Page 26 of Make Mine Sweet
My gaze locks on Tess, who’s still watching me two cart lengths away with a tentative smile. Not sure if it means “This guy’s okay” or “This guy’s crazy.”
Maybe it just means “What is the minimum acceptable time I have to be in this guy’s presence before I can make my escape?”
“I didn’t mean to call you,” I say to Pierce. I sure wouldn’t have told him about Tess willingly.
“I’m glad you did. You need some coaching in the flirtation department.”
That’s great. Just wonderful. Now he’ll tell Steven, and I’ll never hear the end of this. Probably serves me right for all the ways I made jokes at my brothers’ expense before they found their wives. Actually, I was worse after they found them. But this thing between Tess and me…it’s not the same.
“Goodbye, Pierce.”
“Take another picture?—”
I make absolutely certain the call is ended and the screen is locked before I stuff the phone in my back pocket.
“Sorry,” I grumble to Tess. “My oldest brother. Guess I hit the wrong button.”
“I’ve done that, too. Accidentally called my sister on my way to August’s daycare. She got an earful of us singing Taylor Swift at the top of our lungs.”
Not sure why Tess and August bopping along to pop music is something I’d like to see. “Probably wasn’t that bad.”
She gives me a sly look that makes my stomach twist.
“We murderedallthe high notes. It wasn’t pretty.”
Still bet it was.
“Where is the kid anyway?” It’s a little strange to see her without him. Half expect him to appear at the end of the aisle to ask me if he can play with my dog.
“He’s at my mom’s watching a movie. It’s easier to get my grocery shopping done when I don’t have August ‘helping’ me pick out all his favorite things.”
“I left Dutch at home for the same reason.”
She fights a smile, like she’s not quite sure if this is a joke to laugh at or an eccentricity she should indulge. Just proves my theory I don’t know what I’m doing with women anymore. Sure don’t know what I’m doing withher.
Her gaze drops to my cart, and her eyebrows lift.
“I’m not finished shopping yet.” It’s my best defense for the haphazard mix of items in there.
“I didn’t say anything.” Her gaze snaps back up to mine.
“You want to, though.”
I wait, and I’m rewarded when she cracks another smile.
“I mean…it is a lot of meat.”
“Redandwhite.”
She exhales a laugh. “There’s the variety. Very healthy.”
I know we’re only talking about groceries, but I don’t mind Tess teasing me. At all.
“I have vegetables on my list.”
“I’m sure.” She nods, but her mouth takes a skeptical slant as if she knows I don’t have a list. I’m not the list guy. I’m the figure-it-out-as-I-go guy. Except, apparently, when it comes to her.
“I’m on my way over there, but I don’t know where anything is.” Nobody tells you that once you’re in your thirties, you start to care a lot about how grocery stores are laid out. Why is the produce nowhere near the meat department in this store? Make it make sense.
