Barnes settled into his new store, kept her moving from early morning until late evening. While she actually enjoyed the pace, she found it left little time for a social life. She hadn’t seen much of Miles, since his workload had increased along with the mall traffic as well. When she did see him, he was usually moving at a clipped pace, with his radio pressed to his mouth, and wearing a determined expression on his face. Of course, when he spotted her, he always waved. And they had shared small talk on occasion, but little more than that. Kellie told herself that was fine—that she hardly knew him anyway—and that it was for the best that they keep their relationship purely business. Besides, she realized just how much an object of speculation she’d become, since nearly every store manager in the place had, at one time or another over the past several weeks, inquired about the nature of her and Miles’ relationship. Ironically, they had no relationship in any real sense of the word, but typically, the intrusive questioning was followed by a warning: Don’t hurt Miles. Frankly, it was all beginning to grate on her nerves. “Seen Miles lately?”
