Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(2)
Prickles of pleasure filled Will at the image. Melody was a leaf on the wind. He’d seen that the first time he met her, at the winter mixer Howie had held for his employees and the citizens of Haskell after Christmas. She’d been there with a group of her friends, looking just as amazing as she did now. His friends talked about that event as the day his supervisor, Scott Martin, had met the girl he was now engaged to, Casey Flint, but secretly, Will marked it as the night Melody had blown into his world.
He blinked himself out of thoughts that were, frankly, disturbing. He had a schedule to stick to, a routine. “Why don’t you have a basket?” He lifted his own blue plastic shopping basket.
Melody giggled, her face going pink. “I didn’t realize I was going to need one.”
They reached the register, and she spilled her purchases across the counter. Will did a double-take, brow sinking into a frown of confusion. Baby oil, sandpaper, latex gloves, and an enema.
“Hey Bernie,” Melody greeted the cashier, an white-haired guy who Will figured had been working there forever.
“Hey, Melody,” Bernie answered. “This everything?”
“Oh! I’ll take one of these too,” Melody added, face growing even pinker and her giggle more pronounced as she plucked a small jar of cherry lip balm from a display and popped it on the counter.
Will’s blood rushed to all the wrong places. Cherry lip balm? Baby oil? An enema? Why, why, why did that selection of items turn him on? And sandpaper? He swallowed hard, trying to rein in his imagination, and ran a hand over the bottom half of his face.
Bernie grinned indulgently at Melody. “You and Calliope still playing that game?”
“Always,” Melody replied with a wink.
Will frowned, an expression which, in this case, represented relief that he had something else to think about than all the ways Melody might want to use the items in front of her.
Melody must have noticed his expression. She leaned closer, her smile downright wicked. “My sister and I have this game. Who can spend ten bucks and buy a collection of perfectly innocent items that have the most wildly suggestive use if put together.”
Will could feel heat flood his face. “Looks like you’ve done a good job,” he said, or rather croaked. If she had half a brain, she’d be able to see that his mind had jumped straight to where she wanted it to be for her game.
“I’m still trying to beat Calliope’s winning collection,” she explained.
“Which was?” he asked, even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“Rubber bands, caramel sauce, cucumbers, and a disposable camera.”
Will’s jaw fell open. His mind raced to conjure up all sorts of images involving those items and Melody. None of them were PG. But then, he supposed that was the point of the game.
“Yeah, I know.” Melody raised an eyebrow as if she could tell exactly what he was thinking. “The camera was the real stroke of genius in that one. I’m hoping I can win points for the sandpaper in this collection. It’s so out there that it makes you wonder.”
“I…uh…wha….” There was absolutely nothing Will could say about that. And at the same time, every fiber of his being wanted to say something, to do something. Eight years of college and graduate school, four years of military service, two years of working for one of the top aerospace industries in the country, and she’d rendered him completely useless.
“Sorry, Melody. That comes to eleven dollars and twenty-eight cents,” Bernie informed her with a shake of his head. “You’ll have to put something back.”
Melody sighed and turned her attention to the counter. She picked up the enema, but put it down in favor of the latex gloves. “I suppose the gloves are more or less implied,” she said with a sigh.
Bernie chuckled, re-rang her total, and put the remaining items in the bag.
“Oh, hey, are you headed over to Howie’s big luncheon and announcement?” Melody asked after Bwernie took her money, handed over her bag, and started ringing up Will’s purchase.
“Yes,” Will answered, his voice still too awkward for his liking. He should probably stand as close to the counter as possible too and focus on the caricature of a politician on the cover of one of the magazines beside the register. That would certainly deflate any of his body’s attempts to embarrass him.
“I’ll wait for you,” Melody said with a smile. “We can walk over together.”
“You’re going to the mixer?” Surprise went a long way to settling him down.
“Of course.” Melody laughed. “Everyone in town is going, from what I hear. Sounds like it’s going to be fun.”
Will frowned. “You do know what this spring’s mixer is going to be, don’t you?”
“Isn’t it supposed to be a surprise?” Bernie asked.
Melody’s grin grew mischievous. “It’s supposed to be a surprise, but I think everyone already knows what it is.”
“What is it?”
Will glanced to Melody before answering, “Orienteering.”
Bernie blinked. “Orien-what-ing?”
“It’s where they blindfold you and drop you in the middle of the wilderness with nothing but a compass, a map, and the clothes on your back, and you have to find your way out to a predetermined spot,” Melody answered, bursting with enthusiasm.