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“Dude. I always have those, they’re my fave. Your spicy scenes are my fave too.” She laughed. “If you don’t find them on the shelf, check the box by the display. And next time you come in, I’m going to have my copy ofBeg for Itfor you to sign.”
“You got it! I’m doing Vi’s book club soon. I hope you’ll come.”
“You know I wouldn’t miss that!”
“Awesome.” I meandered through the store, stuffing my basket with various Hostess, Little Debbie, and Lay’s products on my way to the Doritos in the rear corner. It was a sad fact that junk food made me write better. Or maybe the added sugar and preservatives did stuff to my brain chemistry and bumped up my creativity. I wasn’t going to question it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That was my motto.
The bell over the doordingedas someone entered the store. “Hey, Elizabeth.” My ears pricked.
It was Cade.
I couldn’t handle another run-in today. My heart was already hurting from the one earlier. The more I saw him, the harder it was to shove him out of my brain, and that’s what I had to do in order to regain at least part of my focus since Monsieur Assface Von Stalker was hogging up a good portion of the rest, dang it.
“Shoot,” I muttered as I rushed to the cardboard pyramid of Dorito bags and tried to squeeze my booty behind it. My purse slipped from my shoulder, jostling the basket from my elbow straight into the display, knocking it to the ground. “Dang it, damn it, crap.”
Now what?
I contemplated burying myself in the pile of chips but rejected the thought as I looked up; the security mirror showed Elizabeth trying not to laugh as she watched my antics.
Just fricking great.
Cade’s eyes were bright as he fought a smile and headed my way. “I’ll help her pick it up, Elizabeth. Those Doritos are a hazard, aren’t they?”
“Don’t I know it, dude. Thanks,” she called out. “Uh, did you find the Tapatío flavor, Charlotte?”
Frantically, I looked around, snagging a bag off the floor. “Yes! It was precariously perched, and I am clumsy. I’m so sorry.” Her attempt to cover my bumbling effort to hide from Cade was admirable. I made a mental note to bring her some swag when I came back to sign her book. Us girls had to stick together.
“Charlotte,” he greeted as he approached.
“Coming to my rescue again, Cade. You’re such a hero,” I deadpanned. Lately, being in this town was like taking a body blow with each step I took. Pretty soon I’d be riddled with bruises.
His smile slipped. “I do what I can.” Bending, he righted the cardboard display and avoided my eyes.
Immediately, I felt bad. “I didn’t mean anything by—”
“Of course you didn’t. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay...”
Silently, we made quick work of cleaning up the Doritos while I tried to think of something to say to him or a way to escape this situation without making a bigger ass of myself than I already had.
I spared him a furtive glance from the corner of my eye.
He was unaffected.
Stone-faced.
Probably angry with me too. He knew I hadn’t told the truth about the accident, and he was a cop. I had lied to a cop, just like a criminal would. I was his bad guy du jour—that’s all this was.
We were just two people who used to mean everything to each other, no big deal. Our history filled up this entire stupid town, but those days were long over. He’d moved on and so had I, I guess.
No. I did.
I had moved on.
I moved to New York and built a life there.
And clearly, he would never forgive me for it. Or forget how much I had hurt him when I left.
