What the Heart Wants (What the Heart Wants, #1)(40)
He arrived at the bakery area and looked around. Laurel wasn’t in sight yet, which gave him the opportunity to check out the display cases and pick up some brownies and a loaf of fresh bread. The solidly built woman behind the counter looked him up and down as she started bagging his purchases.
“You usually shop here?”
“No. I’m from around Dallas.”
Her face brightened. “My cousin lives in Dallas. LuAnn Ramirez. Used to be LuAnn Stout. You ever run into her? She drives a school bus.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Dallas is a big place, and, actually, I live outside it, the North Plano area.”
She nodded slowly, as if he’d said something profound. “How long you gonna be in town?”
“Not sure.”
“Well, you have a good visit, y’hear?” She gave him the bakery bags and dismissed him with a valedictory smile, at the same time signaling another customer that she’d be right with her.
Turning away from the counter, he spotted Laurel pushing the loaded cart in his direction and moved toward her. He put a hand on the cart. “I’ll take everything through checkout. You go on out to the car and turn on the air.”
Her back went ramrod straight and she tightened her grip on the cart’s handle, looking at him as if she was the queen of England and he had offended her majesty. “These are my groceries. You’re not paying for them.”
Damn, he hadn’t counted on her making a scene.
The bakery lady and her customer stopped talking and looked their way. He nodded at the two women, then smiled at Laurel and lowered his voice so that she was the only one who could hear. “Tell you what. I’ll bill you later. Now, how about you hustling your cute little fanny outside to the car and getting the AC running?”
She looked at him for one long second, her face drawn white with rage, before releasing the cart handle like it was a red-hot iron and marching out of the store, her chin held high.
After giving one last nod to the bakery lady to apologize for the disturbance, he pushed the cart toward the checkouts. When he got to the car, Laurel was sitting in the driver’s seat, stiff as a poker, her profile set in stone. Not saying a word, he stowed the groceries in the hatch, adjusted the passenger seat to accommodate his length, and got in the car.
She switched on the ignition, backing out so quickly she almost hit a motorized train of grocery carts, and pulled onto the street without looking at him even once.
Jase sucked in his cheeks. Why the hell was she being so difficult about him footing the bill? Whatever the problem was, someone had to break the ice, and it didn’t look like she was going to be the one to do it. He cleared his throat.
“Um, mad at me?”
What a jackass thing to say. Of course she was mad at him, but he had to get her to start talking somehow. At least he’d learned something for the small fortune he’d forked over to the shrink every week for four years.
Barely moving her lips, Laurel answered him in a flat, clipped tone. “I don’t like you paying for the groceries. You’re my guest. It was the principle of the thing. Guests do not pay for food.”
Jase reached over and touched her arm lightly in apology. “I’m sorry I offended you, Laurel, but I didn’t think it would look good for us to go through the line together. You have to live with these people, at least until the house sells, and I thought…I thought it would be easier on you if they didn’t know that you…that you had a male guest…that you and I…” He floundered to a stop. “Damn it, Laurel, you have a reputation to keep up!”
After a pause, he saw her shoulders relax, She gave him a quick, penitent smile. “I’m the one who should apologize, Jase. I overreacted. Thank you for buying the groceries.”
He heaved a sigh of relief. Their first quarrel. It was bound to happen. At least now he knew for sure she was human.
*
Laurel could still feel the color washing into her face. Jase had been trying to protect her. God help her, but he didn’t know how far her star had fallen. She doubted if anyone cared if she had a live-in lover. She wasn’t Pastor Harlow’s virgin daughter anymore. She was the divorced daughter of the man who’d betrayed the town’s trust.
At least she’d been lucky in the store. She’d actually been relieved when Jase suggested they separate to shop. That way, there would be less chance of anyone seeing her and Jase together and spilling the beans to him about Daddy. But as she was putting milk and chicken and frozen pizza in her wheeled basket, she became more and more anxious about the possibility of some old acquaintance cornering Jase when he was alone and bringing him up-to-date on the goings-on in Bosque Bend. The only thing to do was move him out of the supermarket quickly and take the groceries through checkout by herself. But he beat her to it, and paid for the groceries besides.
Principle was important, but it was even more important to extend Jase’s visit as long as possible. She was more in love with him than ever.
*
Jase rolled his sleeves down. “Would you mind if we drive over to the old place after we get the groceries put away? I need to pick up my clothes. I really do own more than one shirt.”
“No problem. I’ll even throw in a guided tour so you can see all the changes that have taken place around here since you left.”