Chapter Ten #2
“Ain’t that the truth.” He sighed. “It was nice to meet you, Rhylee. And it’s always good to see you, Kenzie.”
“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon,” she said, and then she not only started pushing her cart passed him, but she used her other hand to tug Rhylee’s along.
Her cousin made it two aisles before she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Kenzie would have bet it was only one, so she was thankful for that. “So what’s going on there?”
“What do you mean?”
Rhylee gave her a “don’t even try that with me” look. “You know exactly what I mean.”
Kenzie sighed. “So I have a little crush on Danny Kowalski. It’s not that big a deal.”
“A little crush? I don’t think so. You’ve got it bad for that man, and I’m pretty sure he’s also got it bad for you.”
“If you got all that from him saying hello to me in a store, we need to talk about old Mr. Lemmons talking to you for the entire length of the breakfast food aisle. There might be a marriage proposal in your future.”
“Please. Old Mr. Lemmons did not look at me the way Danny looked at you.”
Secretly, of course, she wanted to believe Rhylee was right.
The idea the attraction was mutual made Kenzie want to stick her face in the ice cream freezer to cool off, but she didn’t want her cousin to know that.
Rhylee could be relentless when it came to pushing Kenzie toward something she thought would make her happy.
“You need to get that man naked,” Rhylee said, and Kenzie almost ran her cart into a rack of clearance wine.
“Stop that,” she said in a fierce whisper, looking over her shoulder. “He could have been behind us. Or in the next aisle. You’re incredibly loud, you know.”
“Maybe you two need the help,” Rhylee shot back, in the closest she could manage to a whisper.
“I don’t need help.”
“Clearly you do.”
Kenzie spun to face her and leaned close so she could keep her voice low, but very firm.
“Look. My life is here. I get up, I wait tables all day, then I go home, go to bed, and then get up and do it again. He’s been very clear about not having any interest in being up in this part of the state on a more permanent basis, therefore it doesn’t matter if I have it bad for him or he has it bad for me. It’s a nonstarter, so stop.”
This time she only made it one aisle. “I wasn’t suggesting you marry the man, Kenzie. A few dates isn’t that big a deal, and you haven’t been serious about anybody since you and Hunter broke up. You’re too young to be alone all the time. It’s not good for you.”
No, having her heart broken a second time because a man didn’t want to share the life she was living wouldn’t be good for her. “He’s not here for long, so let me savor my crush in peace, please.”
“There’s no reason you can’t have a little fun while he’s here. You definitely don’t have enough of that.”
“I have fun, thank you very much. And Danny and I do have fun together. We go for walks and talk about anything and everything.” Mostly his book woes, but sometimes they talked about other people’s books, and also about movies and television shows.
Neither of them watched a lot of either, though, and they had even fewer in common, so mostly they talked about books.
“You know what I mean, and if you keep pretending you don’t, I’m going to yell sex really loud in this store right now.” She gave Kenzie a challenging look. “I wonder which aisle he’s in.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “Sure, it would be nice. But in the end, it would be a disaster because I’ve been content with my life, and the last thing I need is actual evidence of what I’m missing out on.”
“You’re about to quote Aunt Corinne again, aren’t you?” Rhylee sighed. “Nothing destroys contentment more than yearning for something you can’t have.”
“Exactly. Now focus on the shopping so we can get out of here.”
“We’re almost done, anyway.” Rhylee pushed her cart about three feet before she turned back. “I’ll let it go for now, but I know you better than anybody else on this planet, and you’re already yearning.”
Kenzie didn’t dignify that with an answer—not that there was anything she could say, because it was true—and led the way to the next aisle.
Unfortunately, she didn’t need as much as Rhylee did. Mostly it was a function of eating most of their meals at the restaurant, but they could also nip a little sugar and other things from the business’s bulk buys.
With her mind free to think about Danny, she found herself looking for him every time they turned a corner. Listening for him. Waiting for that electrical charge that shot through her every time he looked at her.
They made it through the checkout without another encounter, which was slightly disappointing.
But it was also for the best because Rhylee kept giving her searching looks, and Kenzie wasn’t sure she wanted Danny and her cousin sharing the same space again.
She didn’t think her nerves could handle it.
While they were loading their groceries into the car, though, Kenzie couldn’t stop herself from scanning the parking lot, wondering where he’d parked.
And then she saw him, four rows over. He was looking in her direction—had he been searching for her?—and when their eyes met, she got that familiar jolt.
He grinned and waved, and she waved back. After a long, lingering moment, he got in his truck. Kenzie turned to find Rhylee staring at her, and her cousin rolled her eyes before slamming the trunk closed.
“I’m not going to say anything,” she muttered. Then she poked Kenzie in the shoulder. “But we should get home before all that ice cream and chocolate you bought melts.”