Page 142 of The Sweetest Devotion

But the thought of spending uninterrupted time alone with Cain for days on end made me nauseous.

Three years. I’d only have to submit and be with him for three years minimum if we got married. He hadn’t mentioned it, but hopefully my father hadn’t stretched the truth on that little slip.

Still, that was a long time to be married to a man I didn’t love.

I let it go and advanced forward as Keith pushed the cart onward.

We were near the bakery and the seafood section. An odd neighboring, which left the sweet smells of the cookies and cakes competing with the fishy scent of the nearby filets.

There was a cold wall with sheets of cakes and slices of what looked like cheesecake and cakes with filling. I’d never had much of a sweet tooth, but the baked goods called to me and I had to go browse with Keith in tow.

“Oh, so according to my nutritionist, we can have snacks?” Keith teased.

Being playful, I tugged on his tee. “Youarea snack.”

Keith smirked and I stuck my tongue out to taunt him further. One minute he was standing in front of me, and the next he was seizing my waist, leaning down and licking my tongue with his.

I snapped to attention and blinked rapidly.

Him.

I could taste him on my tongue. A novel flavor that had me in a daze. The small dose of him sent a violent shock to my system.

As if he wasn’t fazed, Keith went on by me and grabbed a cold wedge of cheesecake with a cherry drizzle. “My one weakness.”

I came to. “Love cheesecake.” Though, I was a glutton for brownies. Finnegan’s served a variety of options: fudge frosted, cream cheese frosted, German chocolate, and peanut butter iced. I relied on old faithful and grabbed the fudge frosted kind.

“Okay, time for fish. One of the recipes I looked up that I really want to try making is lobster mac and cheese—actually, mac and cheese is a dish I’d love to master regardless. Jadyn’s great aunt makes thebestsoul food macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had,” I said.

A tiny smile washed across Keith’s face. “We can definitely teach you that.”

There was a small line in front of the seafood counter. The right side of the case offered shrimp, from raw to cooked, as well as lobster tails, mussels, clams, and oysters. The middle of the case offered marinated filets of salmon, tilapia, as well as stuffed salmon and stuffed cod. And the left side of the case had all the filets Finnegan offered. Some of the fish was wild caught, and the rest was farm raised.

I went over to the lobster tails, noting that they were thirty-four ninety-nine a pound for four to five ounces, versus forty-nine ninety-nine for ten ounces. I tried to do quick mental math to see how much I’d need to make a pan of lobster mac and cheese and came up clueless.

“That’s pretty pricey,” Keith noted as he came up beside me. He went over to the freezer beside the case and opened the door and grabbed a bag of something and held it out. “That way is probably good, but why not try using langostinos since they’re already bite-size?”

“Think I need three or four bags?” I asked.

Keith glanced at the price and appeared thoughtful. “Maybe three since they’re only a pound each.”

I stepped out of the way of the customers who were next in line and went over to the freezer. The langostinos were seventeen dollars a bag. “Geez, this stuff really adds up, huh?”

Keith nodded. “Rule one of grocery shopping: never do it when you’re hungry.”

Because my stuff was purely experimental, I went and tried to separate them in the cart. “I’ll pay for mine.”

“It’s cool,” Keith insisted.

“Your chivalry isn’t going ignored, trust me, but I’m paying for my own food,” I said.

He eyed the frozen lobster meat. “So, what’s your game plan? You’re going to drive all this back to Hampton Hills?”

He had a point, depending on traffic, it was a good forty-minute drive at least back home. That was a long time to be driving with frozen and fresh fish.

“Fifty bucks, and you can keep this at my house,” Keith said in the end.

“Ahundredbucks and deal,” I agreed.

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