Page 12

Chapter ten

Naomi

“You didn’t have to come with me, you know,” I tell Robbie, who scans the parking lot just as he’s done every single time we’ve come in or out of a store today.

I know it’s because he’s been searching for any familiar faces to avoid, which makes me feel immensely guilty and convinced that he’s likely regretting joining me today.

“What? And leave you to reach the high shelf for the stand mixer all on your own? A fake boyfriend would never…”

“They do keep them awfully high,” I comment as I unlock my car.

We drove to a neighboring city this morning—the only one within thirty miles that has a store with the baking tools I need—to stock up on some supplies to make my home bakery more efficient.

Many of my tools are hand-me-downs from Mrs. Pelinski, and this influx of baking orders has opened my eyes to how dated they are.

It’s time to invest some money into my fledgling business so I can keep it running smoothly.

“No, I’m fine,” he insists, but I don’t miss how rigid his muscles are, the same way they always are when we’re anywhere outside of the comfort of my house.

“I have one more stop if you don’t mind.” I cringe hesitantly, setting my purchases in the backseat before turning to him.

I watch his expression carefully as I explain, “I was hoping to swing through the superstore while we’re here. They have a specialty brand of flour I like to use. Is that alright with you? I can come back another time if it’s not?”

“Listen, I appreciate the courtesy of asking, but remember, you’re supposed to be working on standing up for what you want.

” He crosses his arms, leaning against the hood of my car with a pointed look.

“If you need to run there, then end of story. Tell me to sit my butt in the car for all you care.”

“Well, I’m not going to do that.”

He waits patiently, rolling his lips.

I sigh, mustering strength from somewhere deep inside. “Okay, I need to stop in the superstore next door really fast. Would you like to come with me or wait in the car?”

“After you,” he complies quickly, stretching an arm out, motioning for me to lead the way. I give myself a silent mission to go as quickly as I can to spare him the turmoil being out and about brings.

“How was my delivery there?” I ask as we cross the parking lot.

He slings an arm around my shoulders in a show of friendly support. “It could use some extra force, but we’ll work on that.”

“Well, look who it is,” a voice comes from the left.

We crane our necks at the same time to spot Iris approaching the superstore entrance.

“Iris, hi,” I say with a friendly wave. I push my lips together in amusement when Robbie’s shift into fake-boyfriend mode is immediately apparent.

He takes the hand that’s hanging off my shoulder and quickly places it on my back, drawing circles with a touch that’s more in line with what a romantic partner would do.

Iris hardly tries to hide her gaze as she zeroes in on Robbie’s hand.

No doubt she’ll be relaying every single second of this interaction to Opal, regardless of how innocent and mundane running errands together actually is.

“Beautiful weather today, huh?” She falls into step next to us as we reach the shopping carts lined up outside the building. “I’m sure you must be doing something romantic. Two young lovers gallivanting around.”

“I don’t know if you know this or not, Iris, but romantic is my middle name,” Robbie says with a smile, leaning in closer to her before saying in a hushed whisper, “but I don’t give away my secrets.”

I bite my lip to avoid laughing at the way a blush creeps across her face. Then pure delight shines in her eyes when she tips her gaze to where Robbie just interlocked his hand with mine.

I’m now fully convinced that Robbie and I could do something as simple as walk down Main Street, and Iris—along with more than a few other Pine Falls residents—would eat it up like candy.

“Well, you two enjoy,” she giggles, waving before pushing her cart toward the fruit section. I lead Robbie to the baking aisle, dropping his hand as soon as Iris is out of sight.

“Did you see how giddy she was when I grabbed your hand?” Robbie chuckles.

“I sure did,” I comment flatly.

“I’m telling you, if you let me start throwing some kisses in there, these ladies will tip right over.”

“Gross,” I mumble, leaning down to examine where the bags of flour are displayed on the bottom shelf.

“Your loss.” He shrugs, taking the flour bag from my hand to place it in the cart.

“Okay, while we’re here, we might as well get—aha, sprinkles!” I say, selecting the largest container they have.

“Check. What else?” He pushes the cart to follow me down the aisle. We turn left and come to a stop in front of the egg section.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Iris come into view at almost the same exact time Robbie moves to my back. I reflexively jump when he wraps two arms around me, his head ducking into the nook between my neck and shoulder.

“What in the world are you doing?” I hastily demand in a whisper, completely caught off guard at his sudden closeness.

