about his retail experience? His degree of familiarity
with the literary world?” He crossed his eyes. “His name,
mayhap?”

“I honestly don’t care if he’s never
read a book,” Beth declared, pinning Woody with what she hoped was
a most annoying smile.

Their visitor laughed in the face of
Beth’s antics, adding in a more serious tone:

“My name is Landon. I cannot claim
to have extensive retail experience. I’m mostly a beachcomber who
spends a great deal of time reading.”

He paused, raising his muscled arms
to make a broad gesture toward the shelves of Siren’s
Call.

“I don’t just see those books when I
regard those shelves,” his azure eyes glowed with a gleam of wonder
that stole Beth’s breath. “I see tomes, fables, adventures. I
especially love stories of life at sea, as penned by Hemingway and
Melville. Female authors are really the best, though—people like
Austen and Du Maurier capture the true essence of life through
their writing.”

“Very astute observations,” Beth
nodded, adding silently, “I think I’m going to have an orgasm. Here
and now.”

Woody was less impressed.

“So you love books,” he allowed with
a shrug. “Do you know customer service?”

It was Landon’s turn to
shrug.

“I am basically a man who lives off
the land and the water,” he added these last words in a low,
cryptic tone. “I’ve never held much in the way of a job. I have,
however, volunteered many days at the Paradise Bay homeless
shelter, sorting clothes for and serving meals to our less
fortunate residents.”

He paused, staring out a nearby
window to observe a sparkling seascape of pure bronzed sand and
sparkling gem blue waters.

“The trick is always to make every
customer feel like a guest, and every guest feel like a
monarch—even if they come into the building wearing rags. They’re
still a person, and they deserve respect.”

“Oh don’t even say it,” Woody
interrupted, throwing a harsh look in the direction of his glowing
girlfriend. “He’s got the job.”

~~*~~

***

Late that evening, a lone figure
splashed in the waves of Paradise Bay, immersing himself in the
aquatic element that served as his second home.

“Well my first home actually.” The
solitary man shut his eyes tight, diving deeper into the comforting
catacombs of sweet aqua. “And most of the time, I never want to
leave.”

“Who,” he wondered, “would not want
to live in this rich aquatic paradise, this tropical haven of
rainbow-colored guppies, diamond hued dolphins, and schools of
golden starfish and sea horses, all of which swam in peaceful
communion among luxurious lines of gold and lavender
coral.”

To this lone man the creatures of
the sea were much like his friends and brethren. He felt far more
at ease with the creatures of the sea than with his neighbors on
land.

“Sometimes I wish I never had to go
on land,” he sighed.

Other times though, his more human
side took over, and he craved a humanistic pleasure—like reading a
book or attending a movie.

“Or, for that matter, meeting a
woman.” He smiled at the thought of the gorgeous female he’d met
that day on the beach.

“Only it wasn’t exactly on the
beach,” he shrugged, nodding toward a wise copper hued otter who
swam majestically before him, “and she might not be considered
gorgeous—at least not in the eyes of that disgusting cretin she
calls a boyfriend.”

How could he not appreciate the
smiling, bright lass with the lovely eyes as blue as the sea—and
the unruly blonde hair that likened the sun itself in its exquisite
golden glory?

“Which is fitting, as she sets fire
to my loins.” He dove deeper toward the floor of his aquatic home,
aquiline streams caressing his body, supplying the cold shower he
desperately needed as he contemplated his dream girl.

He’d come into her shop that day
looking for a few books, some simple diversions to help him bide
the time he spent on land.

At first he didn’t pay much
attention to the ‘help wanted’ sign posted at the door of the
store.

The moment he met the shop’s owner,
however, he wanted her—badly. Every fiber of his being needed and
desired her. He’d even felt the irrational urge to seduce her right
there on her own counter, and if her verbally abusive brute of a
boyfriend wanted to stand there and watch, so be it.

He swore he’d seen her before on the
beach. He barely knew her but she fired his blood and made his
heart pound. More than that, her manner of speaking and obvious
intellect ignited his mind.

He looked forward to spending long
days by her side, easing the burden of her daily duties as he
engaged her in endless conversations about books and the literary
world.

He anticipated even more the thrill
of seduction; the sheer excitement of tempting and fulfilling a
wonderful woman in need of a good man.

“I could tell she liked me,” his
grin was boyish as his hands made circles in the waters around him.
“Hopefully she’ll like me even more when I offer her my body … I’ll
be all hers, there only to fulfill her every desire and do with me
just as she pleases.”

Like some of the women who’d shared
his stretch of sand, he hoped she’d love his massive chest, his
sculpted abs, his honed lovemaking skills …

He just wasn’t sure how she’d feel
about the blasted fin.

~~*~~

***

Two weeks later

An azure morning marked the
beginning of another day at Siren’s Call Books. Beth arrived once
again at the door of her store. This time, however, her step was
light and she just couldn’t wait to turn the key in the
door.