Now he knew what it felt to be on the other side of things.
“Good morning, Tripp,” Serenity sang the moment he entered the shop. “Wendy isn’t here. Decided to take an early lunch with some guy.”
He frowned. Wait, what? He’d come to take her to lunch or rather beg her to come to lunch with him on her break. Any amount of time he could get with her was better than nothing. But hearing that she had accepted a lunch date with someone else had his nerves fraying. The demand to know who it was clung to the tip of his tongue but then the sound of footsteps drew his attention elsewhere.
At that moment, Wendy emerged from the back. Her eyes locked with his and she smiled.
Tripp shifted his seething look toward Serenity. She laughed, ducking away as she headed for the back of the store. “I’m going to take inventory of the shipment we got this morning,” she murmured.
Wendy nodded, her eyes following her friend before landing on Tripp again. “What happened?”
He straightened. “What? Nothing.”
She arched a brow. “The way you were looking at her mere moments ago tells a different story. Did she say something to you?”
Tripp locked his jaw. There was no way she would be ready to hear the thoughts that had blown up in his head when he’d believed that she was dating someone else. Based on the smugsmile that graced Serenity’s lips, she’d blatantly lied just to get a reaction.
And boy did she ever.
If nothing else, one thing was made perfectly clear.
He was in over his head.
Tripp’s heart already belonged to this southern beauty before him. Her smile. The way her eyes lit up with joy or darkened with irritation. Even the way she could hold her own in an argument. Every last piece of this woman had been made for him.
If only he could get her to accept it.
Clearing his throat, noting the expectant expression on her face, he flashed her a smile. “I wanted to know if you’d come to lunch with me today.”
“Tripp…” she sighed.
“As a friend, of course.” Those words were more bitter on his tongue than they’d ever been. He was growing to despise the term. Why couldn’t they cross the line just once? He was sure that doing so would give them both the clarity they needed to move past this strange limbo in which they found themselves.
Her eyes searched his as if seeking out the falsehoods in his promise.
He looked away and leaned himself casually against the counter, arms folded against his chest. “Even you have to eat, right?”
Tripp didn’t have to glance back to her to know she was debating whether or not to accept his request. The term hanging out had started to feel more serious. At least to him. She could feel it too, he was sure of it.
Fighting the urge to just lay it all out on the table and tell her that he thought he was falling in love with her, Tripp exhaled a slow breath. There was more to lose in making such a confession. Wendy could shut him out of her life completely if she felt cornered. That was why he had to be patient.
And yet that patience was wearing thin with each passing day. He turned his head and quirked a grin at her. “Tick tock, sweetness. You might want to take me up on my offer before I extend it to someone else,” he teased. There was no one else because no one could compare to the beauty who stood behind the counter.
Something about her expression tightened and he fought a laugh. She really didn’t like it when he suggested he would spend time with other women. Well, at least that was how he was choosing to read her reaction.
Wendy huffed but she didn’t call him on his bluff. Instead, she slipped through the door to the office.
He straightened, preparing to go after her and tell her he was joking, but then she returned with her purse.
“I’m taking my lunch break, Serenity,” she called. “You gonna be okay while I’m gone?”
“Sure thing!” Serenity called back.
Wendy’s expression was one of exasperation but woven beneath the surface was something else. Veiled excitement? Happiness? She enjoyed his company as much as he enjoyed hers.
Tripp didn’t even bother covering up the smug smile that toyed at his lips. “Any requests?”
“I could go for a burger.”
