Page 61 of Ocotillo Kisses
Britt lifted her hands to show she wasn’t even thinking about it.
While Con and Caleb loaded the machine back into Con’s truck to take it back to the elementary school, Britt and Austin switched off with Sofia and Hailey applying the first coat of wax. Sofia stood at the end of the aisle overseeing.
“How do you know how to do this?” Britt asked.
“YouTube,” Sofia replied.
“It’s going to look great when it’s done,” Caleb said.
Sofia grimaced. “The products on the bottom shelves got kind of dirty, so we’re going to have to take care of cleaning that, too. I did not anticipate that, and if I’d noticed, I would have taped up plastic so we didn’t mess up the other shelves.”
“Not tonight, though, right?” Hailey asked, a hint of desperation in her voice. “I’m used to late nights, but once all the wax is dry, it’s going to be pretty late.”
Sofia opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again.
“I can stay late,” Britt said. “I honestly didn’t know how long this would take, so I told my grandmother not to expect me.”
Con frowned down at her. “That’s going to be a lot of work.”
She shrugged and looked up at him. “I’m not afraid of work.”
Also it meant she’d be driving home down roads she was really not familiar with in the middle of the night. He couldn’t allow that.
“I’ll stay, too,” he said.
Sofia pivoted on him, her eyes narrow. He knew she doubted his motives, but he didn’t have to explain his reasons to her. He didn’t have to explain them to anyone.
So when the last layer of wax was applied to the first aisle, they set a timer for thirty minutes, grabbed a couple of snacks from the shelf, and stepped outside to wait.
“You don’t have to stay,” Britt said.
No one else was going to stay, he knew, and he didn’t want her in the store alone even more than he didn’t want her driving down that road alone. “It will go faster with two people.”
“I’m pretty sure Sofia is staying, if for no other reason than to keep an eye on me.”
“Maybe. Then it will go even faster with three people.” He knew Caleb wanted to get home to his kid, and Ginny was probably off work from the diner now, so Austin would want to get home to her, and Hailey had already headed out.
They walked over to the park to sit at one of the picnic tables. The sun had set, the kids had gone home, the anemic street lights didn’t do much to illuminate the square.
“Britt.” He wasn’t going to demur, not when he wanted an answer. “Did you come here tonight because you knew I’d be here?”
Her mouth set in a stubborn line when she turned back to meet his eyes. “And what if I did? I won’t be here after next week, and I wanted to see you again.”
“What are we doing here, Britt? You’re leaving. I’m staying. Why are we doing this?”
“We both know what to expect now,” she said, reaching across the table to put her hand on his. “We know who we are. Why not just—enjoy the time we have together, until I leave?”
He angled his head to look at her. “Just a fling.”
She opened her mouth, closed it again. “An interlude.”
He closed his other hand over hers. “And where did you want to have this interlude? At your house with your grandmother there, or my house with my mom there?”
She gave him an impish smile, looking at him through her lashes. “We used to figure it out before.”
“We were different people before.”
“Are you so different you don’t see what’s between us here?”
