Page 3 of Welcome Home for Christmas
“That one looks delicious,” a deep voice offered behind her.
Allison startled, gripping the bottle so tight she was surprised the glass didn’t shatter in her hand. She turned and saw that the voice was attached to a man with dark hair, dark eyes, and a smile that made her belly quiver with awareness. “Oh, hi,” she said for lack of anything better to say.
“Hi.” His gaze hung on hers for a long moment, then moved to her heavy basket.
“I, uh…This isn’t all for me. I’m having a party.”
He nodded.
“Not that I’m a partier. I’m not. It’s more of a function.” And she really didn’t need to explain herself to a stranger. She shifted the basket, which was digging into her forearm. Maybe eight bottles of wine was enough. She didn’t want to take more than she could carry.
“Need help with that?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head and giggled.Giggled?Just like the older woman, she was moved to giggles over a handsome man. “I’m fine,” she told him, placing the last bottle into her basket and attempting to walk past.
The dark-haired, sexy man and his broad shoulders took up most of the aisle, though. He didn’t move. Instead, he stared at her with those mahogany eyes that seemed to twinkle in the dim lighting. He was wearing a military police uniform, she noticed now.Damn.She’d always had a thing for a man in uniform, and this one was especially delicious.
“Excuse me,” she said, tearing her eyes off him and focusing them forward. She had her wine and it was time to get out of here before she made a bigger fool of herself.
The man hesitated before stepping aside. “Don’t party too hard. You don’t strike me as the type who would, but if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that people are never what they seem.”
This made her pause. Allison turned back, unable to resist asking, “And how do I seem?”
He was still doing that twinkly-eye thing at her.How did he do that?
“Well, I don’t know you, but my gut says you’re a nice woman. And my gut is usually spot-on.”
She inwardly cringed.Nicewas boring.Like milk toast,she thought, remembering a former ex’s description of her. “You’re on duty buying alcohol,” she noted, trying to find Sexy Police Man’s fatal flaw. The one that, if she were to find herself in a relationship with him, would end it all. Surely a man who bought alcohol on the job was no good.
“It’s a gift. Nothing says love like expensive red wine.” He held up a bottle.
Love?A little ache settled in her chest. “Girlfriend?” she asked, unable to believe she’d actually uttered the word. He was likely to think she was interested in him by asking that question.
He shook his head. “It’s for my mother. Just a gift, not a Christmas present,” he clarified.
“I see. Well, good luck with that.” She continued toward the register where the cashier smiled.
Sexy Police Man stepped up beside her. Allison’s gaze flicked sideways.
“Nice choices,” the cashier said, glancing between them. “You made a nice selection in beaus, too,” she told Allison with a wink.
Allison’s mouth fell open. “No…We’re not.” Her cheeks burned. “I’m not with him,” she said, hearing the laugh under the man’s breath.
“Come on,baby. Don’t be like that,” he teased in a low voice that did something to her pulse. “You told me you loved me.”
The older woman’s lips rounded into a subtle O.
“I’m not your, uh…baby,” she told him, avoiding his gaze. “He’s joking,” she told the cashier, scooting away from him.
“Too bad,” the woman said. “If I were forty years younger…”
“Or I forty years older,” he said, being the charming devil.
Allison didn’t like charming devils. Charming devils were also heartbreakers. So there it was, his flaw. “Please tell Mr. Mason that I appreciate his generosity.”
“I will.” The woman pushed a box that contained the wine across the counter. “Be careful, dear. It’s heavy.”
The man laid down exact cash for his bottle. “I’ll help you get that to your car,” he told Allison, following behind her.
