Sheila grinned. Her dad loved the deli-style red potato salad, and her mom hated it. “You got it.” She’d have time to stop at the store on her way over. She glanced at the clock. Maybe. There was so much to do.
“Your mom said to bring your gentleman with you.”
Sheila snorted. That wouldn’t go over well. “He’s busy.” Brock had invited her over for dinner on his half-finished deck, but she’d turned him down, knowing that he was a time vortex. Whenever they were together, minutes slipped away like sugar falling from a measuring cup. At least going to dinner at her parents’ wouldn’t take more than an hour. They were efficient people.
Brock texted her updates on his deck project and flirted. She loved their conversations and the daily texting session, but barely managed to send replies. A text from him would rip her right out of the zone, and she’d end up reliving their stolen kisses in the locker room instead of reviewing billboard concepts and designs.
The thing was, she missed him.
She missed him, and Mom’s comment about Kelly still bothered her. “Is Kelly bringing anyone?”
“We don’t know. She said to keep an open spot, just in case.”
“Hmm.” What was she worried about, anyway? It wasn’t like Kelly had some hold over Brock. They’d had one date. Sheila needed to let go of the doubts in her head. They were based on past experiences with her sister, not with Brock.
If she didn’t think about it, she was better off. So she shoved her feelings down and plowed ahead.
“All right. We’ll save a seat for you.” Dad said goodbye, and they hung up the phone.
Sheila took a pic of the blank spot on her desk and sent it to Brock.Making progress.
Brock’s reply was almost instantaneous:I’m so proud of you.
Sheila warmed. He always knew just what to say. Brock was great. Her sister was hopefully moving on. Everything was going to be okay. A chill raced up her spine, giving her the feeling that she’d tempted fate. She took that feeling by the neck and thrust it deep down inside with the others.Just don’t think about how betrayed your sister would feel if she knew you had kissed the guy she crushed on.
And while she wasn’t thinking about that, she’d not think about how much she actually liked Brock. It wasn’t that she couldn’t or shouldn’t like him; it was that the more she thought about him, the further behind she fell in work. The further behind she fell, the more stress Harper would feel. The more stress Harper felt, the more she was likely to sell the team. And that just wasn’t an option. Sheila shoved all thoughts aside and picked up the nearest sticky note, determined to check another thing off her list.
Chapter Seventeen
Brock
Brock pushed the shopping cart with the wobbly wheel through the produce section. A brunette stopped by his cart and reached over to retrieve a bunch of bananas. She glanced up at him from lowered lashes and smiled shyly.
He smiled in return but kept his focus on the fruit. Ricky was right: the time to find single ladies at the grocery store was around five. Just after they got off work. The store was crawling with them. It would have been great if he was looking for a date. How had he not known this before he started dating Sheila?
“Well, hello there.” Kelly slid her hand around Brock’s arm, coming from behind and taking him off guard. “I thought that was you,” she purred.
Brock’s eyes went to her dark eyebrows briefly. He shook his head, extracting his arm from Kelly’s caress. “It’s good to see you again.” He placed both hands on the cart handle and started walking.
Instead of taking the hint, Kelly fell into step beside him. He headed for the bakery, needing hamburger buns for his cookout. Since Sheila wasn’t coming over, he’d invited Heath and Brian Tuttle, the left fielder. The flooring was done. He’d start the railing tomorrow.
She glanced over the items in his cart. “Total guy food,” she teased.
“Chick food.” He pointed to the cheese with a name he couldn’t pronounce and crackers with seeds on them in the basket looped over her arm.
She lifted a shoulder. “My mom loves this stuff. I’m headed to her house for dinner and thought I’d surprise her.” She stepped closer to him, the scent of hand sanitizer mixed with her light perfume making his nose tingle.
“Brock?” Sheila’s cart banged into his with a clatter.
Brock’s chest grew warm at the sight of her. “Sheila?” he breathed.
“Kelly.” Sheila looked back and forth between them. “What’s going on?”
Kelly turned her body towards Sheila. Brock had the weird thought of a female cat turning on a threat. “We were just shopping.”
“Whoa.” Brock held up his hands. “She was shopping and I was shopping, but we weren’t shopping together.”
Kelly laughed and swatted at his arm. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”
