Chapter 21
June all but sprinted down the hallway Thursday night. Her appointment had run late, which meant she was late leaving work to get home to make dinner. Tonight could be their last night unless she was brave enough to make the first move.
Enticing clothing and delicious meals hadn’t been enough.
Now it was time for action. She had planned to wow him with a dress she had dusted off from her closet along with her lasagna.
After dinner, she planned to ask him out.
With her new but temporary schedule, June had asked Rob to do their last lesson at her house to practice instead of his.
She didn’t have a studio, but if she moved some furniture out of the way, she could make it work for them to practice.
But her plans weren’t off to a great start.
June rounded a corner and almost smacked into a wall of muscle if they hadn’t caught her first. “Rob, what are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at my house?”
Rob released her arms and took a step back. “We are, but I had to talk to Dr. Shane about something, and I was already here, so I figured I’d wait for you.”
“I’m sorry, I meant to text you. I’ve been with patients all day.
I haven’t had time to go to the store yet.
I should postpone dinner until I’m more prepared.
” She had wanted to make a good impression, not look frazzled and cook a half-put-together meal.
She hated this new workload, but it was too late to change it now.
Rob checked his watch. She already knew what time it was.
It wasn’t even six yet. It was still early, but lasagna would take a while.
Well over an hour with prep and cook time.
They still had their class to do too. She could run to the store, prep and change, then cook, but she was still pressing time.
“I can go to the store if you want and cook,” he offered, not looking put off about the idea of having to cook or eat so late.
June would normally decline such an offer, but she was tired and hungry. She also wanted her night with Rob. Her shoulders dropped in relief. “That would be great. Thank you. What?” she asked when he looked at her funny.
“I was expecting a protest, not your ready agreement.”
“I’m too tired and grateful to say no tonight. Call it a momentary weakness.”
A grin split across his face, and if June had knees, they would be shaking. “I plan to take full advantage of it. Let’s go.” He held his arm out to wave her forward.
“You can head to my house; I’ll get the groceries and meet you there.” She had made lasagna enough times, she knew the recipe by heart. Mr. Harrow’s corner store had everything she needed.
“Ah ah, I said I’ll cook.” Rob wagged a finger at her. “I’ll get the groceries. You head home and change, then I’ll meet you there.”
“You don’t know what you need,” she protested.
“June, it’s lasagna. It’s pretty basic what goes into it.”
True, but she didn’t feel right making him cook and pay for dinner made at her house. “I know, but I want to contribute. It was supposed to be my dinner. I asked you over. If you’re going to cook, I should at least pay.”
“I see that argumentative streak is back.”
“I’m willing to cave on some things, but not this.”
“Alright, I’m done arguing.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Where are we going?”
“It’s right up the road from my house. Mr. Harrow’s corner store. Where did you park?”
“In the lot near your car.”
“Okay, you can follow me over to the store. We’ll get the ingredients.
You can start prepping while I freshen up.
” Rob had seen her enough looking sweaty and in gym clothes or in work clothes.
Only one other time had she dressed up. If this was her night to make a move damn it, she was going to look good.
June pulled into Mr. Harrow’s corner store parking lot. There was only one streetlamp in the parking lot at the corner where there was a group of men leaning against the brick wall watching her.
June got an instant creepy vibe from them. She parked in the center parking spot right in front of the doors.
June eyed the men who were not making a secret of watching her. She gripped her keys into her fists with the keys sticking out and got out of the car. She didn’t think they were a threat, but after Troy and her training, she felt she should be prepared for anything.
She heard their snickers and laughter. They weren’t the first to make fun of her legs. She’d learned to ignore them. She’d rather walk even with two metal legs than be pushed in a wheelchair.
June headed inside knowing Rob would catch up. He had pulled into the lot as she’d stepped inside the store. The chime above the door echoed throughout the store, and Mr. Harrow’s head peeked out from behind the counter. When he recognized her, his face widened with a grin. “June.”
“Good evening, Mr. Harrow.” She returned his smile as she grabbed a hand cart and headed down the aisle.
“How are you this evening?”
“Just fine, thank you.” She tried to keep it brief so she could get in and out without him bringing up potentially dating his son. That would be incredibly awkward to have that conversation when Rob came in.
“How is work going?” he inquired, coming around the counter and walking with her. Mr. Harrow was a sweet and harmless man, but he could be intrusive as well.
June started collecting what she needed to make dinner and something for breakfast tomorrow. She had tomorrow morning off, so she could get her groceries for the week then, but since she was here, she might as well get a few things she needed.
“Good, really busy right now, but it will ease off once our therapist comes back from vacation.”
“You work too hard, June.”
He said that every time she said work was busy. Sometimes she felt like it, but she loved her job and helping others as she had been helped. It was very rewarding. She also felt the need to make up for all the years she’d sat on her butt doing nothing but feeling sorry for herself.
“Well, I have the weekend off.” It wasn’t much, but the two days to recoup helped. Candice, the PT on vacation, would be coming back in two weeks. June just had to get through the next few weeks and then her workload would go back to normal.
“Good, you know, maybe if you had a man in your life, you wouldn’t work so hard.” He said that every time too. June didn’t know what one had to do with the other. “James is off tomorrow. Maybe you two could do something fun together like go to a movie.”
June looked around for Rob but didn’t see him. She hadn’t even heard the door chime. Maybe he was still out in his car or something. “Oh, well, unfortunately I already have plans tomorrow. My boyfriend and I are going hiking.”