“Nuzzling your neck,” he says simply, his voice innocent and matter-of-fact.

“Because that’s what people do in the dairy aisle?”

“I just wanted to see what she’d do.” He keeps his head pushed firmly against mine, but he angles it just enough to look in her direction.

"And?" I can’t help but wonder too.

“Mm-hmm, just as I thought. She’s hiding behind the cereal endcap, spying on us.” His voice is tinged with exhilaration, clearly enjoying this.

“What did I sign up for…” I sigh, murmuring to myself. I manage to grab a carton of eggs with Robbie still glued to my back, but I shrug him off as soon as Iris is officially out of sight.

“That’s all I need. Are you ready?” I ask him, finally ready to get out of here and head back home.

“After you, peaches.”

“What’s with the nicknames?” I smirk. I can’t help but be impressed with how much effort he’s putting into this role.

“Just doing what I would do if this were real,” he says. “Believe it or not, but I’m a fabulous boyfriend—real or pretend.”

“You know, you don’t really talk about your past relationships much,” I point out, heading for the checkout lanes. “In fact, the last one I’m aware of was Nikki. That was our senior year, right?”

“Oh, there’ve been a few since then,” he chuckles with widening eyes, as if they conjure up memories he doesn’t care to explain. “None worth settling down for, though.”

“I suppose the amount of traveling you do makes it hard for anything to last,” I comment.

“For sure. What about you? Any dates since you went out with that scrawny little guy…what was his name? Colton?” he asks, opening the mini fridge in lane five to grab two bottles of water.

I snort at the mention of my college boyfriend. “Scrawny little guy?”

“Yup,” he says firmly.

“You’re just saying that because he cheated on me.”

He shrugs, not exactly denying it. The corner of my mouth sweeps up in a smile as I start placing items on the belt.

“No, there have been a few Hinge dates since then, but nothing serious.”

He nods as we both fall silent when the checkout clerk turns her attention to our items. The creak of a nearby cart brings my attention to the lane next to us where Iris waves with a bashful smile—one that almost displays her guilt for spying on us, but not quite.

I shoot Robbie a warning glance when he dares to move a muscle toward me.

The last thing I need is to be smothered in this tiny aisle.

A flash of disappointment shows on his face, so I offer a compromise by running my hand down the inside of his forearm, lazily running my fingertip across his skin.

A tiny show of affection to hopefully appease both of them.

I pay for my things, miraculously avoiding doing so with a human koala bear on my back, and we give Iris a final wave before heading back to my car.

“This is going to be exhausting, isn’t it?” I ask, realizing that every interaction we have in public will likely be similar. He only grins, a smug satisfaction playing on his face. I’m beginning to think he takes far too much enjoyment in our fake dating.

“I’ll put the cart back,” he offers, turning it toward the cart corral while I put the last bag in my car and get in.

“Do you have anywhere else you need to go?” he asks when he gets in the driver’s seat, shifting into gear and back onto the road.

“I do not. Thanks again for coming with me.”

“My pleasure.”

We settle into a comfortable silence as we drive.

“Are you ready to leave for your next gig tomorrow?” I ask.

“I am,” he says a little too quickly. “Can’t wait, actually—no offense.”

“Well, I always like it when you’re home,” I say, giving him a soft smile.

“Whoa,” he mutters under his breath when we see my dad’s second dealership that’s currently under construction along the side of the main road. “Look at that beast.”

“Yeah…” I cringe, getting mixed feelings about seeing the building. “It’s almost double the size of the original dealership.”

A few service trucks line the outside of the building, and they have yet to put the dealership sign with my last name up, but the walls of the massive structure are in place.

Just a few more weeks until it’ll be ready for the grand opening.

Yet another excuse for my dad to be the center of attention and boast about his accomplishments. I’m already dreading it.

“Will this one have the same selection of cars?” he asks.

“I believe there’ll be more to choose from here,” I say flatly.

“You sound so enthused.”

“Believe it or not, cars aren’t exactly my dream.”

“Why did you go down that path, then?” He twists his head to get one last glimpse at the sight of it before we pass. “Let me guess, dear old dad?”

“I felt like I didn’t have much of a choice.

” I leave it at that, not feeling like expanding on the topic.

Instead, as Robbie takes the next exit to head back toward Pine Falls, I allow myself to zone out and let my mind wander, daydreaming of a life where I’m not in any way tied down to the dealership.