“Okay. What beer matches with chips and salsa?” She side-eyed me and did the quick lip-lick thing. I found her quirk endearing. She wasn’t doing it to be sexy, which somehowmadeit sexy.
“Tough one. Two options for me. Modelo or Corona.”
“Damn. Good answer. Did you cheat somehow?” She winked at me and continued down the aisle. I was acting like a fool with a dorky grin, but I didn’t care. I had never enjoyed grocery shopping before.
“I like your test. I’m passing pretty well.”
“Don’t get too macho. I’ve been holding back on you.” She took some pasta and stopped in front of the sauces. “This one is major.”
“Okay. I’m braced.” I held on to the cart and planted my feet. “Give it to me.”
“What type of pasta sauce do you normally buy?” She pointed to two options. “Garlic and herb or traditional?”
“Hmm. I have to go with the truth, traditional.”
“Ah, we’ll call that one a hard foul ball.” She held up some garlic and herb spices and threw them into the cart.
“Right side or left side?” I asked, hoping to throw her.
“Right. You swung a little late.” She hummed a bit as she continued down the aisle and headed toward the next. The dark-haired woman, whose name I had no idea of, had me wrapped around her finger after knowing her an hour.
“I tend to pull the outside pitches to the left, actually. I’m working on that.”
“Are you keeping your shoulder closed? If you open it up too soon, you’ll pull every pitch imaginable.” She hadn’t glanced up at me and I stood baffled.Who is this mystery woman?
We approached the frozen products and I knew we were near the end of her list. I desperately wanted the date to continue. “Can I ask you some questions now?”
“That’s fair. It has been one-sided and I’m all for equality.” She lifted a pint of rocky road ice cream from the shelf, my favorite by the way, and put it in the cart.
“What’s your name?” I held my breath.
“Ah, noticed that we skipped that part, huh?” She smiled and walked up to the edge of the cart, only a foot of space between us. “Give me your after-game analysis.”
“I want to be clever right now and come up with some baseball talk and wow you with my intelligence, but I’ll mess it up. I’m going with honesty.”
“As they say, it is the best policy.” She twisted a lip, her amusement at my struggle quite apparent. “Carry on.”
“You intrigue me. I don’t want the grocery shopping date to end and I really hate grocery shopping. You clearly know baseball and even though you declined my proposal, I’m willing to give you another chance.” I meant every word and I enjoyed the heat in her eyes. However brief it remained, I cheered inside.
“How kind of you.” Her face was unlike anyone’s I had ever met. “How about this? I’m all about fate and overcoming challenges. I’ll give you my name. But the rest is up to you.”
“Fair enough.” I loved a challenge.
“Callie.”
“Callie? No last name?” I begged. She began walking away and I had no choice but to let her. My dream girl played games and yet she’d somehow caught me.
“I’m a student here. That’s all you’re getting.” She pushed out of the aisle and grinned at me one last time. “As we say, the ball is on your field now.”
Chapter Three
Callie
“Have you ever had something like that happen to you?” I asked Greta, explaining to her what had happened at Target. “It felt like a scene from a movie, I tell you.”
“I love it. That sounds amazing.” She swooned, grabbing a plate of pasta. “We’re getting back to that, but have I told you again how much I love you?”
“You’re only saying that because I cooked you food.” I chuckled, not disliking her open affectionallthe time. “Plus, my dad taught me how to cook well.”