“Boyfriend?” Mr. Harrow blinked at her, shocked. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
She wasn’t. It had just popped out. June looked around again for Rob, hoping he wasn’t nearby when she used him as her scapegoat. “Yes, it’s rather new. Only a week or so. We met through the clinic and hit it off.”
“Where is he?” Mr. Harrow looked skeptical and rightly so. June was a homebody and never went anywhere except work and for Friday night drinks with her friends. It didn’t leave much room to meet people.
“Where is he?” She hadn’t expected him to ask her that question. “Well, he’s here in the store helping me shop.” Her words trailed off by the end. She hoped Rob was nowhere around to hear her using him as an excuse.
“There you are,” Rob said, coming up behind them. June jumped about a foot and felt her face flame. So much for the hope he hadn’t been nearby. “I was looking all over for you.”
“You found me,” she said more loudly than was necessary. This was awkward. More awkward than Mr. Harrow trying to set her up with his son. “Rob, this is Mr. Harrow the owner of the store.” She made the introductions, praying for a small miracle he hadn’t heard the boyfriend part.
“Hi, Rob Shaw.” He greeted Mr. Harrow holding his hand out for him to shake.
Mr. Harrow took it, a smile forming on his face. “Nice to meet you, young man.” June stifled a laugh. It had become a joke, her calling Rob an old man. He must be getting a kick out of being called a young man.
Rob smirked down at her. “I got the noodles, sweetheart.” He held up the box of lasagna noodles, took the cart from her limp arm, and slid it over his while placing the noodles inside.
June was sure her face had turned beet red.
Oh lord, Rob had heard her call him her boyfriend.
She was going to die of embarrassment. Could the earth form a hole for her to crawl into?
If she had known he was close by, she never would have said she had a boyfriend.
She honestly didn’t know why she did to begin with.
“I’m glad to see June finally have someone in her life,” Mr. Harrow remarked, not seeming to sense her distress.
“I feel very lucky to have June in my life, sir.” Rob wrapped his arm around her waist. If June weren’t so embarrassed right now, she would savor this moment more. “Do you have everything you need, babe?”
Be still her heart. If he kept up with all these nicknames, she would perish.
No one had ever given her a pet name except her brother.
June bug. It wasn’t a flattering nickname, but to be called sweetheart and babe by the man you wanted to date would melt any girl’s heart along with other parts of her body.
“Ye—yes,” she managed to stutter out. “I do.” She allowed Rob to escort her to the counter. She started to pull out her wallet, but Rob beat her to it. She would have argued, but she didn’t want to cause a scene in front of Mr. Harrow.
“Have a good evening,” he said as they left.
“Thank you,” she called over her shoulder, ready to escape this place and the past five minutes.
June walked out first and slammed into a wall of muscle. She tried to back pedal, but two arms reached out and grabbed her arms. “Where are you off in such a hurry, gimpy?” It was one of the guys from the corner. June had forgotten about them.
“Let me go,” she demanded evenly as she widened her stance. She knew Rob was behind her somewhere, but she was confident enough that she could take him on alone.
“Let’s have some fun.” Two other men appeared; Rob hadn’t trained for her multiple attackers.
“Release her.” June felt Rob come up behind her before she heard him speak. The guys looked up at him and instantly lost their grins and took off running. “You okay?”
No, she wasn’t. It wasn’t just because of her would-be attackers. She was mortified about what had happened inside.
“I’m fine, thank you.” June started walking until she was at her car. Her mind scrambled for any excuse about why she had told Mr. Harrow that Rob was her boyfriend. It was sweet that Rob had gone along with it, but she didn’t want him to think she was telling everyone they were dating.
“June.” He came up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder to turn her to face him. “Are you sure you’re okay? After what happened before—” With Troy, he left unfinished.
“I’m fine; I stayed calm. I was prepared to defend myself against the one guy. I hesitated when there were three though. We never covered that.”
“It wasn’t something I’d thought about,” he admitted, looking grim.
“Does that mean more lessons?” It would extend their time together further.
“The likelihood of taking on more than one assailant is rare. I wouldn’t worry about it.” Oh, so no more lessons. He was ready to be done with her. Training-wise at least. Maybe there was still hope for more between them.
“So, dating huh?” There was humor in his voice. She expected a different kind of reaction. June didn’t know what. Anger, confusion, but not humor. That was a good sign, right?
“Rob, I’m so sorry.” It had been juvenile making up a boyfriend, but it was the only thing she could think of to get Mr. Harrow to stop trying to set her up with his son whom she had no interest in whatsoever.
“I know it was wrong of me to tell Mr. Harrow we were dating. I hadn’t meant to.
He’s just been trying to set me up with his son for over a year.
I’ve always told him an excuse. That I had plans.
For some reason, boyfriend just popped out of my mouth.
Again, I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that. ”
Rob just stood there staring at her. She didn’t like the silence. Even his face was unreadable. She expected him to say it wasn’t a big deal or hey, now that it’s come up, why don’t we date for real. No, instead, she got complete silence.
“We should get going. Dinner is going to take a while,” June said sounding more chipper than she felt. Pretending to brush it off as something trivial.
If he was that silent about a fake relationship, what would he do if she really asked him out?
June had been fooling herself thinking she could make something of them.
He just didn’t see her as anything more than a friend.
Rob had never treated her as more. He never looked at her with lust or affection.