Page 38 of A Brush with Love
Harper stopped and put a hand on his arm, stopping him in his tracks. “I hope you’re not implying you’re buying my groceries.”
He smiled down at her. “I’m not implying anything. I’m stating a fact,” he said, and continued walking.
“Um, no.” She did an awkward little half jog to catch up with his long stride.
He shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“Yeah, we will,” she said sternly.
He shot her a wink and her knees turned watery.
“What did you do today?” Dan asked, placing a guiding hand on her back as they crossed the street. The soft gesture made happiness purr through her, reminding her lonely body of the incomparable comfort of simple human touch, and how long she’d been deprived of it.
“Let’s see,” she said, missing his hand when he pulled it away, “I went to the gym for a quick two-hour workout, then got breakfast with an old friend. Afterward, we went to the art museum and discussed the merits of impressionism, then finished off with ice-skating at City Hall. I had just pulled out some homemade cookies before you picked me up.”
Dan shot her a look. “Really?”
“No. I stayed in my pajamas and studied all day.” Harper was rewarded with the richness of his laugh, like hot chocolate warming her insides.
“Ah, so you live up to your nonstop studying reputation?”
Harper shrugged. “I do other stuff too.”
“Like what?”
“Like getting tricked into seeing a guy at a bar, or being talked into dates at grocery stores.” She shot him a teasing smile.
Dan fumbled for words, and Harper decided she liked watching him squirm.
“The thing last night was not my idea,” he said, a blush forming on his cheeks. “Thu orchestrated that, telling Alex what a good idea it was. By the time she was done working her magic, he and I both thought it was the best plan we’d ever heard.” He jammed his hands into his pockets and Harper wanted to reach in and thread her fingers through his. “I’m sorry. I hope… I don’t know, I hope I didn’t cross a line with that.”
“Hey,” she said, tilting her head to meet his eyes, “don’t ever tell Thu this, but I’m glad she’s so sneaky.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Otherwise, I might never have known how good I am at Jenga.”
Dan laughed again and reached an arm around her shoulder, giving her a light squeeze that flooded Harper with warmth and want.
He unhooked his arm as they entered the grocery store, and they searched through the carts for two that had all four wheels attached. The store was undeniably grimy, but the food was cheap, and when every dollar in your bank account technically belonged to the government via student loans, there was little room to complain.
“So, what’s first on your list?” Dan asked as they moved through the store.
“I’m a big fan of snacks,” Harper said, gesturing toward the bright boxes of processed foods filling the first aisle they turneddown. “I try to let the junk food speak to me, not the other way around.” She tossed a box of crackers into her cart.
“And what does the junk food say?”
She picked up a package of Oreos and held them in front of her mouth. “It says, ‘Pick me, Harper. I’ll make you feel so good. You’ll love the way I taste.’”
Dan’s eyes flew open and Harper cringed. She’d meant for it to sound goofy. It objectively didnot.
“Do all of your snacks talk dirty to you?” Amusement danced across his stupid gorgeous face.
Oh God, not the dimple.
“Just the Oreos,” she said, turning away from that lopsided smile before she licked it off him. “They’re the sluts of the cupboard. It’s a well-known fact.”
Dan laughed, and they continued to weave through the aisles. The universal awkward silence of two nervous people swelled between them, and Harper scrambled for a topic.
