Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Heat climbed into her cheeks as the old adage sprang to mind. She couldn’t believe she’d almost fallen into the same trap. But the second Mason got near, her hormones went into overdrive and shut down her brain function. She didn’t want to still want him—but she did. And he knew it, too.
Inwardly, Vivi seethed as she stomped toward the grocery store. Why couldn’t he just take a hint and leave her alone? Was that what she really wanted? A little voice at the back of her brain asked. Did she really want him to leave her alone? She could give him another chance, see where it went…
She mentally batted away the suggestion. He didn’t deserve a second chance, no matter how tempted she was to give in. She had to admit, he’d apologized several times and seemed determined to work his way back into her good graces.
Why? It was the one thing that had been bothering her for nearly the past week.
Why was he doing all this? He claimed to have said what he did in an attempt to keep Miles out of his business.
Part of her could understand that. The other part of her was still too furious to acknowledge his attempts to reassure her.
She let out a little growl of frustration as the automatic doors whooshed open and a blast of icy air conditioning hit her skin. Thank God it was Friday and she had the next two days to herself where she wouldn’t have to see him. She was going to forget all about Mason Kane—starting right now.
Grabbing a cart, she steered it into the store toward the produce section.
Admittedly, she was pretty excited that she had a real kitchen of her own now.
The cabinets had been replaced and everything was back in order.
For the past few years, she’d lived mostly off of cafeteria food, coffee, and microwave dinners, so she looked forward to grocery shopping now with no small amount of enthusiasm.
It sounded ridiculous, but it was a kind of initiation into adulthood for her.
Ellen had cooked every night during her teenage years, and she missed those homemade meals.
She wasn’t about to delude herself into thinking that her food would be anywhere near as good as Ellen’s, but she was willing to try.
She grabbed some veggies she knew she could cook—carrots, potatoes, peppers—and tossed them into the cart, then moved toward the fruits.
She’d come into the store with no real plan, so she was just winging it, buying whatever looked or sounded good.
At home, she would finally pull out some of Ellen’s old cookbooks and recipe cards.
Mentally, she ticked off everything she wanted to try: chicken alfredo, meatloaf, lasagna.
She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice the man right in front of her.
She jolted in surprise as her cart slammed into his. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry!”
His surprise melted away as he did a kind of double-take. “Oh, hey. Hi.”
“Hi.” He had pretty, bright blue eyes that bored into hers, and she shifted a little under the intense scrutiny. “Sorry again, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
He smiled. “No harm done.”
She started to move away, pleasantly surprised when she tossed a quick look over her shoulder and caught him watching her.
She turned back, fighting a smile. He was handsome in an All-American kind of way, with short, dirty blonde hair and straight, beautiful white teeth.
Though on the shorter side, he was still taller than her and definitely not bad to look at.
Why, then, didn’t she feel a spark? Another man’s face popped into her head, pushing away the image of the stranger. Mason’s memory was ruining everything. She shook her head, intent on leaving him in the past where he belonged.
Refocusing on her shopping list, she headed deeper into the store to grab pasta and bread. As she wound her way around an end cap, she was brought up short again by someone coming right at her—the same man from earlier.
She let out a little laugh, and he gave an incredulous shake of his head. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
She grinned back. “Maybe we should suggest mirrors like they have in high-traffic areas.”
He chuckled. “I guess so. I’m just going to…” He pointed down the aisle, a smile on his face, and she returned it.
“Proceed with caution.”
Her last stop was the dairy and frozen foods section because, hey, every girl needed to keep a quart of ice cream on hand. She perused the cartons of Ben and Jerry’s, then finally selected a flavor she hadn’t tried before.
As soon as the glass door swung closed, she became aware of someone right behind her. The man was bent over, sifting through the frozen pizzas, but there was no mistaking who it was. Turning, she placed the ice cream in the cart, then crossed her arms over her chest and quirked a brow at the guy.
His eyes widened as he straightened. “Third time’s a charm, right?” He grinned sheepishly and held out a hand. “I guess at this point, I should introduce myself. I’m Tyler.”
Trying to suppress her smile, she took his hand and shook. “Vivi.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“So, are you stalking me or just incredibly unlucky to keep running into me?” she teased.
A faint blush spread over his cheeks. “I wouldn’t exactly call it unlucky…”
Her smile grew. “So just a stalker, then?”
He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. After a second, he finally spoke. “I don’t think anything I could say at this point would help my case.”
She laughed, enjoying their banter. “Probably not. But if it’s any consolation, this has definitely been an improvement to my afternoon.”
“In that case, I’m glad I could help.” He paused for a long moment, his sea-blue eyes darting away before meeting hers again. “So, I know this is a little… sudden.” He cleared his throat. “But if you’re free next weekend, my Saturday is wide open.”
She thought it over for a second, taking in his tense posture, his discomfort.
She could tell he wasn’t the kind of person who picked up random women.
Unlike someone else she knew… The more distance she put between herself and Mason, the better.
Although she didn’t feel a spark with Tyler yet, maybe that would come in time.
She decided to go for it. “That sounds great.”
His eyes snapped wide. “Really?”
She laughed. “Sure. Why not?”
“Awesome. I’ll text you next week.”
They swapped numbers, and she found herself smiling as she moved toward the front of the store.
He seemed nice enough at least, if a little on the shy side.
That was a point in Tyler’s favor. Between her brother and the guys at Vantage, she was around alpha males all day long.
She hoped he was different, that he was as studious and sweet as he seemed. Definitely nothing like Mason.
But the memory of her night at the hotel, his dominant personality taking control, had her cheeks burning.
She couldn’t deny that she’d enjoyed it, but he was most certainly not the guy for her.
She was ready to let sleeping dogs lie and move on.
And going out with Tyler would be the first step forward in putting Mason behind her once and for all.