Page 7 of Galen

His light gray eyes moved to me. “Perhaps.”

Shit.His voice was just as hot as the rest of him. Deep and a little gravelly.

“Well, you can find a little bit of everything in here,” I said, chuckling like I always did when I was nervous. I heard Kyo lightly snicker from behind me, and I had to force myself not to elbow him. “What are you looking for?”

The man came closer, and I had to crane my neck to look up at him.

“There was an auction last week from the Ravenwood Mansion,” he said, not taking his eyes off me. I was both slightly unsettled and turned the hell on. “I was curious if you bought anything from it.”

“Y-Yes.” I motioned to the shelves. “We were just stocking some of the new items.”

The mansion must’ve been more popular than I thought if it was already bringing people to my shop.

The man briefly looked at the shelf before shifting those gray eyes back to me. “Is this all of it?”

“No. There’s still some in the back I haven’t logged yet.”

“Can you show me?”

“I usually don’t allow customers in the storage room.” I averted my eyes to the rug beneath me, staring at a fray at the edge. “There’s a process, you see.”

“A process.”

“Mhm.” I chanced a peek up at him. His gaze was still pinned to me, kicking my heart rate up a notch. “Sorry.”

He smiled. “Could you make an exception just this one time?” Tingles traveled along my skin as he took another step forward, bringing the heat of his large body inches from mine. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

My mind went blank, and I forgot how to speak. Forgot how to do anything but stand there and stare at this giant of a man who was too hot to be real. Probably because all the blood rushed straight to my dick.

“I can’t. I’m sorry,” I finally answered. “But if you come back on Monday, I should have everything sorted.”

His jaw tightened, and anger sparked in his eyes. The flirty smile from earlier was definitely gone now. “I must insist that it be today.”

“And I must insist that you wait.” My voice came out steadier than I thought it would. “If you leave your name and number at the front, I can call you when—”

The man turned and exited the shop, slamming the door behind him.

I blew out a breath. “That was… interesting.”

“He could be an art thief or a member of some secret crime organization,” Kyo said, walking over to the door and peeking through the glass. “Maybe he’s searching for some invaluable artifact the lady who died had in her possession.”

“You watch too many movies. There’s no way that’s true.”

“Sure. Okay.” Kyo stepped away from the door and shot me a look. “Can you explain it, then? That guy was like seven feet tall and wearing combat boots. He’s not your average joe looking for an antique table to complete his living room set.”

“You don’t know that. Just because he looked like a guy who snaps people’s necks in his free time doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy a nice piece of furniture. Maybe a lamp to go with it.”

Kyo threw his head back with a laugh and went over to answer the phone.

I returned to the storage room, only half paying attention to what I was doing. I couldn’t get that guy out of my head. How his gray eyes watched me. How pissed he got when I said he couldn’t go in the back room. I got the feeling he wasn’t used to people telling him no.

What was he after?

My gaze landed on the box.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I grabbed it off the shelf. With my hand shaking a bit, I took off the lock and touched the lid. But I hesitated.

“Just do it,” I told myself. “It’s only a stupid box.”