Page 44 of Safe With Me
“I believe she lies.” A mid-thirties blonde crossed her arms and scowled. “About ruined my husband’s reputation, talking about him meeting up with a woman for lunch all the time. It was hiscousinfrom Valdosta.”
“What she don’t know, she makes up.” An old guy paused behind Colt and added the same brand of oatmeal to his handbasket.
The manager kid fiddled with the end of his clip-on. “I can’t have you yelling obscenities in here.”
“Oh, I’m done.” I spun my cart toward the end of the row and pointed at Mrs. Gail. “Keep her name out of your damn mouth.”
My gut tight, I ignored the way my hand shook when I snatched a bottle of sweet cream out of the dairy case. I checked out as quick as I could and about sprinted to my truck. After slinging bags on my backseat, I shoved the buggy into the corral. I dragged a hand down my face. Fuck, I had to calm down.
I couldn’t take this shit home to Hannah.
“You okay?” Colt unloaded his stuff into that nice, shiny gray F-150 of his, parked next to my faithful fixer-upper Ford.
“What do you think?”
“It’s about time someone gave her what she has coming.” He grinned, the wide, triumphant expression I’d witnessed when he made a pretty play on the field. He’d been a good running back when we were kids – I’d liked passing to him before I got benched. “Hate you got there before I did.”
I cast a narrow-eyed glare behind me at the storefront.
“My mama would say hurt people hurt people.” Colt rested his forearms on his side rail. “But that woman is just plain mean.”
“Yeah.” My heart rate was coming down. I hadn’t even closed the back door, and I stared at Hannah’s chocolate in the floorboard. I leaned down to pick it up, place it carefully on the seat. “I gotta go, man.”
“You take care.”
Hannah’s place was a block away, and I worked on evening out my breathing on my way there. Instead of parking at the curb, I pulled in behind her SUV. At the front door, I thought about just punching in the entry code I’d seen over her shoulder last night, but that seemed invasive. I pressed the doorbell and waited.
After a moment, she swung the door open. “I thought about not letting you in, but I know you have chocolate and you’d just keep ringing.”
She knew me. Passing the first bag of chocolate into her hands, I leaned down to brush my mouth over hers on the way in. “Good to see you, too, sugar.”
A pretty pink flush highlighted her cheekbones. She fiddled with the chocolate and leaned to push the door shut. Black leggings clung to her hips and thighs, a flowy little gray tank skimming her torso but not hiding the curve of her breasts. She’d pulled her hair up into one of those messy bun things she liked.
Lord, the woman was hot.
“Thank you for this.” Still blushing a little, she held the candy aloft.
“Anytime.” With my heart rate and anger finally calmed down, I ambled to her kitchen to put the other stuff away. “You hungry?”
“It’s only three o’clock.”
“Jase ate my lunch.” Somehow, not only could I breathe, but I could think about eating now I was back with her.
“So make a snack.” She waved at the refrigerator where I’d stowed the creamer and pepperoni. “But don’t ruin your dinner.”
“What?” A laugh worked up from my chest. Damn, that felt good. “Did you just tell me not to ruin my dinner?”
If anything, that blush grew, a deeper pink suffusing her cheeks. Cute as hell. With a grin, I reached for her wrist and tugged her into me, rocking her in a tight hug. “Don’t ruin my dinner. You’re bossy as hell.”
The moment was a glimpse of her old self, and I loved it.
Loved her.
I froze, coming to a dead stop. No. no, no, nope,no. I liked her. Wanted to be more than her friend. Fuck, I’d kept my gaze trained on Elizabeth because looking at Hannah was dangerous.
I wasn’t ever lovingnobodylike Daddy loved my mama.
Because if you lost them? Nothing else, nobody else, was enough, and it ruined everything.
