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Nick took my hand to help me exit the truck, and held it until we were inside the store. Before letting go, we glanced at each other and for a moment I was almost bashful, blushing and embarrassed that someone I didn’t really know was being so kind. He gave me a small smile and looked away quickly, as if to spare me any further embarrassment than my current situation had already caused.
He left me to check out the meager offerings of the convenience store, and as he walked away, I watched the rock hard yet curvy muscles of his ass flex and relax under his Levi’s jeans. The hem was a bit tattered as if it regularly caught under the heels of his well-worn cowboy boots, and there were wear marks that no fashion chaser would ever consider artificially grinding into their fabrics.
No, Nick’s jeans were those of a sexy working man. I could never get tired of looking at a guy like that and just as my gaze traveled up his torso to the faded T-shirt hugging his biceps, he looked back over his shoulder, smirking when he saw my gaze.
Shit. Busted.
But I played it off as best I could. “Oh, Nick,” I said, walking after him, “I think I’m gonna get a snack. Maybe one of those hotdogs over there?”
“Sounds good,” he said, letting me slide.
Besides, I was actually starving. The moment we’d entered the store, the smoky, greasy smell of fast food had grabbed my empty stomach and twisted it until I was nearly nauseous. Four months of counting every calorie and measuring every macro only to get cheated on all bubbled up at once.
And while a convenience store hotdog might not be my top selection on a day when I was supposed to have been eating filet mignon, at the moment I was obsessed with getting something in my growling digestive tract. So I had a few choices. Greasy convenience food that was warm, or greasy convenience food that was cold.
That about summed it up.
I looked at the oily little dogs turning on rollers like they were on a fake spit. Yeah, they were kind of disgusting. But that didn’t stop me from snagging two and plopping them into a pair of buns with ketchup and mayo, and adding what could only loosely be called chili into them.
I opened wide, determined to take a big bite before I’d even checked out, that’s how hungry I was, when I turned to find Shawn and Derek waiting behind me.
I froze in place, my mouth about as wide open as I could get it, with my first dog already several inches into my mouth. Not my best moment, but I bit down anyway and covered my mouth with my free hand while I tried to swallow the huge bite I’d taken.
Derek’s eyes rose. “Damn,” he mumbled. “Nick’s a lucky bastard.”
Shawn shot him a stink eye and nudged him in the ribs.
I tried to say something, but I’d taken too large of a bite, and just when I tried to gesture that the guys should try the dogs themselves, a big blob of ketchup splattered down my chest and onto the top of my dress and into my cleavage.
Well, fuck all. I was just one classy lady, wasn’t I? Shit, I’d be lucky if these guys didn’t just run for their truck and peel out now that we’d done the nasty, leaving me in the dust, as disgusted by me as they must have been. I was about two steps from needing to be chucked in with the hogs and hosed down to get cleaned up.
But these guys didn’t bat an eye, and in fact seemed perfectly capable of handling someone like me.
Derek reached toward the napkin dispenser and brought me a couple to clean myself up with. “A woman after my own heart. I love a good hotdog, myself,” he said, reaching for a bun.
Shawn held out his hand. “Guess what I found?” he asked, holding up a package. “They have an iPhone charger for sale. You can recharge and tell your people you’re okay. Someone’s got to be worried about you.”
“That’s great… thank you,” I said. “Where’d you find it?”
“Over there, with the school supplies. Why?”
“I’ve got an idea… you might think I’m crazy,” I said, “but, could someone loan me a few bucks? I’m good for it, seriously.”
“No, we’ve got it,” Nick said. “When a lady is in distress, she doesn’t pay for her hot dogs. Or charging cables. Don’t even sweat it.”
“Well… okay,” I said. “Let me get one more thing then.”
A few minutes later I stepped out of the restroom and out into the parking lot, and the guys all gave me a double take.
* * *
