Three Rules I’d Never Break by Remi Carrington

Chapter 8

Tessa was right. I didn’t see Eli for several days. A full week. If he drove by at night, he didn’t stop to knock. Aside from stalking him—which was way out of my rule-follower comfort zone—there wasn’t much I could do about it.

I read a lot and checked on my house at least once a day.

From the outside, the place looked almost finished. Inside, it still needed work. I walked through the master suite. The closets were huge. I’d designed them that way. It would be nice to have the rest of my clothes out of storage and accessible.

After a quick walkthrough, I trudged back out to my car. I’d avoided Tessa’s shop this morning, but skipping a stop at her place meant I now craved coffee in the worst way. Would I have time to run down the highway to the truck stop?

As much as I wanted to see him, my stomach soured when I remembered how he’d hurried out the door. Was kissing me really that bad? So much for my grand plan.

I walked out to the end of the driveway where I’d parked. Parking any closer to the house guaranteed nails in my tires.

A truck rumbled past, and I gasped. Eli? The brake lights flickered, but he didn’t stop. Did he live out here? Had he seen me?

Following him would be weird. I was already his bad luck charm. I didn’t need to add stalker and desperate to the list.

But since he was headed away from town, I was going to Tessa’s shop to get coffee. There was a bright side to everything.

One of the best things about my new house was that it was only five minutes from the strip mall. I parked and ran inside the doughnut shop.

The crowd had thinned a little, which was nice because that meant Tessa would have time to chat.

“Missed you this morning. Someone else did too. He sat at that corner table for almost an hour before finally trudging out of here.” She set a mug and a cream-filled doughnut in front of me. The woman knew what to give me when the world seemed like it was falling apart.

His actions didn’t make sense. Why would he wait for an hour, which made it seem like he wanted to see me, but then drive right on past? Maybe he hadn’t seen me after all.

I filled my coffee mug before biting into the doughnut.

Tessa rubbed my shoulder. “I wish I knew what to say.”

“Do you think it bothers him that I’m older than he is? He’s what . . . twenty-five?” If I could pinpoint the problem, I’d have a better chance of finding the solution. That was the way planning worked. If there was a problem in Plan A, Plan B was created to fix the problem.

“He’s twenty-six, and based on what I saw here the other morning, that’s not an issue for him.” She smiled. “All kidding aside, no. I don’t think that’s why he goes silent. It’s just the way he is. He’s a thinker, and attraction sends his brain into overdrive. A two-year age difference isn’t that big a deal.”

“Work and safety. I’ll focus on those things. Because I know next to nothing about cars, and I’m all thumbs when it comes to video games.” I finished my doughnut. “What if I don’t get a chance to talk to him?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” She glanced toward the door. “Customers. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.” I hurried back to the store and made sure everything was in proper order before opening.

There had to be a way to talk to Eli.

The other option was to forget about Eli. This whole plan of trying to get his attention made me feel like I was back in high school. The difference was, in high school, I hadn’t chased anyone. The guys had chased me. Even back then, they weren’t the guys I wanted.

I turned on the lights in the store and flipped the sign to open. If Eli was interested, he could make a move. All my efforts to be around him had only ended up adding stains to my clothes.

One of my regulars walked into the shop. With her colorful track suit and mischievous grin, she looked like trouble. The fun kind.

“Good morning. Lovely day, isn’t it?” She walked around the racks, occasionally picking up bra and panty sets. “I always start here and look at all these cute ones before I end up buying an old-lady set.” She reached into her over-sized purse. “I brought you one of my new books.”

“Thank you. It’s Tandy, right?”

“You remembered. Don’t worry about me. I’ll holler if I need something.”

“Please do.” I set the book on the counter and smiled as a man walked in. “How may I help you?”

“I’m shopping for a friend. She’s built about like you are.”

A friend? Did she know that? Ugh. Maybe there were no good guys, only bad boys, married men, and silent ones. Now I was on high alert because the built-like-you comment almost always preceded the request to model the merchandise.

Monday was off to a great start.

“What type of lingerie are you wanting to get her?”

He scanned the room, then walked over to a rack of chemises. “Something like this would work. These hug the body, don’t they?”

I’d never seen this guy around town. He was well-dressed, and his shoes were expensive. He wasn’t a local.

Had he driven to my store so that no one he knew would see him shopping?

“They do. Very flattering.”

He picked up a sheer chemise. “I’m not sure what size. Could you—”

Tandy swooped in, and I bit my lip. I’d heard stories about how she could be, but I’d never been witness to it.

“You need someone to try that on? I can do it. I’m about the same size as Ms. Carter. Just a bit more wrinkly. But that won’t matter as far as size.”

The man’s eyes widened as he looked from the chemise to Tandy. “I think a medium will work.”

