Page 8 of Mission: Merry Christmas
He took a swig, then sputtered. “What the—” He sputtered, then stuck his tongue out and lurched forward, gagging.
Could he be more melodramatic?“It’s not that bad,” she said.
“It’s bad.”
“Maybe so after a beer. Your body needs the right nutrition to heal, build, and recover.”
“Are you going to make me drink these every day?”
“I’m here for three weeks. That’s fast, even for me. Once we go shopping, we can take that smoothie off the menu.”
“Fine. I’ll drive,” he muttered, resolute.
“I thought you might see it my way.”
“Are you always this sure of yourself?” he asked.
Her expression softened, her warm brown eyes twinkling with a hint of fun in there somewhere. “This is what I do. So, yeah.”
“You think you’ll have me walking without a hitch in just three weeks?”
“If it’s important to you, and you’re going to take this seriously.”
There was one thing he was serious about. Baseball. “I have to start training by January 1, or I won’t be ready by spring.” It came out more like a dare than a statement.
“If you do what I say, there’s no way we can fail.”
He stared at her wondering if all this bravado was for real. If she’d been a dude, he’d be high-fiving her right now, but this—from the likes of her—threw him off.
She pressed. “Do you want to play again or not?”
“Baseball is my whole life.” He chugged his smoothie and put the cup down on the table. “We better get to the store. We’ve got work to do.” He snagged his dark sunglasses and a ball cap from the counter then strode the best he could outside, with her at his heels.
ChapterFive
Drewhad never spent that much time in a grocery store before, and they’d walked up and down so many aisles that his knee ached. He popped a couple ibuprofen and gutted through it though. He had to. People knew him around here. He couldn’t risk anyone seeing him injured and word getting out.
Avery bought so many things that he worried they wouldn’t be able to fit it all in the golf cart. But thankfully, he was a master at packing, and he’d been able to stack, tuck, and balance everything to get it home. There would be no more smoothies on the menu for at least the next week.
She waved goodbye to the men who’d helped her with the fresh fish and meat. She’d demanded good protein and lots of it. She’d come on big and bad with him right out of the gate, but she was friendly, and everyone they’d come in contact with had fallen right into her charms.
“What is that smell?” She shut her eyes, inhaling as he sped down the main road.
“That’s elder. Those yellow flowers,” he said pointing them out. Her eyes were still closed though, so he nudged her with his elbow. “Over there.”
“They’re so pretty! Stop.”
He laughed and kept on rolling.
“Please. Stop.”
He mashed his foot on the brake, and she jumped out and ran to the side of the street. She bent over and sniffed one of the yellow bell-shaped flowers. “This is my new favorite flower. Will I get in trouble if I pick one?”
“Probably.” He motioned for her to get back in the cart. “I have a whole backyard of yellow elder. You can fill your room with them if you want. Swim in the bathtub with a pile of petals if it makes you happy.”
“I’m very easy to make happy,” she said.
He wondered if that was true. He’d been with a lot of woman, and he hadn’t yet met one that he’d consider low-maintenance or worth the hassle. If he ever discovered one, he’d never let her slip away.
