A Case of Extreme Mistaken Identity - Victorine E. Lieske Page 0,21
said, “You’re going to have to agree to something. You can’t keep wearing that same shirt every day. Someone’s going to notice.”
She cowered, dropping her gaze. “I know.” Her voice was low, almost hard to hear.
“Come on. It’s not so bad. This one is pretty normal.” He picked up a solid blue tee.
She considered it a moment, then finally nodded. “You’re right. It’s not that bad.” She took it from him.
Austin passed by a T-shirt that said, Dear Algebra, please stop asking us to find your X. She’s never coming back. He chuckled. He hadn’t noticed that one the two other times they’d walked down this aisle. It was cute, and made him laugh. He picked it up and shoved it at her. “Here, you need this.”
Dani read the shirt and made a face. “Uh, no. I’d never wear this.”
That sounded like a challenge to him. “Why not?”
“Are you kidding me? It’s a math joke. I don’t even like math. I’m not a nerd.”
“It’s funny.”
“No, not really.”
He nudged her. Now he really wanted to make her wear the math shirt. “Go on. Get it.”
She shook her head. “Never. It’s not me.”
She was not going to budge. Figures. But he kind of wanted to see if he could get her to give in. He got an idea. “Well, if you’re trying to hide your identity, then it’s the perfect shirt for you, isn’t it?”
She opened her mouth for a rebuttal, but stopped. She blinked and looked at the article of clothing. “You may have a point.”
Oh, yes. He was so going to get her to wear an algebra shirt. “See? We should be looking for things that hide you. This would totally do that.”
She frowned and examined the shirt again, lifting her sunglasses to peer at it closer. “I guess you’re right.”
Score. He grabbed it from her hand and tossed it into the cart. “Two down. Let’s keep going.”
The next shirt he found was orange with black stripes. It looked like a prisoner had escaped and tried to disguise their prison outfit by dying it orange. “This one will be good.”
“Ew. I don’t look good in orange.”
He suspected that wasn’t true. Dani looked good no matter what. She just had one of those faces. “Perfect. No one will recognize you then.” He winked, and she slapped his shoulder.
“You’re picking horrible clothes on purpose.”
Okay. She had him. He couldn’t deny it. But it had been fun to tease her. “All right, forget the orange one. How about this one?” He picked up a cream-colored blouse with short sleeves.
Dani studied it for a second. “That’s not bad.” She put it in the cart.
They continued to add things to their cart as Dani approved them. It was kind of fun spending time with her. She was being a good sport about having to buy stuff from SaleMart. He wondered what other celebrities would do in her situation.
Feeling in a flirty mood, he picked up a hat that said, Sorry, I’m taken, and plopped it on her head. “Here. This is a good one for you.”
She pulled it off and read it. He expected her to laugh, or to deny what it said. Instead, she nodded and put it back on. “You’re right.” She took the cart from him and pushed it around the corner and down the aisle.
Austin was left standing there, unsure of what had just happened. Did that mean Dani had a boyfriend? He hadn’t even considered it. She seemed like she was stranded without anyone to help. If she had a boyfriend, where was he? Why wasn’t he coming to her rescue?
He hurried to catch up to her. She was in the jeans section now, looking at the sizes. He inched up to her, pretending to study the wall of sizes like she was. He folded his arms across his chest and nonchalantly said, “Are you?”
“What?” She glanced up at him, then went back to the jeans.
“Are you taken?” A tight feeling entered his chest as he waited for her to answer him. Why did it matter so much to him? He wasn’t that interested in her, was he? Sure, she was pretty. But he had already decided she wasn’t his type. Plus, she thought he was the maintenance man. She would be really mad at him if she found out the truth. Still, he held his breath, waiting for her reply.
“Yep,” she said, lowering the hat on her head. She took a step toward the jeans and he swallowed the