Scorned Read Free

quality anymore,” she ranted.
    I smiled, taking the bags from her. “Gotta
make money.”
    She nodded and smiled like we’d just bonded
over the poor quality of cardboard beer cases. Or, perhaps I’m just
too cynical. “You have a good day,” she called.
    “You too.”
    So-sexy-I-wear-the-jeans-with-fake-wear-lines-bleached-on-the-thighs
hadn’t moved an inch, and he still had that humored smile that
quirked up one side of his mouth. I wondered how he wasn’t cold,
standing there in nothing but his pressed jeans, a grey knit
sweater, and a scarf woven of dark gray and lilac that set off his
royal blue eyes. I could see them from across the parking lot,
staring straight at me like they’d been for months now. Those same
eyes watching me, reading my thoughts...
    A car honked and I jumped. I was standing in
the middle of the street holding up traffic. I waved an apology and
hurried across the walkway. It was gone now- the feel of those
eyes, the tingle on my arms and down my spine. I wondered if I’d
imagined their intensity. Yeah, he was definitely attractive. The
kind of guy I would drool over if I was single.
    I grabbed two bottles by the neck. He just
stood there, quietly smirking at me as if he knew a joke I’d
missed. I slid the first bag onto the floor on the passenger’s side
and grabbed the next two. The wind had blown them across the car,
plastering them against the passenger window, so Mr. Sexy got a
lovely view of my backside as I retrieved them.
    When I was finished, I smiled and thanked
him. “I appreciate your help...” I didn’t want to say “mister”. Too
molester-ish. “Dude” didn’t work either and neither did “man”, so I
just left it, hoping he would fill in the silent question with his
name.
    He didn’t. All he said was, “It was my
pleasure,” and that accent was just slightly thicker than
before.
    “LeKrista” I told him, hoping he’d catch the
hint, and I offered my hand to shake. He took it in his own but he
didn’t shake it. His hands were cold, but rough and smooth at the
same time as if the manual labor that he’d done to get the calluses
was long over.
    “LeKrista,” he said, copying my
pronunciation, le-KREE-stah . He lifted my hand to his lips
and brushed the lightest kiss over my knuckles, and I felt my body
go hot in the freezing wind. That just wasn’t even fair. “Until
next time.” The accent was there now, stronger, thicker where it
hadn’t been present before. I didn’t know it, couldn’t tell where
he was from.
    El gusto es mio. Ha! I’m dumb .
    I actually smiled at my stupidity, but when
he looked up, he thought I was smiling at him.
    “It is an antiquated practice, I know,
but...” He shrugged like he didn’t care and he was going to do it
anyway because that was what he wanted to do.
    Good for you!
    I should have said it out loud, but my voice
wouldn’t cooperate.
    “Well, Ms. LeKrista, I won’t keep you.” The
accent was all but nonexistent now, and I was sad to hear it go. “I
see you have some partying to do, yes?” He chuckled. “I do hope you
enjoy yourself.”
    I smirked right back at him, because I
thought it was funny. A party.
    Nope. Just going to get something to eat and
hang out with my boyfriend in front of the TV. Lazy, drunk bums is
all we are.
    What I said out loud was, “I will.”
    “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
    “And you.”
    He saw me into my car and closed the door
for me like we’d been friends for years. It was awkward, but then
it wasn’t. He watched me pull out of the parking space, which
racked my nerves. I hate for people to watch me drive because I
just know they’re critiquing every move I make. I know this
probably because I do the same thing.
    Wouldn’t you know it, I caught every red
light there was to catch between Wal Mart and Pierce’s house.
Pierce and his younger brother Gable lived together in Gable’s
house. Pierce moved in to help pay the bills when the younger man
fell on some hard