Page 59 of The Scandal You Started
It turned out a supermarket was rather like a department store.
A very modern, very diverse version at least.
Spread across one endless floor, it sold readymade clothes, shoes, technology devices, dinnerware, household items, children’s toys, cleaning products, and all the face, hand, and feet washes any one person could use. But the most fascinatingand bewildering part was the numerous aisles of food and drinks.
There were breads he’d eaten for breakfast in his own time, so many snacks and instant pots of food that were new to him, and some of the oddest flavour combinations he’d ever seen. He had never before fathomed there could be enough varieties of milk to fill one entire side of an aisle. And as they zigzagged through the shop, he discovered even more food novelties.
Somewhere towards the back of the supermarket, Dominic stood in front of a long block of shelves stacked with packets of biscuits, frowning as he read the ingredients on a box of shortbread.
He was bemused by the long list of powders,“preservatives,”and other flavourings that went into the biscuit. He was no chef, of course, but off the top of his head, he was sure shortbread was only supposed to be made from flour, sugar, butter, and eggs, and not several things that read as those chemicals scientists used in their experiments.
“Dominic.”
At the sound of Rayna calling him, he glanced to his left and found her waving him over from the end of the aisle with their trolley full of clothes, toiletries, and foodstuffs. He went to put the shortbread down, but curiosity at how the additional ingredients made the biscuit taste had him carrying the box towards her instead.
He picked up a pair of swimming shorts in a size Rayna had guessed would fit him from within their cart and put the biscuits down before placing the shorts back on top.
“You know we’ll be back next week, right?” she said with a teasing quirk on her brows and mouth. “We don’t have to buy every item in the supermarket today.”
“Perhaps,” he said, leaning into her as he took the trolley. “But I would like to buy at least half of the products today.”
He grinned proudly when she huffed a laughing sound and rolled her eyes. Then he pushed forward into the next aisle, where rows of bread, baked goods in paper bags with little windows, and cartons of eggs lined both sides.
Rayna got him to stop near the packets of pastries and left him to explore while she went towards the eggs.
Dominic immediately spotted some scones and picked up two packs to slot them in the trolley. Then he sifted through the array of boxed pink, chocolate, and white ring-shaped treats labelled“do—nuts.”
“Sorry,” a man said as he slipped up beside Dominic, his hand trying to reach for the shelf Dominic was standing in front of.
“Apologies,” he said, absently throwing the man a quick glance, and shuffled to the side.
“Thanks.” The man grabbed a pack of chocolate do—nuts.
“Okay.” Rayna’s voice came from Dominic’s other side, and he pivoted to her. “I picked up two cartons of eggs this time, and fifty-fifty bread instead of brown, so—”
“Rayna?”
Her attention went to her right, and Dominic’s ears prickled with alertness when the man who’d spoken to him moments ago called Rayna’s name in raspy wonder. Dominic watched as her lips parted and eyes lit up like sparklers before he rotated halfway to look at the man.
A bitter taste ever so gradually coated the inside of Dominic’s mouth.
He was a young man, probably not much older than Rayna, with a tall, lean build, lightly tanned skin, green eyes, and chestnut brown hair combed back from his face. In a light blue shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, tucked into navy-blue trousers, he looked rather charming.
Paired with the glitter of excessive happiness in the man’s stare, the bitterness in Dominic’s mouth quickly poured downthrough his chest, creating a thick layer of rippling dislike as it trickled between his ribs.
“Jake?” Rayna said breathlessly. “What are…what are you doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” thisJakeboy said through a laugh, stepping towards her as he swapped his metal basket from one hand to the other. “Gosh, can I…”
Jake subtly opened his free arm, and with a chuckled, “Yes,” Rayna closed the gap between them and all but threw her arms around the man’s torso. He squeezed his arm around her, very nearly burying his face in her hair.
The dislike in Dominic’s chest erupted into scorching, infuriated flames.
No. No. No, no, no.
He is hugging my Rayna.
And it didn’t at all resemble the hugs she’d shared with the men in her family.
