“I’ll just go home,” I mumbled, trying to lurch away. To forget this moment ever happened.
But Clint maintained contact with one of my elbows, following along beside me as if I required his strength to walk.
Which would’ve been nice if I had. Or if I hadn’t just barfed all over his feet.
Gah!
Juice Girl materialized out of nowhere. “Here you go—it’s already paid for.”
Clint snatched it from her hand with a murmured thanks, unscrewed the top and thrust it at me. “Take a sip.”
I grabbed it, desperate to escape. “Thanks so much, both of you. I gotta run before I hurl again.”
“I’ll drive you home,” Clint offered.
“No, no, no, no.” I couldn’t seem to stop my lips from saying the syllable over and over again. “I’m okay on my own.”
I was. Completely on my own.
“Probably,” he countered. “But I’m not letting you drive yourself home when you’re feeling this way. Give me your keys, sugar.”
Sugar. He’d called me that at the bar. It had sounded good then and now.
But I wasn’t his sugar. He was with Shelby, and I knew he wasn’t an asshole, so I had to assume he called every woman sugar. Like the mechanic who worked on my car calling everyone honey.
I looked up at him, my embarrassment morphing into something hot and slithery. My ever-tender nipples beaded up in my now too-tight bra. I’d just thrown up, and I was hot for him. Eager for what he had in his pants. And the dark words out of his mouth.
Clint was bossy.
I shouldn’t like that.
Not after Todd’s controlling asshole ways. He’d told me what to do, what to wear, what to buy.
But it seemed a girl never learned because Clint’s take-charge attitude just erased all nausea and left my panties damp.
I had hormonal whiplash. Nauseated one minute, horny the next.
Yeah, as if Clint wanted to get it on with a woman who just hurled on him. Soooo sexy.
Still, I hesitated. Part of me was anxious to escape, especially considering Clint was here with another woman. But he held out his hand and pinned me with that stern dark gaze, and I found myself passing the keys before I’d made up my mind whether to obey.
“What about your groceries?” Clint asked, glancing behind me at my cart.
“I just need to leave,” I begged. “I’ll come back tomorrow and apologize to the manager.”
“Okay. Shelby, would you mind—”
“No problem. I’ll take care of our shopping. Give me the keys to your truck, and I’ll finish up.”
Well.
She was awfully accommodating considering Clint was leaving with another woman. She must really be eager to please. When I glanced at her, I found her eyeing me with curiosity rather than jealousy.
Uh oh. Hopefully they weren’t into threesomes.
Oh, what was I thinking? Nobody was thinking about having sex with me right now. I just puked in a grocery store. On a hot cowboy’s boots.
He was just being a gentleman and seeing me home.
I let him steer me outside, and I pointed out my Subaru. He opened the passenger door and handed me in like I was some kind of elderly woman then walked around, pushed my seat all the way back and climbed behind the wheel.
“Where to?” he asked, looking over at me.
“Listen, you don’t have to drive me.” I opened the glove box and pulled out some napkins, which I thrust at him. “For your boots.”
He took them and leaned down to give his boots a quick swipe. “Thanks. Now, where do you live?”
“I’m really sorry, Clint. I don’t want your girlfriend to be mad.” I couldn’t help myself. I just had to ask. He was a nice guy, and I didn’t want to mess things up for him.
“Girlfriend?” He raised both brows in surprise then his lips twitched. “You think Shelby’s my girlfriend?” He shook his head and started the car. “No, sugar. She was just helping me pick up some things for a family gathering we’re having. It’s too cold for a barbeque but same kind of thing.”
“Oh. She’s—um—family?” Dammit, did I sound way too hopeful? Did I really think a gorgeous guy like him would be single?
He backed up, lips tipping up again. “Yep, we’re related. I couldn’t tell you exactly how. Second cousins, maybe—I don’t know. But yes, she’s family.”
I sat back, my stomach calm, much of my agitation easing. “Well, she seems really nice.”
I liked her far better now that I knew she wasn’t Clint’s girlfriend. She seemed like a really awesome cousin. Stellar, even.
I gave Clint directions back to the duplex I’d moved into when I first left Todd and arrived in Cooper Valley. Thanks to the crushing weight of his med school bills—yeah, his, not mine—I couldn’t afford any better. I still couldn’t since we were still fucking married, and his debts were my debts.
“What do you think made you sick?” Clint asked. “Stomach flu? Food poisoning?”
I drew in a breath. “Food poisoning, probably,” I said quickly. While Clint might eventually find out I was pregnant, I couldn’t deal with the complications that would bring at the moment. I’d wanted to see him again, but I’d wanted to be prepared. Have a mental script of what to say. Heck, even makeup and maybe not have throw-up breath.
As happy as I was that he and Shelby weren’t an item, that didn’t mean I got to lay claim to him. Or that I even wanted to. His dick would be good, but all of him? All six-feet plus of hot cowboy? I wasn’t ready for that or the complications that went with it.
I would have enough problems when Todd found out I was pregnant. Knowing that asshole, he’d probably try to claim paternity even though we hadn’t had sex in two years. He was determined to cause me as much trouble and delay our divorce for as long as he possibly could. Adding a pregnancy to the legal proceedings was going to be a nightmare.
“What do you do for that?” He glanced over from the wheel.
Seriously? Had he never had food poisoning before? “Oh, you know. Lots of fluids and staying closer to a bathroom than I did. I’ll be fine. I’m already feeling better. Again, I’m sorry about your boots.”
“Stop apologizing,” he said firmly in that same bossy tone that had made my nipples hard at the store. He pulled in front of my place, parked and quickly texted the address to Shelby, so she could pick him up. He turned to look at me, his gaze roving over my face. “What can I do to help?”
“You’ve been a huge help already, but it’s enough.” I opened the door and climbed out, my boots sinking into three-day old snow my neighbor and I still hadn’t shoveled.
Clint surged out from behind the wheel and jogged to catch my elbow, like he was afraid I’d slip.
I stopped and smiled at him. He really was quite the gentleman. The memory of him gallantly riding to my rescue the night we hooked up came flooding back with fondness. “I’m fine. Really. Hey, your nose is looking better.”
He lifted his free hand to touch it as if he’d forgotten, then grinned. “Yeah. All good.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I replied. “I’m good, too.”
“Well, I am worried.” His forehead crinkled. He steered me forward to my door. “I’m going to come back and check on you.”