Page 9 of Falling for the CEO

After touring the store twice and not finding any canned goods, I approached a sales associate.

"I'm sorry, where do you have the canned section? I'm looking for some tuna."

She scoffed. "We don't have canned goods here."

"Oh, my bad. Silly me." I pasted a smile on my face. "Thanks."

Damn! Change of plans! I headed back to the cheese section. It was more affordable than the meat. Therehadto be something on discount, and cheese was always filling. Aha, I spotted a packed pecorino with a 20-percent-off red sticker on it. Was that Italian? It sounded like it. I took it from the shelf. It was wedged between Parmigiano and Gouda. It was still out of budget, but I was too hungry to be picky. A trip to Walmart and back would take at least fifty minutes, and I'd probably just stop and buy some junk food along the way.

"You can do this, Penny." As I turned my cart, I noticed a familiar shape a few aisles away: a six-foot-tall man with a muscular back currently inspecting the section of baby products. I wasn't totally sure he was my neighbor... until I saw his profile. Hot damn, yep, he was my neighbor. Then I realized that he was buyingbabyfood. Was he a father?

"Okay, this looks about right," he said. His voice was low and gruff. It was honestly sexier than any voice I'd ever heard.

"Need help?" I asked.

He looked over his shoulder. "Thanks, no, I've got it. I was just double-checking this with the notes I had from the pediatrician. He’s recommending a new brand."

"Okay. I just thought you might... Well, you seem a bit confused."

"You know stuff about baby food?"

"I’ve babysat a bit, but it was quite a few years ago. By the way, we’re neighbors. I met your grandmother yesterday."

He blinked. "Right. She told me about you, but I'm very out of it these days. I haven't had much sleep."

"Understandable,” I said, reading the label for formula. It was for zero to three months. "You’ve got a baby, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You and your wife must be both exhausted."

"It’s just me and Ben," he said. His tone was clipped.

I pressed my lips together. Way to make a blunder, Penny. Then again, at least that meant he wasn't married, and I didn't have to feel guilty about eyeing him appreciatively.

"Your grandmother seemed really lovely and was excited about the neighborhood. She even got along with my dog. Well, not mine. It's Taylor's." Why was I so flustered? For God's sake. "I should have clarified. My friend Taylor is your neighbor. I'm simply house-sitting for a couple of months.”

"That's a thing?"

"She's got lots of pets and needs someone to look after them. It's intensive. Though, of course not as intensive as caring for a baby."

A shadow crossed his eyes. "Yeah."

Had I said something wrong? I didn't want to offend him.

"Will your grandmother be over anytime soon? She mentioned that she'd like to see Becky again."

"Who's Becky?"

"The dog. She seemed quite into dogs."

"She is," he said, "but she never could have one because my grandfather is allergic to them."

"She can always knock at my door. I work from home, so chances are she and I can spend some quality time taking Becky for a walk."

He frowned at me. I couldn't get a good read on him. "I'll tell her—sorry, I missed your name."

"I didn't introduce myself. I'm Penny."

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