Siren in Store Read Free

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.”
     
    ~~*~~

Chapter
3
     
    ***
     
    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