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“Josie’s my chocolate lab. She’s eighteen months, and in the morning, she likes to wake me by”—Mark grimaced—“licking my neck.”
“Your dog?” My hands were on my cheeks. “You’re telling me that me kissing you reminded you of yourdog?”
Mark stepped forward. “No! No, I honestly don’t even remember that you kissed me!”
“Oh my God, I thought this couldn’t get worse!” Rushing past him, I grabbed the keys for my truck. “I um, I have shit to do. You, uh, you don’t need to leave. I’ll catch you later!” I heard him call out after me, but my ego couldn’t stay here one more minute.
Not only did he not remember kissing me, he subconsciously thought it was his puppy gyrating on top of him? I was going to die of embarrassment.
This man had totally disrupted my life in less than twenty-four hours. Well, no more, I was taking back control. Right now. “As you drive away from your home,” I muttered as I changed gear for the tight bend of the road. “Totally taking control as you flee.”
I wasn’t fleeing. I was merely taking a moment to recover. Regroup. Nodding emphatically to my inner voice, I tried to forget this morning’s clusterfuck.
In town, I noticed that outside Will’s shop was a blue Chevy Camaro. Curious, I got out to investigate it. The hood was open, and I knew little about cars, but I did know Mark was lucky not to die yesterday. This car may look shiny and pretty, but inside, it was rotten.
Was he?
Stop it, I admonished myself. With a sigh and bracing myself, I entered Janice’s store.
“It’s me,” I called as I heard the banging in the back. There were a few of the town regulars waiting patiently. Janice was cranky, nosy and had few boundaries, but you forgave all that as soon as you tasted her baking.
“You got hot stuff with you?” Janice asked as she poked her head out from the back.
“No,” I said through clenched teeth as I saw some of my neighbours look at me with interest.
“Huh, well.” Janice emerged, caked in flour and other baking ingredients. “Made him a double stack.” Dropping the still warm bundle in my arms, I was suddenly very interesting to my neighbours for different reasons. Janice never let you buy double until the day was done.
“Why she getting double?” someone grumbled.
“I like her more than I like you.” Janice scowled at the offender and then, with a grunt, indicated that she was ready to sell.
As she insulted most of the customers or teased the rest, I was soon smiling as she single-handedly reminded the town of Clearwater Pines why she was infamous all over the Rockies, not only for her baking.
When most of the store was clear, she fixed me with her evil eye. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” I forced a smile. “Just need to stock up.”
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t blink, and I didn’t lose the smile. “He do okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine.”
“What’d you make for dinner?”
It wasn’t unusual for her to ask me. When I had guests, we chatted easily about my menus for the week. This was not a trick question. “Burgers.”
“Hmm.” She still hadn’t blinked. How was that possible? Didn’t we have to? Wasn’t it an automatic thing? “What’s cooking tonight?”
“I was thinking some cold cuts and the salad from last night. I got a nut loaf yesterday; I think he needs to taste it. Maybe in the yard or something.”
She blinked. I felt relieved. Her arms folded across her chest. I felt nervous again.
“Like a picnic? For two?”
Was it? “No.” Yup, it was.
“Iris Bracknell, you think I’m stupid?”
“No.”
