Page 5 of Down the Aisle
Well, shit. I didn't even get a chance to ask her for a name.
Sighing, I withdrew my arm and took a minute to recollect myself. I tried to shove her out of my mind by thinking about my date later tonight, but it didn't make the burning want in my chest die out. Even when I tried to shift the excitement to later, I found myself rebounding to the mystery woman.
God, I just need to get laid.
That had to be the issue. Otherwise, why else would I react so overtly to a random woman in the grocery store? But that excuse only went so far. I had my pick of the crop, as some would say. Nothing was out of my reach. If I wanted something, or someone, then I got it.
So, why didn't I have that mystery woman?
A small wave of irritation irked my mood as I forced myself to finish the rest of my trip. I shouldn't be pissed about the woman slipping away, not when I had a hot date in a few hours. Yet, thinking about the date later sparked no joy or excitement like before. If anything, it made me feel exhausted, and the idea of calling it off dangled in my mind teasingly before I whacked it away.
A mess of muddy emotions churned within me as I moved through the aisles robotically, my hand snatching up what I needed without much of a glance as I was familiar with these products and easily recognized them.
The last thing I needed to grab was a tub of ice cream, so down the frozen section I went. It should have been a simple grab-and-go, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end before I heard it–the shrill cry of a baby.
Not just any baby, though.
I barely managed to run up in time and catch the falling baby when he reached out for me a little too far. "Whoa there, buddy!" I chuckled a little nervously with how close of a call it was.
"Oh my God, Asher!" I felt bad for his poor mom, whose face was as white as a ghost after the almost accident.
When she tried to take Asher back, he instantly clung to me and screamed in protest. The poor woman's face paled and fell even more with her embarrassment. Her eyes remained avoidant of me for as long as possible, keeping them fixed on her child until she could no longer.
I felt a little bad about wanting to laugh at how wide her eyes got and how her mouth opened slightly at the sight of me. "Oh my—I'm so sorry for bothering you again." Her face instantly blushed up until it was cherry red, which made me worry a bit because she looked like she was about to pass out with how she swayed a little.
Once again, she reached for Asher, who screamed and clung to me for dear life the moment her hands slipped around his midsection. "Asher, please don't do this." Her small voice cracked along with the apologetic smile on her face.
Setting my basket down, I took her hands in mine and held them together between us. Firmly holding her there, I turned my attention to Asher, shifting him in my arm a bit to hold him better. Then, I looked back at my blushing beauty with a warm smile.
My blushing beauty…
She wasn't mine by any means, but fuck did it sound right.
Forcing my face to maintain the smile, I brushed aside my budding desire for her. "There's nothing to apologize about. I mean, I'm not exactly mad at you or anything, so it's fine, really," I assured her warmly while brushing the back of her hands with my thumb.
Reluctantly, I let go of her in order to hold the squirming toddler properly. Chuckling softly out of amusement, I held him firmly in my arms. "You're gonna fall again, bud." I kept my voice soft and playful as I spoke to Asher, sounding atypical for a rugged-looking man like me.
Asher laughed as I poked his midsection with a wiggling finger. "Five seconds, that's all I need to talk to your momma, alright, bud? Think you can be good for me for five seconds?" I doubt any of my words were understood, but I knew how important it was to communicate and work on those little neural pathways in the growing brain.
Grinning at the woman, I proposed my idea to her, "How about this, and you are free to say no, but how about I carry this cute little sucker around and help you finish your grocery trip in peace?" A sudden grab of my cheek pulled a laugh from me as I glanced at Asher. "He seems to like me, and I don't want to leaveyou to deal with a screaming kid the rest of the trip. I know how stubborn they can be if they don't get their way."
Her eyes lit up with curiosity for a split second before they averted to my hands and clouded over with disappointment. "Y-you have kids of your own?" Her reluctant eyes looked back up at my face as she chewed her lip nervously.
A smiling chuckle and a shake of my head was all it took for her tense shoulders to relax with an exhale. "No, I don't have kids of my own, unfortunately. But my younger sister has a daughter, and I babysit my niece a lot for her so she can go to classes and work."
Looking closely at Asher, I surmised he was around Adelaide's age. "I think Adelaide is around Asher's age. I mean, they kinda look about the same, like size-wise and all, but I could be totally wrong," I commented with a warm chuckle, poking at Asher again when he started to get handsy with my hair. "How old is the little guy? If you don't mind me asking."
Cracking a warm smile, she hid her face a little from me shyly as she reached up to help pry her kid's chubby hand from my hair. "Asher's about sixteen months old," she replied with a proud smile.
"Oh, Adelaide is sixteen months too." I beamed, making faces at Asher to keep him entertained.
Holding my hand up to him, I wiggled my fingers around to distract him so I could give his mother my full attention. "But my offer, what do you say?" I did my best to put on my charming smile to rope her in.
I probably should be getting home to prepare for my date, but that was the last thing on my mind. Like hell would I let this second chance of mine slip away. I mean, what were the odds of us running into each other again on the same trip? And for her son to cling to me like this. It was obvious that whoever was writing our story up in the sky wanted to line things up for us.
"You don't have to." She hesitated with a reluctant smile. "I mean, you have your own trip to finish, and you probably have a lot of things to do besides this, and I don't want to be a bother to you, or more of a bother than I already have." Her soft voice grew shakier and shakier the more she rambled, until she was practically mumbling to herself with her head down.
In a somewhat bold move, I reached out and curled a finger under her chin, lifting her head. "I wouldn't have offered if it would have been a bother," I assured her with a firm smile. "I'm not the type of man to waste my time either. Not to sound like a dick, but I would have just plopped your son back into the cart and left if I didn't want to stick around." Yeah, that really sounded bad of me, but it was the truth.
