Page 85 of No Headlines Please

My thoughts immediately went to Tessa. "Like information?"

"No. Like groceries."

I blinked. "Did you say…groceries?"

"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "Listen, I know it can be rough out there, so I dug in my cupboards. It's not much, but I figure it'll get you by for a few days at least."

Huh? I looked deeper into his apartment and sure enough, spotted a modest stack of groceries sitting on his kitchen table.

There were several boxes of macaroni and cheese, a jar of peanut butter, a big box of crackers, and a half-dozen cans of tuna fish, plus a loaf of plain white bread.

My stomach sank. Oh, no. I gave a little groan. "Don't tell me, you heard about the trash thing?"

He reached up to rub the back of his neck. "What trash thing?"

I didn't know whether to hug him or die of shame. "You talked to Mrs. Stelter, didn't you?"

He shrugged. "Well…yeah, she lives in the building, you know?"

"She told you I was digging through the trash, didn't she?"

He glanced away. "She might've mentioned it."

I sighed. "This is so embarrassing."

"Hey, don't be embarrassed," he said. "Life kicks all of us once in while."

My face was flaming now. "No, not about that. I'm embarrassed because I've got a confession."

Now he was looking a little wary. "Yeah?"

"Okay, yes, I was digging through the trash, but it wasn't for food."

"It wasn't?"

"No." I gave him an apologetic wince. "If you want the truth, I was, well…digging out that receipt."

Understanding dawned on his face. "You mean the rent receipt?"

"Yes, actually." Again, I glanced toward the groceries. "And now I feel doubly bad for making you worry."

"Why doubly bad?"

"One because it was sneaky to fish out the receipt and two because now you think I was dumpster diving for food."

"So you weren't?" He lowered his voice. "I mean…you could've grabbed the burgers and the receipt. You know…a twofer."

"Oh, come on! I didn't even open that burger bag. It was just in the way, that's all."

He studied my face. "You sure?"

"Positive."

He brightened. "Well, that's good."

If only it ended there. "But I should probably warn you...Mrs. Stelter seems convinced I've been turning tricks in the building."

He didn't look surprised. Or maybe he didn't even hear me, because his attention had returned to the foil-wrapped plate that I was still holding out between us. His eyes were gleaming. "So, that's the shrimp, huh?"