Huh?
I darted a look over my shoulder. A big, broad chest stuffed inside a black Henley… A beard…
Well, wasn’t that justpeachy?
Aiden was the last person I wanted to see. I glared up at him. His face was grim, and even darker circles bruised under tired grey eyes.Good!A lifetime of bad sleep was the least of what he deserved after the way he’d treated me.
He said nothing, but he dipped his chin. His way of saying hello. Or maybe he was silently pleading with me to accept his peace offering. Yeah, right. He could take his carton of milk and shove it where the sun didn’t shine.
I stared him dead in the eye and pushed the carton away from my pile of groceries.
“Don’t need it,” I said.
Aiden’s face gave nothing away. If he knew I was imitating the way he’d spoken to me outside the coffee shop, he didn’t show it. The man was a stone wall.
“You need milk. You just said so. Here.” Aiden slid the carton back. “It’s the last one. Take it.”
My eyebrows scrunched together. I’d never be in debt to that man.Never.I pressed the carton back again, but my palm was fuelled by too much anger, and the container toppled over on the counter.
“Don’twantit,” I said.
Aiden’s eyes screwed closed. “Lola… I…”
“There isnothingyou need to say to me.” I refused to look at that traitor for another second. Whipping my head around, I scooped up my groceries and shoved the pile to the end of the counter away from his milk.
Ashley let out a laugh tinged with nervousness as she leant over and grabbed the milk, whisking it under the counter. “Well, would you look at that?” The carton reappeared, and she plonked it at the front. “I found some milk out back after all.” She winked at me. “But you can keep your hundred dollars.”
I folded my arms across my chest and stuck my nose into the air, completely ignoring Aiden while Ashley scanned the last of my groceries.
I couldn’t get out of that store fast enough. The second Ashley was done, I tapped my card to pay, muttered a quick, “Sorry for being such a… well…you know…” and flew out the door.
My fists clenched so tightly around the handles of my cotton grocery bags that my fingernails dug into my palms. My heart hammered faster when the bell for the grocery store tingled in the background. Boots pounded on the sidewalk behind me.
“Lola!”
I pretended not to hear Aiden calling me. He tried again, but I still ignored him. His footsteps picked up, and moments later, a wall of black Henley blocked my path. I jerked to a stop. My grocery bags kept swinging.
That nasty brute of a man! What did he want?
I stuck my foot out to step around Aiden. His hand reached for me like he wanted to grab my arm, but he quickly pulled back. Instead, he blocked my way past.
I huffed in frustration. “Excuse me, Mr. McKinnon.”
Again, I tried to dodge past. Again, he blocked my way, and his hand shot out, then retreated before his fingers skimmed my skin. Why did he keep doing that? Was I so tainted and unlovable that he couldn’t even bear to touch me now?
“Lola, can we please talk?”
Maybe if adorable pigs with pink swirly tails soared through the valley. “No.”
I pushed past him and charged down the path, but I jolted to a stop as he somehow managed to block my way again. For a big guy, he sure was quick on his feet.
Exhausted, quiet frustration roared out of me. My eyes widened. It had been a very long time since I’d felt comfortable enough to express anger. He really did bring out the worst in me.
“What?” I snapped at him. “What do you want, Aiden?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I wanted to, um”—a deep breath—“to tell you—”
“What?”
