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She laughed. “They make the bed more inviting to get into.”

He studied her for a few beats. “All set, then?”

“Um-hmm.”

They wheeled their carts up the aisle to the checkouts and got in line behind the woman they’d run into earlier.

“You finally found one,” the woman said. Then she glanced at Nick’s cart with curiosity.

Does she think we’re a couple? Is she wondering why we have two bedding sets? One could be for our spare room, lady. Ohmigod. Stop it!

Stacy turned her attention to the display of scented candles by the registers. She picked up a lavender-scented one, pulled off the lid, and took a deep whiff.

“Mmm.”

“Good?” Nick asked, sounding amused.

“Here. Smell.” She held up the candle, and he leaned over and inhaled.

“It kind of reminds me of my grandma’s house.”

She couldn’t get rid of the candle fast enough, bobbling it as she set it back on the shelf. Instead of making a crack about her age, she said, “Which scent would you choose?”

He perused the display as if he were looking for something specific. Then he picked up a candle, took off the lid, and breathed in the scent. “Try this.”

She leaned forward and sniffed. “Smells like the beach.”

“Like it?”

“I do.” Even though the lavender candle matched her room décor, she added the coconut-scented candle to her cart.

They wheeled their carts outside, looking like any other couple entering or exiting the store, except they weren’t one. He walked her to her car and insisted on loading her packages in the trunk.

“Meet you at Tim Horton’s,” he called as he rolled his cart away.

After she got into her car and started it, she took a few deep breaths. Who would have thought they’d meet up like this? And in Bed Bath & Beyond, of all places! She’d expected to make her purchases, return home, and start redecorating. Instead, he’d helped her pick out a candle and invited her to eat donuts with him. This was eerily like the romance novel she was reading. She’d just gotten to the part where Jason and Samantha’s relationship was heating up.

That can’t happen for you, she reminded herself as she pulled into a parking spot at the nearby Tim Horton’s.

Nick pulled up right next to her, and they both got out at the same time. It was shaping up to be a beautiful first day of spring, and not just because of the handsome man by her side. It was warmish (in the mid-fifties) and sunny, and flowers were starting to poke their heads out of the ground. While Floridians might find it cold, she’d left her jacket in the car, anxious to feel the warmth of the sun on her bare skin, what little of it was showing, anyway.

She’d worn a three-quarter-sleeved striped top, jeans, and her beloved Nikes. Had she known she was going to run into Nick today, she might have dressed differently. Who are you kidding? This was how she usually dressed on the weekends, and she wouldn’t change for a man, especially not now.

Nick held open the door for her, and they got into the line, which snaked around in front of the counter.

He stood closer to her than usual because of the crowd. At one point, someone must have bumped into him, and it caused him to brush up against her back. If that weren’t bad enough, he set his warm palm on her lower back to steady her.

“You okay?” he said, leaning close to her right ear.

Okay? Her body tingled in places that hadn’t tingled in quite some time, except at night when she was reading her book or fantasizing about him. That was nothing compared to this, though, his body heat, his breath in her ear, his hand on her back. “I’m fine,” she managed to squeak out. Fine was fast becoming her new mantra, as she’d been saying it a lot lately.

He seemed in no hurry to remove his hand from her back, and she secretly hoped he’d keep it there for a while longer. When the line moved forward, he dropped it, though, and she missed the contact.

When it was their turn to order, she chose a chocolate-covered donut and a cup of good old-fashioned black coffee. None of those frou-frou drinks for her. Nick ordered a Bavarian cream donut and a lemonade.

“Are you together?” the cashier asked.

“Yes. Well, not really, but yes, in the sense that you can put it all on one bill.”