Hooking Him (How to Catch an Alpha #3)(18)

“I didn’t kiss you. You kissed me.”

“Did I?” He shrugs. “I don’t remember.”

“Oh my God, you’re so . . .”

“Amazing?” he finishes for me.

“No. You’re a—”

“Awesome.”

“Annoying,” Chrissie inserts, and I smile at her, even though she’s not looking at me.

“You should plan on hearing that a lot,” Gaston tells Calvin. Then he adds, “But word to the wise—never tell them they’re being annoying. Trust me. That will not go over well for you.”

“Maybe you should stop while you’re ahead, honey, because at this point, you’re working toward sleeping on the couch with LeFou.” Chrissie glares over her shoulder at her husband.

“See what I mean?” Gaston grins as he wraps his arm around her shoulders, then kisses the side of her head.

“Maybe there is something in the water, making men more annoying than usual,” Chrissie says.

“It’s probably the moon. Edie was saying something about the moon being almost full the other night,” I say, and Calvin laughs.

Chrissie snaps her fingers. “That’s it. It has to be.”

“Well, I think that’s my cue to go,” Gaston says, turning Chrissie to face him. “I’ll see you at home.” He grasps her face between both his hands to kiss her, then leans back, rubbing his thumb against her cheek. “After I drop off the flowers, I’ll pick up dinner. Just send me a text to let me know what you want.”

“Thank you.”

“Anything.” He touches his lips to her forehead, then turns to smile at me. “Later, Anna.”

“Bye, Gaston, and thanks for taking the flowers.”

“Flowers?” Calvin asks.

“Anna’s been getting flowers all day and didn’t want them to go to waste, so she asked if Gus could take them to the local senior home.”

“Max ran the story. Did she use your name?” Calvin sounds pissed, and my brows draw tightly together.

“Yeah, you said she would,” I remind him.

“Yeah, and I went to her and told her that if she used your name, she and I would have problems.”

“Obviously she didn’t listen to you. We haven’t seen the article, but at least a hundred people came in today asking for Anna directly, saying they’d read about what she did in the paper,” Chrissie says, and I bite my bottom lip when anger infuses Calvin’s features.

“Fuck,” he growls, jerking his fingers through his hair, and then he turns to me. “I’ll see you tonight.” When I nod, he looks at Chrissie and Gaston. “Later.” He swings open the door.

“Wait!” I call, and he turns to look at me over his shoulder. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll see you tonight.” He walks out, seeming to be on a mission as he storms past the windows and down the sidewalk.

“What’s that about?” Gaston asks.

“My guess is he’s not happy about his woman’s name being in the paper,” Chrissie replies with a dreamy sigh.

“I get that,” Gaston agrees.

“I’m not his woman,” I inform them, and Chrissie slowly turns toward me and grins. “Don’t grin at me like that.”

“Like what?” she asks, still smiling.

“You know what.”

“He’s protective. I think that means even if you’re not his, you still are,” Gaston says, and I glare at him. “Just sayin’.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be leaving?” I ask.

“Are you going to let her kick me out?” he asks his wife, trying to sound offended.

“Absolutely.” She pats his chest. “While Anna and I finish closing down the shop, we’re going to talk about what’s going on with Calvin and her, and she won’t open up if you’re here.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. He’s just coming to my place for dinner. That’s it.”

“That’s how it starts,” she informs me, and I groan. “Trust me. First it’s just dinner, and the next thing you know, you’re living together and having a baby. And if you don’t trust me, you can always ask Leah how things progressed between her and Tyler.”

“Now I really am gonna go,” Gaston murmurs, gaining her attention by kissing the top of her head. “I’ll see you at home.”

“See you at home.” She leans up, touching her mouth to his, and then she watches him walk out the door like he’s going off to war, not running a few errands. I have to admit: they have something most people don’t have. The admiration and love they have for each other is rare, especially nowadays. Even Lance, who claimed to be in love with me, would go days without calling if he was away on business. And even when we worked in the same office building, he never came by to bring me lunch or see if I wanted to grab some with him.

“Now that he’s gone, let’s talk about Calvin,” Chrissie chirps, flipping the OPEN sign to CLOSED and locking the door.

“I didn’t lie,” I tell her, opening the register to pull out the tray of cash so I can do a count. “We’re just having dinner.” I frown. “I’m still not sure how I agreed to have dinner with him.”