Page 32 of Two Hearts' Ploy

Suddenly, someone banged a grocery cart into hers.

Ready to apologize and move on, even though it wasn’t her fault, she looked up.

And blinked.

“I swear. I run into you everywhere,” Jeff said dryly.

Wren snorted.

“You’re the last person I expected to see at the grocery store,” he said.

“Well, room service isn’t open around the clock, and I don’t really know the best places to eat where I can remain invisible. I’m pretty sure it’s going to get old having to wait until the Inn’s restaurants aren’t busy to sneak in a meal, so I thought I’d pickup a few snacks and breakfast items along with some bottled water and coffee when I noticed last night that the suite had a small kitchen.”

He nodded his obvious understanding. “I’m stocking up myself. Maybe you can point out some of the things that you like to eat while you’re here.”

“I could do that. I’m not a half bad cook either.”

“Good to know,” he answered. “I’m okay with stuff like hamburger helper but grilling out is my specialty.”

She grinned. “Sounds good.”

Another fifteen minutes later, they were finishing up when Jeff suddenly asked, “Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“No. In fact, that’s why I decided to stop off here.”

“You could have ordered room service.”

“I know, but that kind of gets old fast, even though the food seems to be great at the Inn.”

“Want to go out and eat with me now? We could stop off at the Crystal Rock Tap. I think you’d like the food there too. It’s a pretty popular place, but it’s getting late and it’s the beginning of the week, so it won’t be too busy. Plus, the lights are kept down low inside.”

“Sounds like the perfect place,” she answered. “I am feeling hungry. I haven’t eaten anything since the hot dogs.”

“You’ve got to be starving,” Jeff muttered, frowning. “Wait a minute. I’ve got a lot of frozen food. And you’ve got cheese and milk. We probably shouldn’t leave everything unrefrigerated too long.”

She shrugged. “I’ve got a couple of large coolers in the back of my SUV that I bought for my cross-country trip. All we need is a bag of ice. That should get us through dinner.”

“Alright. You wait in line, and I’ll go get the ice,” he said, heading past the checkout lane to the large freezer near the door.

Another twenty minutes later, Wren was following Jeff’s truck into the parking lot of the Crystal Rock Tap.

He stood waiting when she stepped out of her SUV, and they made their way together through the parking lot to the restaurant entrance.

Ten minutes later, they were seated in a cozy corner booth, ordering dinner.

For a moment, Wren felt like she was on an actual date with a guy she was crazy about.

She’d dated a lot of different guys, while vacationing or performing in some of the most dazzling and beautiful locations in the world.

And it was puzzling, how a small intimate dinner like this could mean more to her than any other date she’d ever been on.

Chapter Seventeen

After lecturing him for several long minutes about not doing what he’d been told, Dad had suddenly changed his tune, telling Ben how proud he was of him.

Unfortunately, Ash and his uncle, along with another man who’d appeared to be a bodyguard, had all managed to escape about ten minutes before the agents Dad had called in had arrived at the golf course, which had a wide enough clearing for the chopper to land. Dad had his feelers out, trying to gather information on the company that would have supplied the chopper.

There was supposed to be a meeting tonight in Dad’s private office upstairs at the Inn with Aylin and her father, supposedly to thank Ben for rescuing her.

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