Siren in Store by Megan Hussey Page B

the edge. “Yes, I
know. Go ahead and put up the sign.”
    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