Page 125 of Make Me Swoon

“I’ll see you at noon.” Heath says as he grabs his keys and heads for the door.

“I’ll be ready!” I wave at him as he leaves and then go back to my list.

I wonder how hard Chicken Cordon Bleu is to make?

NINE

Heath

I makethe quick drive to work, my mind on Emma the whole way. A shudder runs through me when I think about her making meatloaf. I actually love the stuff but I’m too afraid that I’ll have to eat undercooked meat to risk having her make it. I’ve been trying to get home earlier and I tell myself it’s so I can help her make something edible for us to eat but I can’t deny that I practically skip out of work with a smile on my face, excited to head home to my little minx.

I like having Emma around. I thought that it would take a while for me to get used to living with someone but that wasn’t the case. Not with Emma anyway. Now I can’t imagine my life without her in it and I would gladly eat her burnt or undercooked food for the rest of my life if it meant that she never left.

Every night we make dinner, watch some TV, and then she goes to bed and I go to the bathroom. I’ve been jerking off more than I ever have in my life but it’s the only way for me to get even a hint of relief. I’m around Emma all of the time and she smiles and cuddles into me on the couch but I know the truth. Pretty girls like her don’t go for grumpy, loner, freaks like me.

I need to get myself under control. I try to give myself a pep talk as I drive us to the grocery store in town. Usually I only go grocery shopping once a month. That way I don’t have to deal with people or their weird looks, but with Emma living with me I have a feeling that we’ll be going more often.

I park the truck toward the back and then head around the hood to help her out. Her small hand fits in mine and feels warm and soft as I make sure she gets out alright.

“You wanna push the cart while I grab stuff?” She asks once we get inside and I glare over at the carts. I can see that Emma’s list is about a mile long and it’s going to take us a while to get everything. I’m way too tall to comfortably push those things but I think I’d do anything to make Emma happy.

I grab one of the carts, hunching over to grip the bar as I follow after her dutifully. I ignore the looks I get from the other shoppers and I can’t help but smile when I see Emma glare or roll her eyes at anyone who looks in my direction for too long.

I trail after her like a puppy as she goes down one aisle and up the next until we’ve hit every one in the store. She couldn’t read her hand writing on part of the list and so she just grabbed random stuff and said she was sure it would be fine. I was sure that we were going to get food poisoning one of these days but I kept my mouth shut. I’ll just head home even earlier so I can supervise the cooking.

We load everything onto the belt and I ignore the checkout clerks' lingering look as she rings us up. Emma gives her a hard stare until the girl looks away. I hurry to pay and put everything into the cart before Emma notices everyone looking at me like the giant freak that I am.

I lead Emma outside, squinting when the sun blinds me momentarily as we head to my truck. Emma’s head is bent and she’s going over her list, double checking that we didn’t forget anything and I’m busy watching her. Maybe that’s how I miss the woman staring down at her phone and heading straight for us. She runs into me, bouncing back and tripping in her high heels as she struggles to hold onto her phone.

“Uh, excuse me! Hey Sasquatch, why don’t you watch where you’re going? Shouldn’t you be able to see for miles way up there?” She sneers and I just roll my eyes, as I continue walking.

I’ve heard all of the tall jokes before and they don’t bother me anymore but that is apparently not the case for Emma.

“Hey! Screw you. You were the one who wasn’t looking where you were going,” she says, darting around me and pushing the girl’s shoulder. They narrow their eyes on each other and I spring into action before this can turn into a full-on fight.

“Jesus,” I mumble under my breath as I grab Emma, throwing her over my shoulder and heading for my truck.

I toss her in the passenger seat before I hurry to put the groceries in the back and put the cart back. When I slide behind the wheel she’s still fuming and somehow, she looks even cuter pissed off.

“You can’t be picking fights like that,” I say as I back out of the parking spot and head home.

“I was just sticking up for you. That bitch was in the wrong and then she had the audacity to make fun of you. She deserved to have someone yell at her.”

She twists around in her seat like she’s looking to go after her again and I push down on the gas more.

“It happens all the time. I’m used to it. You don’t need to defend me.”

She turns to face me, her big blue eyes scanning my face and I try not to give anything away as we drive away from the store and toward home.

TEN

Emma

My heart breakswhen Heath says that he’s used to being made fun of. I know that he’s tall and looks like a giant but under all those muscles is a good man. Sure, he’s a little gruff and he doesn’t really say that much, but he’s shown me with his actions that he’s a kind man.

We drive back to the house in silence and I try to think of how to make him feel better. When we pull up out front, he parks and then comes around to get my door for me, just like every other time. I smile at him as he helps me out and he returns it softly but his forest green eyes still have that sad glint to them.

We carry in all of the bags and as I watch him start to put everything away, an idea comes to me. I sit down on the couch and hurry to pull off my socks and shoes.

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