But then her mind reminded her how Easton looked when he swung a hammer, strong and confident. The T-shirts he wore fitted him to perfection, molding to his muscular body withoutbeing so tight it looked like he was showing off. When his hair would get sweaty, it curled at the ends, and her fingers twitched to touch it.
She shook her head as she placed a package of baby carrots in the cart. Running her hands through a man’s sweaty hair had to be the most pathetic thing she could fantasize about, but there she was, doing exactly that. She could still hear his laugh ringing in her ears and see the lines appear about his mouth and eyes, evidence of how often he laughed. She’d never considered a man’s laugh lines sexy until she met Easton.
A sigh escaped her lips. Maybe she should give in to her attraction. A night spent with Easton would purge him from her fantasies, and she could focus on what she came to Fire Creek to do — reset and reassess. She could set the boundaries, tell him in no uncertain terms that they would be together one night and one night only. They could ease the sexual tension and then move on.
It seemed an easy solution, but as soon as Bailee considered it, she dismissed it. Everything about Easton Hargrove spelled trouble. She was better off keeping her distance from him, eliminating the distraction he posed. The back-and-forth of her indecision gave her a headache, and she hoped Gran was close to finishing. Rain or not, she was ready to get home.
Adding the potatoes, Bailee pushed the cart back to where she left Gran. She turned a corner at the end of an aisle and abruptly stopped with a gasp. Her cart was just a scant few inches from connecting with the man in front of her, but he gripped the cart firmly to prevent it from hitting his legs.
Even with the cart between them, the man towered over her, but what struck her was the darkness that shrouded him. From his thick short hair to his beady eyes, to the beard that obscured the lower half of his face. Even his clothes were dark — gray shirt, black jeans, and black boots.
His expression was unreadable, but something flashed in his eyes, maybe anger, maybe annoyance. She couldn’t be sure, but something about him caused a shiver to snake up her spine.
She swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”
“No big deal.” He sidestepped her and disappeared down the aisle, leaving her gaping after him.
Her visceral reaction to him left her frozen to the spot. She didn’t know him or recognize him, but she’d never forget him. She suspected he might even make a reappearance in her nightmares, so intense was the danger and malevolence that lingered in his wake.
She visibly shook off her reaction and hurried to find Gran. She was suddenly eager to leave for a different reason than before.
“There you are.” Darby Anne looked up from her handwritten grocery list as Bailee approached. Her smile faded from her face as she eyed her granddaughter intently. “Everything okay?”
Bailee nodded and forced a smile. “Yeah, yeah, all good. I found the potatoes and carrots you wanted.”
Darby Anne studied her a moment longer before nodding. “Good. I only have a couple of things left to get. I think the rain is starting to slack, so maybe we won’t get drenched taking the groceries out.”
Her grandmother moved to the next aisle, and Bailee dutifully followed behind, pushing the memory of her encounter with the stranger from her mind.
“If it’s still raining, I’ll get the car and bring it up closer to the store to load the groceries. That way you won’t have to be in the rain any longer than necessary.”
“Nonsense. I won’t melt if I get rained on, Bailee Anne. Sometimes walking in the rain is a good thing.”
Bailee grinned and kept silent as Gran finished her shopping. They made their way to the checkout line. Darby Anne bypassed the self-checkout lanes to one that was manned by a cashier who was obviously familiar with her grandmother. The two chatted while Bailee loaded the groceries on the conveyor belt to be scanned.
Placing the last item onto the limited space remaining, Bailee felt a chill sweep over her, raising goosebumps on her skin. Her head pivoted, her eyes sharp until they landed on the source of her unease.
The man stood at a self-checkout counter that gave him a direct view of where she and Gran stood. He met her gaze and held it for only a couple of seconds, but it was long enough to make her wary. She moved closer to Gran and spoke low enough for her voice not to carry across the store.
“Gran, have you seen that guy before? The one at the self-checkout.”
Darby Anne discreetly glanced in the man’s direction before dropping her eyes to the wallet in her hands. “No, can’t say that I have, and I think I would have remembered him. Mean looking fellow, isn’t he?”
The cashier, whose name tag identified her as Opal, also glanced in the man’s direction. She wasn’t subtle in her perusal, and Bailee was glad the man was busy paying for his purchases to notice he was being watched.
“He’s been in here once before when I was working. Not very friendly. He used the self-checkout, but when he first came in, he asked me where to find something — I can’t remember what. I told him, and he just walked off without saying thank you or anything. To tell you the truth, he gives me the creeps.”
“Me too.”
Bailee pulled out her cell phone, and under the pretense of checking her messages, she snapped a picture of the man. The angle wasn’t the best, but hopefully it was enough to use to identify him. If Jimmy or the other detectives could see her, they would give her grief for being paranoid. But a year of being undercover taught her that sometimes paranoia could save her life.
The man left the store ahead of them, and she didn’t see him again. The rain had lessened to a drizzle, and they sloshed through the puddles in the parking lot to load the groceries into the trunk. Bailee’s head stayed on a swivel, not wanting to leave anything to chance. All was quiet around her, and they drove back to the house without incident.
Bailee forced herself to help Gran put away the groceries though she was itching to make a call. She didn’t want to alarm Gran, which wasn’t an easy feat since the woman read people as easily as her morning newspaper.
“I’m in the mood for a little baking. Want to help?”
The simple declaration took Bailee back to a particular summer. Though she preferred to spend her time outdoors, Darby Anne convinced her to help out in the kitchen one day. She learned how to cook and bake at her grandmother’s side, and though Bailee wasn’t good at it, the conversation and laughter made the time special. They ended up taking the bulk of the food they prepared to friends of Gran’s, who appreciated the thoughtfulness and cemented her love for doing things for other people.
