Gideon takes a turn, and a few minutes later, we pull up to a big home improvement store, and he shuts off the engine.
“You’re with me,” he says. “But wait for me to come around.”
Doing as I’m told, I wait for him to walk around the vehicle and open my door, and then I slide out next to him, bumping into his chest.
His hard wall of a chest.
I seriously need to settle my hormones, because he’s made it clear that he’s not interested, and I’m in danger of making a complete fool of myself.
He takes my hand in his, leads me into the store, and grabs a cart from the corral, and then, to my shock, he places me behind it, then stands behindme, his hands bracketing mine on the handle, caging me in.
“Are you serious right now?” I tip my head back to look up at him.
“If someone wants you, they have to go through me.”
You’d think it would feel awkward to walk like this, but we find a rhythm and make our way through the store. Gideon only leaves me long enough to grab things off the shelf and throw them in the basket.
The rest of the time, his front is pressed to my back. His hands are mere inches from mine. I can feel his breath on the top of my head.
All that combined makes me shiver again.
“Are you getting sick or something, Rebel?”
“No, I have a sexy man pressed against me. It’s a physical response.”
He stills, and then mutters, “That fucking mouth.”
We’re silent as we check out, and when he pulls the vehicle around to have lumber put into the back of it.
Before he starts the engine to pull away, he slides his phone out of his pocket and taps the screen.
“What do you want to eat?” he asks me.
“The burrito, the quesadilla and chips, queso, and all the good stuff.”
“Basically what I got before.”
“Yes, please.”
“That’s a lot of cheese. Will you be okay?”
I kind of love that he’s asking. “Worth it.”
He nods and taps his screen some more, obviously placing an online order, and when he’s finished, he starts the truck and drives out of the parking lot.
“You know, I thought I’d miss my electronics.” Ireallyneed to fill this awkward silence. I basically just admitted that I think he’s the sexiest man ever and my body craves him, and all he could do was swear and ignore me.
My ego has never felt so good.
“You don’t?” he asks.
“No. I mean, yeah, I’d like to check in with Chelsea. I’m sure she’s freaking out.”
“She was told that you’re on a press tour in Europe.”
I stare at the side of his face. “Seriously?”
“Yes. You don’t have reliable cell coverage where you are, and you’ll be in touch when you get home. That part isn’t a lie.”
