Page 16 of Double Booked

Now what? He should probably get back to work and leave her to her shopping. Later, he would mention having seen her in town. His feet wouldn’t budge though, and he kept staring across the street. Finally, he moved away and joined the group of pedestrians waiting at the crosswalk. I’m here, so I might as well say hello, he reasoned.

He went up to the store window and peered inside, but he didn’t see her. The store was long and narrow, so she was probably at the back. He paused, thinking about how foolish he was behaving. He would say hello and leave. It was no big deal. He opened the door and went inside.

The store was crowded with racks of clothes at the front and a variety of sporting equipment lining the sides. He spotted Eden’s blonde head at the back of the store, where she was perusing a rack of shoes. He’d almost reached her when a man came out of a doorway at the back holding two shoe boxes. “Here you go,” he said and handed them to her.

“Thanks.” She sat down on a small bench with her back to Cole.

The salesman noticed him standing there and said, “Can I help you, sir?”

“No, thanks,” Cole replied.

Eden whipped her head around so fast, he thought she might get whiplash.

The man glanced between them. “I take it you know each other?”

“Sort of,” Eden muttered.

“We’re roommates,” Cole stated.

She scowled at him.

The man looked confused as he turned his attention back to Eden. “Let me know if you need a different size.” Then he disappeared into the stockroom.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed. “Besides sneaking up on me.”

“I wasn’t sneaking. I saw you from across the street.” Great. Now it sounded like he was stalking her.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“Aren’t you?” he volleyed.

“I’m on my lunch break.”

“So am I.” Suddenly, he wished he had left when he had the chance.

She sighed. “Sorry. I just didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I came into town to get lunch.”

“What about all the lunchmeat you bought at the grocery store?”

“I forgot to pack my lunch this morning.”

“You could have come home—to the cabin—and had lunch.”

“I thought you’d be working and didn’t want to disturb you.”

He hadn’t been trying to make her feel guilty, but she looked it.

“That was nice of you, but you have as much a right to be there as I do.”

“I’ll remember that next time.” Then he glanced at the shoe boxes. “You’re buying hiking shoes?”

She nodded. “I realized my Nikes won’t cut it.”

“Of the two, I recommend the Keens.”

She opened the lids on both boxes. “The other pair are cuter.”