A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts #1)(14)

“Oh.” She thought that over. Then frowned. “If they do it for you then why do you want to learn? I don’t mind showing you, but I am curious.”

He sighed heavily. “The service isn’t reliable and sometimes they charge me and never bring the food so I’m stuck with nothing to eat or drink. Worse if they do remember to actually do it they forget half the stuff. When my family does it they completely ignore what I want and buy what they like.” He grimaced. “I’m getting sick of fat free yogurt and diet corn flakes and tomato juice. I swear Amy always forgets that she’s not buying for herself.”

“Ah, gotcha,” Dana said, smiling. She’d hate to have a houseful of food that she didn’t want.

“I can help!” Cole cried out.

“Me too!” Elizabeth piped in, acting less shy.

Edward smiled at the children. “Alright guys, let’s get this done.”

**********

“Mommy, he’s silly!” Cole giggled.

Dana had to agree as she watched Edward lovingly pick up a box of cookies and place them in his carriage. He paused and then grabbed two more packages.

He sent her a lopsided grin. “Don’t laugh, woman. You’d be drooling too if it had been years since you had your favorite cookies.”

“I can’t argue that,” Dana agreed as she placed a different package of cookies in her carriage for the kids. Then she grabbed a package of his favorite cookies and added them. He raised a quizzical brow in her direction. “For the trailer,” she said, earning a grin from him.

“What now?” he asked, looking both lost and eager.

Cole turned in his seat and studied the options. He pointed ahead. “Milk.”

“Milk it is then, buddy." Edward pushed the carriage over to the milk section while Dana followed behind with her own carriage.

She tried her best not to smile, but the man was absolutely adorable as he tried to figure out the difference between whole milk and one percent. Cole wasn’t very helpful. His suggestion was to add chocolate to it. In the end Edward threw her a pleading look and with a playful eye roll she helped him out.

They took shopping slowly as Edward acquainted himself with the aisles and selections. Normally she’d be done in under an hour, but tonight she was in no rush. She hated to see a grown man struggle. It reminded her of her own situation after she left Jeff.

She had to make every cent count because Jeff refused to pay child support. Thanks to him she wasn't able to afford a car and had to rely on her own two feet or bus lines to get her and the kids everywhere. When her book sales took off she was able to move to California with the kids into a one bedroom apartment. They stayed there for three months before they bought the house. It was hard, but thankfully she was able to afford Deana. As Dana’s own bank account built up she was able to pay Deana what she was worth with a large bonus to make up for the months of poor pay.

“Mommy, why are woman acting funny about Edward?” Elizabeth asked.

Dana looked up and was surprised to see women were actually following them. How she missed that earlier she didn’t know. Their shopping was completely forgotten as they gawked at Edward. Several of the men threw their hands up in the air, clearly disgusted with the women’s attention for Edward and stalked off. None of the women seemed to notice the loss of their men.

Edward, to his credit looked embarrassed and uncomfortable with the attention. He averted his eyes and focused on shopping while talking to Cole. Cole being Cole of course smiled and waved at the women. He was such a little ladies man. Deana and she were constantly having problems with little girls chasing him down in the playground to steal a kiss. Cole would scream and cry, but Dana knew he secretly loved the attention.

“Edward, I love you!” a teenage girl cried out. Her poor mother blushed fiercely as she hushed the girl.

Edward smiled nervously at Dana. “I’m really sorry about this. I guess I wasn’t thinking when I suggested this.”

Dana waved it off. “It’s not a problem. You’re doing fine.” She wanted to tell him that he had the right to do whatever he wanted and shouldn’t have to worry about this, but he was already embarrassed.

“Mommy says I can date in ten years!” Cole announced to the women earning several “awe, isn’t he cute” and laughs. Dana sighed inwardly. She really was going to have her hands full with this one.

They moved down the aisle and Dana noted that whatever Edward put in his carriage two or three women in their late teens and early twenties would grab as well. She couldn't help but think how uncomfortable that would make her if that happened to her one day. Talk about pressure.

***********

Edward stole another glance at Dana as she bent over to pick up some marshmallow cereal that the kids begged politely for. They really were good kids, he thought. Never once had they thrown a fit or raised their voices and they always said please. Not like some kids he'd seen over the years who threw gigantic screaming fits over not getting their way.

He couldn’t help watching as her bottom swayed gently as she reached for a box in the back. Damn. Did she have any idea what that did to a man? Probably not. Thankfully he was wearing lose jeans. No need to further embarrass himself, especially since the women behind him were taking pictures with their camera phones every thirty seconds or so. He really didn’t think he was doing anything interesting. But then again maybe they were taking pictures of Cole. The kid was a natural flirt.