Page 101 of Men or Paws

Was she plotting her next move?

I certainly was.

One thing was for sure, things were complicated now that she knew I wasn’t going to kiss her unless she kissed me first. Which meant I had to outwit her, and admittedly, I now realized it wouldn’t be easy.

I turned into the Del Rayo Village Shopping Center and grabbed the first available parking spot, wondering how long it would take for Beth to say something about the location.

She watched the people on the other side of the pine tree visiting the various booths, then finally turned to me and wrinkled her nose. “You brought me to a farmers’ market?”

“Yup.”

“To eat lunch.”

“Yup again.” I opened both of our doors, then started to get out.

“Hey!” Beth said. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” She gestured down to her seatbelt, looking helpless, like I was leaving her there to die of starvation.

She was obviously trying for round two of the trap, but I wasn’t falling for it again.

I sighed and reached across the console in between the seats, releasing her seatbelt with the simple press of my index finger. “Well, look at that. It came loose. I guess I had the wrong angle earlier.” I got out of the car, laughing, shutting my door.

“Wait a minute,” Beth said, stepping out before coming around toward me. She gestured behind her to the car. “What was that?”

“What was what?” I asked.

“You know what.”

I shrugged and played dumb. “All I did was unfasten your seatbelt.”

“And did you notice how easy it was this time?” Beth said.

“Wasn’t that crazy?” I said, holding in a laugh. “Almost as easy as it was for you to get your blouse caught in it.”

Beth shook her head. “You think you’re so smart.”

I laughed. “True, but I’m not as smart as you.”

She started to argue and then clamped her mouth shut when she realized what I'd said.

It was hard to squabble with someone who had just given you a compliment.

“Okay, time for your five-star culinary experience,” I said, thinking that a change of subject would be good for both of us. “Right this way. Ladies first.”

I followed Beth between two cars.

She ducked under the pine tree, but her hair got caught on one of the lower branches, causing her to lose her balance a little before continuing.

“Have you been drinking?” I chuckled and ducked under the pine tree, also catching my head on it. “Whoops.”

“I should be asking you the same thing,” she said, laughing right back at me.

“Attack of the killer pine tree. I’d pay to see that movie.”

Beth shook her head at my silly humor and waited for me to catch up. “You’ve been spotted already.” She tilted her head toward three smiling women drinking smoothies, their eyes on me. “This is going to be interesting being with you in public.”

“Those women are harmless. This is not LA or New York—it’s pretty subdued in a Rancho Santa Fe kind of way. That’s why I chose to live here.”

Beth glanced over at the women again. “You mean everyone just leaves you alone?”