Page 24 of The Closed Off Captain

Thankfully, they finally get the message and move away. Gunner watches them go with narrowed eyes. “I had that handled,” I tell him.

“I know.” His eyes meet mine. “Thanks for getting rid of the crowd.”

I grab my cart. “Let’s check out and get out of here before another crowd gathers.” I eye the people standing around us, some with their phones up; others still trying to place who the big guy is. “Give me your stuff. I’ll check us both out. You get out of here before another crowd gathers.”

“I’m not leaving you in here by yourself.”

I laugh. “It’s Walmart, Coftman. And I’m not the one everybody wants to get lucky to spot.” I push on his stomach, which is completely inflexible.Mental note—do more sit-ups. “Go. I’ll be fine.”

He glances at the people trying to get closer to us. “You call me if you need me.”

“I will. Go.” I watch as he strides away, and I’m not the only one. I check out quickly with my stuff and then just add Gunner’s stuff to my order. Minutes later, I head to the checkout. I’m out the door soon and halfway to Gunner’s truck when I see them—the two idiots from earlier. I don’t slow my stride. “Make an issue, Fellas, and you’re going to regret it. This is why we have our own lawyers.”

My words seem to hit the guy on the left faster. “Come on, Man. She’s not worth it.”

I roll my eyes as they leave. “Some people.” I look up to see Gunner coming towards me, not looking happy. “They left; don’t worry about it.” He looks over in the direction they went. “Come on, Big C. It’s not worth it.” He reluctantly redirects to his truck and helps me load the bags. He returns the cart for me, and I settle in the front seat and check my email.

“How much do I owe you?” he asks.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re not going to pay for my stuff.”

“It was like four things,” I remind him. “Besides, I owe you big time for today for driving me everywhere. If anything, I owe you gas money.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” His voice is a low growl, and I can tell he’s still irritated.

We make the drive back to the nursing home. “If you want, you can just drop me off; I’ll be fast.” True to my word, I’m back out only a few minutes later.

“How was she?” he asks when I climb back in.

“She’s still sleeping.”

“Good.” He glances over at me. “You two seem pretty close.”

“Well, she raised me; so yeah, we’re pretty close.”

The ride back to my house is quiet. When he pulls up in front of my condo, I turn to him. “Real quick, before you go, I think we should make some rules.”

“Rules?” he questions.

“Yeah, for this thing to work, we need to make rules.” At his look of confusion, I add, “To keep things professional between us.”

“To keep things professional, while you’re playing the part of my fiancé?” he questions.

“Yes, exactly. Because it’s going to get tricky. Anyway, I sent you an email with the list of rules. Feel free to add anything to it.”

“I didn’t get it; I checked my email this morning.”

“Oh, I just sent it.” I grab my purse and put my hand on the door handle.

“You sent me an email while you were sitting next to me?” he asks.

“Yep.” He pulls out his phone. “All right. Well, thank you so much for—”

“Wait.”

He doesn’t say anything more, and I resist the urge to sigh. I’ve already lost a lot of my day; I need to get inside and get work done. “This isn’t going to work,” he says a moment later.

---