Ethan reached over and set a hand on her thigh. “I promise you, Lily, it’s okay. It was an accident and it won’t leave any damage.”
He parked the truck, and the two of them walked into the Country Store. As they walked by the book section, Ethan nodded toward it.
“So, are your books on display?”
She smiled before schooling her features into a neutral look and then shrugged noncommittally.
He had to fight his own smile. He realized that would be the perfect opportunity to mention he knew who she was, but something stopped him. Mentioning it in the store wasn’t the best idea. Perhaps he would over dessert.
They moved toward the pharmacy and looked through the aisles until they found the cream Noah texted him to get. Then they moved toward the groceries and went to the ice cream aisle.
“Now, I think vanilla ice cream is the way to go with this cake, but if you’d like to do something else, I’m all ears,” Ethan said.
Lily tapped her lips while looking over the selection. “I personally like cookies ’n cream ice cream on my chocolate cake.”
“Interesting. I’m not sure I’ve tried it with cake.”
Lily leaned into the freezer and grabbed a carton of each. “Let’s try both.”
Ethan smiled. “Woman after my own heart.”
He set a hand on the small of her back as they walked up to the register to purchase their items. Felicity stood behind the counter and smiled warmly at them before her eyes widened when they focused on his cheek.
“Hey, Felicity,” Ethan said. “Just these.”
“You okay?” she asked while she scanned the barcodes.
Ethan only smiled. “Never better. This is Lily, by the way. She’s staying at the resort.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well,” Lily said.
Felicity waited as Ethan ran his card through the credit card machine. “Hey, did you ever find the books for that author you were looking for?”
Lily perked up beside him, throwing a curious glance in his direction. Ethan’s eyes darted over to Lily before going back to Felicity.
“I did.”
“Mia found her, didn’t she? She’s good at that.”
“Something like that.”
Lily raised an eyebrow, and Ethan could feel her staring at him. “Which author were you trying to find?”
Ethan scratched his chin, being held hostage as Felicity had yet to hand him his receipt while Lily stared him down.
“Uh. Not sure I remember the name.”
“I do,” Felicity said. “Lily Ryan. Oh wait. Isn’t your name Lily? What a coincidence.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Lily said.
Ethan only smiled and tugged at the back of his neck. “Oh, my. We must be going. I really need to get this burn cream on my face.”
He plucked the receipt out of Felicity’s hand and waved before heading toward the door, with Lily trailing behind.
When they got back into his truck and were driving toward his house, she shook her head. “So you were looking for me, I see.”
