Page 11 of On the Double

“You were staring.”

“I…was.” This was so stupid. I should just tell him I liked him and wanted to go on a date. Other women were confident enough to do it. Why couldn’t I? “You’re handsome,” I said, holding my head high.

A smile tilted his lips. “Thank you. You’re very beautiful.”

I blushed a dark shade of red and ducked my head. “Well, thank you. I’m normally not this forward, but would you like to have dinner tonight?”

“That’s my line,” he grinned, resting his arm on the little counter for writing checks.

“Yes, but I asked first.”

“You’re not going to make me split the check, are you? I’m not a cheap date.”

“I’ll pay.”

“Good. I like a woman who sticks to her guns.”

Feeling confident, I leaned forward and scribbled my name and number on his arm. “I get off at three.”

“I’ll have you off by five.”

I snorted in laughter, then blushed furiously. “It’s a date.”

I couldn’t stop staring at him. He was just so gorgeous. Ideas of where we would go on our first date flitted through my mind, building memories to last a lifetime. It was perfect. And asCareless Whisperplayed over the loudspeaker in the store, I knew this was meant to be?—

“Ma’am.”

I shook my head, lost in my thoughts as I stared at the man in front of me. While I was dreaming of our first date and how romantic it would be, he was waiting for me to scan his groceries.

“Ma’am, is everything okay?”

“Uh…” Shit! He was staring at me like I was an idiot. “Perfectly fine. I was just…thinking of my plans for later tonight.”

“Do they include me?”Yep, that’s what he said in my head, but in reality, he said, “Must be some big plans.”

“Not really. I’ll probably go home and drown myself in a can of beans.”

He looked up at me funnily.

“Because beans are thick and the liquid would make it easy to suffocate.”

And that got me an even weirder look.

“Not that I’m suicidal. I’m not at all. I mean, this job sucks, but it’s not worth taking my life over.”

“Well…that’s good to know.”

I nodded, still staring at him.

“Can I just check out?”

“Oh! Right.” I laughed, smacking myself on the forehead as I rang up his items. “Forty dollars and thirty-eight cents.”

He thumbed through his wallet, sighing heavily. “Shit, I left my cash in the truck.”

“Oh. Well, that’s okay. Your groceries are on me.”

His face pinched in confusion or distrust. Either way, it was not the look I was expecting.

---