AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Works out well for me then. I came in to pick up a bottle of wine for tonight. Then I realized you might not like wine. Now I can just ask instead of guessing.”
“I-I like wine,” I said quietly, my heart stuttering, my stomach flipping, and that teenager in my head gaining consciousness just long enough to faint again. I was going to have to do something about her. She wasreallyannoying.
Those dimples deepened as his smile spread. “Any kind in particular?”
“I’m not really picky. Any red is fine.”
“Red. Got it. Is there anything I can get for Renee?”
Oh fresh hell. If I hadn’t been sitting on the stool, I probably would have melted to the floor. “You really don’t need to do that.”
“I want to,” he replied casually. “Can’t show up for dinner without something for both the ladies in the house, right?”
“She loves gummy bears,” Georgia said for me when it became obvious I was struggling to find my voice. “Well, she loves the green ones, but if you just buy her a bag, she can pick them out and she’ll love you forever.”
“Red wine and gummy bears. Got it. I’ll just”—he hooked his thumb over his shoulder—“grab that stuff. Anything else I can get for tonight? Dessert maybe? I can’t cook, but I’m a pro at buying junk food.”
I finally managed to unglue my tongue from the roof of my mouth. “Oh, no. You don’t need to do anything else. Really. I’ve got that handled. Actually, I didn’t think to ask if there’s anything you don’t eat.”
“Not picky,” he replied, using my earlier words. “You make it, I’ll eat it. I just appreciate the meal.”
A grin that probably looked as ridiculous as it felt tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Okay then. I guess I’ll see you later tonight.”
“Well, I mean, I’ll see you in a minute when I check out, right?”
“Right. Of course. Yes. When you check out. Because I work here. That’s my job. Checking you out. Wait! Not like,checking you out. I didn’t mean it like that. But like, ringing up your stuff.”
Georgia took pity on me just then and placed her hand on my shoulder, effectively silencing me. “Wine’s on aisle five, sweets on seven. Let us know if you need help with anything else.”
His smoky eyes glinted with laughter as he nodded. “Right. Thanks.”
As soon as he disappeared from sight, I whipped around on the stool to face Georgia. “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” I whispered frantically. “That was really bad, wasn’t it?”
She gave me a bemused look. “It wasn’t great, that’s for damn sure. What in the world was that? You acted like a flipping pod person.”
“God, I know.” I covered my face with my hands and groaned. “I don’t know why I get like that around him. I get totally ridiculous. I think maybe his cologne or something is designed toliterallymake women lose their minds.”
“Well, you better get yourself together, because he’ll be back any minute, and you need to act like you know how to interact with other human beings.”
As far as pep talks went, it certainly wasn’t her best, but it did the job. I worked on deep breathing and shook out my hands in an attempt to rid them of their tremble. I felt somewhat normal when he returned to the counter with a bottle of wine and two bags of gummy bears, still all dimples and ridiculously good looks.
I took the items he’d placed on the counter and started typing in the prices. We weren’t a big enough store for a scanner, but by now, I knew all the numbers by heart. “Anything else?” I asked as I bagged up his groceries.
“You tell me. You sure I can’t bring anything more?”
I couldn’t help but wonder, was he really this sweet, or was it an act? I stopped to do something I hadn’t had the wherewithal to do before now, and studied his face, refusing to allow myself to get hung up on the pretty wrapping. As Luna liked to say, I had that radar when it came to reading people, and I needed to see if I got any kind of vibe off this man before I let him into my house.
Nothing pinged. No alarms sounded. No red flags shot up. I got the sense he was genuine. All I read off him was humor and maybe a hint of curiosity.
“Nope,” I said with a grin. “This is more than enough.”
“All right, then.” I gave him his total and passed the bags over along with his change.
“I’m really looking forward to tonight,” he said in an almost tender voice as he stepped back from the counter. “See you at six, Sawyer.”
“Yeah. See you then.”
I watched him leave and continued to stare at the door like a silly start-struck girl long after he disappeared.
