Page 41 of A Brush with Love
“Go!” She pushed off with all her strength, stretching her short legs to their maximum stride for three pushes before hopping onto the cart. As she’d anticipated, Dan’s longer legs had given him an advantage.
The nose of his cart was a few inches ahead of hers, as she’dpredicted, putting him in the perfect position for her to move in for the kill. She shifted her weight to one side, making the front of her cart veer toward his. Dan’s head shot to look at her the moment before impact, and she saw the fear. She could almost smell it.
BAM.
Her cart jammed into the side of his, causing its wheels to jut off course, and he rammed into the shelf with a bang.
The crash threw Dan’s equilibrium off-kilter, and he flew into a pyramid of paper towels displayed off the shelves.
Harper, on the other hand, quickly righted her weight and centered herself in the lane, gliding gracefully across the finish line. A ridiculous amount of pride swelled in her chest.
She hopped off the edge of her cart with a flourish and bounced on her toes. Dan was still laying in the rubble of the paper towel heap, and she waited for him to get up.
“I won,” she preened.
Dan didn’t move.
“You were a fierce competitor though,” she called down the aisle.
Still nothing.
With a pang of panic, she hurried to the site of the collision, hovering over his still body, her palms clenching and unclenching as she waited for him to move. His eyes were closed and his legs were bent at odd angles beneath him.
“Dan?” Harper’s voice was an octave too high. “You okay?”
She reached out to press a finger to his pulse, wanting to avoid moving him too much if he was hurt. Harper almost made contact with his skin when his eyes flashed open.
He grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her down on top of him. She let out a shriek of surprise as she collapsed against his chest and the cushy paper towels.
“You play so dirty!” he said, tickling her sides. She squealed, trying to squirm out of his strong grip.
“No I don’t!” She pushed against him. “There was nothing in the bylaws about physical contact! I won fair and square.”
“And risked my life and limb to do so,” Dan said with a noise somewhere between a laugh and a growl that sent an effervescent burst through Harper’s body. “You could have killed me. I could bedead,Harper.”
Harper let out a gasp as his tickling doubled in effort. “I think you’re being a bit ridiculous,” she choked out.
She nuzzled her face closer to the crook between his arm and chest.
To protect her chin from tickles. Obviously.
“I’mridiculous?” He jolted them both up to sitting with ease, holding her in his lap, his arms wrapped loosely around her. “You just Tonya Harding–ed me in a shopping cart race, butI’mridiculous?”
They both shook with laughter, and their eyes locked in a moment of sharp intimacy. He flashed a devastating smile, and Harper had to remind herself how to breathe. It felt like her heart was expanding in her chest, wanting to pop free from her rib cage and knock at his, hoping for company.
Dan’s fingers traced up her arm, leaving scorched nerves along their path. He settled his palm at the angle of her jaw and let it linger. Waiting.
The moment felt like a beginning or an end, and it was up to Harper to decide. She felt poised on the brink of a huge precipice that she could either fling herself off or retreat from to the safety of solid ground.
It would be so easy, so natural, to lean forward and press her mouth to Dan’s, morphing the unspoken possibilities into reality. It would feel so undeniablygoodto give up overthinking fear and embrace pure want instead.
But the rational part of her brain—the louder, stronger, anxious part—scolded her emotions into submission. This wasn’t theway you stayed safe and whole. She didn’t even know where she’d be living in a few months, but she knew it wouldn’t be here. It could be on the other side of the country, for all she knew. Her time with Dan had an expiration date before it even started, and the pleasure of recklessness wouldn’t soothe the hurt of an inevitable broken heart. Harper had long ago made the executive decision that she’d dealt with enough pain in her childhood and wouldn’t willingly subject herself to any more.
“We should clean this up,” she whispered hoarsely, pulling her head back a fraction. She didn’t miss the disappointment that flickered in Dan’s eyes, but he quickly replaced it with a smile.
“You wantmeto help you clean upyourcrime scene?” He slid her off his lap and she tamped down the urge to cling to him like a needy toddler.
They restored the display pyramid to the best of their abilities and finished shopping with awkward small talk and long silences.
