Tammy clenched her hands so tight at her sides, her nails dug into her palms, and she closed her eyes for a three-count as she walked away to ward off the mortification of that encounter. He’d slept with her and then told her she was interesting, but he wasn’t here for her. He hadn’t even hinted at what they’d done last night.
Okay, now this felt like a walk of shame.
“You’re upset,” he said, matching her pace beside her.
“Not upset, just not interested in conversations that make me feel bad about myself.”
“You feel bad because I said I’m not here for you?”
“I know how shallow that sounds,” she snapped. “You don’t have to narrate what’s happening. Let me escape my embarrassment in peace, please.”
“You’re embarrassed?”
“Oh my good golly,” she said, exasperated as she rounded on him. “We slept together—”
“And it was awesome—”
“And now we owe each other nothing. I will see you around. Maybe. I don’t know.” Flustered down to her soul, Tammy began walking again.
“I lied to you,” he called after her.
“Shocking. That’s what boys do though, so carry on,” she called sarcastically without turning around.
“I mean I am here for you,” he said low as he fell into step with her again.
She frowned and stopped walking, cocked her head as she studied the earnestness in his glowing eyes. “Then why did you say you were here for anything else.”
“Because you scare the shit out of me.”
“I scare you?” she asked, baffled. “I’m human. And messy. I like studying, and feeding my two feral cats, and I needed your help to even get my truck running this morning.”
“Like I said, you’re interesting.”
“Interesting,” she repeated, confused. She was the least interesting person she’d ever encountered in her life. All she did was work and fill her time with other ways to work. Like now. She had the morning off but had signed up for the bake sale just to keep her mind and heart busy.
“Why do you have all of the miniature hotel shampoos in your bathroom?” he asked suddenly.
“W-what?”
“On your bathroom counter, there is a box of hotel shampoos and lotions. Why?”
“Oh.” She frowned, trying to catch up with his sudden change in subject. “I used to travel more, and I like the smells of the different hotel shampoos and conditioners. It’s…” She shrugged and rushed out, “It’s fun to try different fancy shampoos depending on my mood and what I want my hair to smell like. And I don’t know, it’s nice not to spend a bunch of money on shampoo.”
He nodded and reached deep into his pocket and then clapped a trio of matching hotel toiletries into her hand. There was a shampoo and a conditioner and a lotion. Dumbfounded, she stared at them.
“I can get more from my room tomorrow.”
Slowly, Tammy closed her fist around the little treasures. “Whose giving who presents now?” she asked softly.
“It’s not a good thing,” he rumbled, looking troubled.
“It feels nice to me,” she told him, and she witnessed a small smile curve up the very corners of his lips and then disappear almost instantly as he looked down at the ground between them.
“You asked why I’m here, and I wish I could be cold and tell you the lie and hold the lie and you detach from me and never think of me again, but the truth is…” He inhaled deep and squinted his eyes toward her truck in the parking lot. “The truth is I wanted to see you somewhere new. I didn’t want to see you at your bar or at your home. I wanted to see you…out.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, this is a good place for that. I’ve never even been to the farmer’s market here. This is a totally new experience for both of us, happening right now, in real time.” They picked up their short trek toward her truck. “How are you doing around all of these pesky humans?” she asked, hopeful on getting the subject changed to something she understood a little better.
He huffed a chuckle and now the smile was back, much to her relief. “I’m doing just fine.”