“Fabulous. Glad I could help!” She wiggled her fingers as she strolled to the back of the store.

“Would you like me to wrap that up for you?” I walked to the register.

“Yeah. That’d be great.” He laid a credit card on the counter, a card that matched his platinum wedding band. “And I’m going to get one more thing. Could you wrap it separately?”

“Of course.” I watched as he scanned tags on the robes and picked up an elegant pink one.

“This is good.”

It was a bit odd that he purchased a sheer piece in medium and a floor-length robe in extra-large. He was not one of the good guys.

That settled my dilemma. I could endure a few more coffee spills if it meant Eli would ask me out. Good guys weren’t all that common, and I shouldn’t give up too easily.

I handed over two wrapped packages and a receipt. “Thank you for shopping with us.”

He nodded and glanced toward the back of the store. “Does she work here?”

“Oh no. She’s an author who comes in fairly often.”

“Oh.” The man hurried toward the door then whipped around. “Which one is which?”

“The ribbon matches what’s inside.”

“Whew. It would be horrible if I mixed them up.”

“Then I hope I got them into the right boxes.” I flashed my sweetest smile.

He needed to worry a bit.

* * *

After my secondtrip out to the house in one day, I called Tessa. “Hi! Quick question. Eli isn’t working tonight, is he?”

“You realize that I’m his cousin and not his secretary, right?” She chuckled.

“If you know, please tell me. I’ve lost track. Was he in uniform this morning?”

“Yes, he was in uniform this morning.”

“Thanks. That means he’s off tonight and tomorrow.” I didn’t want to spend the evening hoping he’d stop by if he wasn’t even working.

“Does this mean you have big plans for tonight?”

“Nope. Just trying to figure out his schedule.” I parked in front of the store.

“Well, if you aren’t busy, you should come over.”

“Sounds good. What can I bring?”

“Nothing. Just come whenever.” She ended the call.

Spending time at Tessa’s was a welcome distraction. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and changed into leggings and a t-shirt. I dressed for comfort because Tessa wouldn’t care what I wore.

I grabbed my keys, set the alarm, and drove to her apartment. I didn’t feel like walking.

At her door, I knocked as I pushed it open. “It’s me.”

“Make yourself at home. I’ll be out in a minute.”

I wandered into the kitchen. “Whatever you have in the oven smells incredible.”

“Something I threw together.”

Someone knocked at the door, and I peeked down the hall. “Want me to get that?”

“Please.”

I pulled open the door.

Eli.

His fitted t-shirt showed off what his uniform didn’t. I’d seen him in t-shirts before but never in shorts. It was a treat.

When I finished my not-so-quick survey, I met his gaze. He stared and didn’t even give one of his little nod greetings. Or maybe he’d done that when I was looking at other parts of him.

“Hi.” I stepped aside and gave him room to walk in. “Want to come in?”

He scrubbed his face. This post-kiss interaction was more awkward than I’d imagined.

“Did you walk here?” He held my gaze.

That question came out of nowhere.

“I drove.”

“Good.” Without another word, he walked away from the door.

Tessa ran up and leaned out. “Eli!”

He waved without looking back.

This was going to be more difficult than I thought. My gut said Eli was worth it.

Tessa shook her head. “I’m so sorry. That didn’t work out like I planned.”

“I should’ve walked over here.”

“Then he would have parked out front until you decided to go home.” She nodded toward the kitchen. “Let’s eat.”

“He didn’t even come in.” I needed a better plan.

“I called him as soon as I got off the phone with you and invited him for dinner. I failed to mention that you were coming too.”

“I do think it’s cool that you hang out with your cousin. I see my cousins at family reunions like once every ten years.”

“We both grew up here. We were born a few months apart—he’s six months younger—and we’re both only children.”

“So y’all basically grew up together.”

“We did. My mom worked, so my aunt took care of me. Eli and I were always together. I know he’s really embarrassed about spilling coffee on you. Especially after the lemonade incident.”

“So far with Eli, it’s been one incident after another. The towel incident. The coffee incident. The lemonade incident. And I can’t leave off the kissing incident.”

“It’s funny that he asked if you walked.”

“Kinda. The other night I mentioned that I walked home, and he told me I shouldn’t do that.”

“Sounds exactly like Eli.”

“I had a guy almost ask me to model a sheer chemise today. Another customer nixed that idea. But that got me thinking. I like Eli because he isn’t the kind of guy who would ask me to model lingerie. Or come into the store and say he’s shopping for his mom. I need to do something to get Eli’s attention.”

“You going to start jaywalking every night when he’s on duty?” She set a plate in front of me.

I pointed at her with my fork. “Genius. That’s way better than my idea.” I didn’t need a ticket for speeding anyway.