Playing with Words (Boggy Creek Valley #2) - Kelly Elliott Page 0,27
work out and drink lots of water.”
I did a quick once-over of his fit body. “Yes, that much is obvious.”
“Which one?” he asked in a teasing voice.
“That you drink lots of water; your skin is perfectly clear.”
He let out a rumbling laugh as I turned and headed toward the produce.
“You need fruit. What type of fruit do you like?”
“Bananas, apples. I like those oranges that are easy to peel.”
I looked back over my shoulder at him. “Clementines?”
He shrugged. “I think my mom calls them Cuties.”
“Yep, they’re the same thing. How about strawberries, blueberries?”
“No. I do like kiwi.”
I grabbed a bunch of bananas and a few kiwis.
“What about apples?” he asked as he picked one up and tossed it in the air before catching it.
“I’ll get you some from Willa. She owns an apple orchard. Do you like apple cider?”
Hudson gave me a wicked smile. “Only if it’s spiked with alcohol.”
Deciding to play along, I gave Hudson my sexiest smile and winked. “I think I can hook you up with something.”
I swore his eyes turned dark before he looked away and picked up a bag full of dehydrated fruit and tossed it into the cart. After one look at the bag, I grabbed it and hung it back up.
“Fresh or frozen fruit are the best. This is full of sugar.”
He saluted me. “Yes, ma’am.”
“How about veggies?” I asked, ignoring him.
“Not much of a veggie eater.”
It was my new mission to get this man to eat a healthier diet. I started to gather up ingredients to make him a vegetable tray. If anything, he could snack on it throughout the day.
After the produce, I made my way to the meat department and bought chicken for chicken salad, as well as ground beef. I could easily whip Hudson up some lasagna or taco meat for him to make taco salads.
“My God, woman, how much more stuff are you going to get?” Hudson asked as we walked down the paper product aisle.
“Just need a few more things and then we can leave.” I grabbed paper plates, napkins, toilet paper—which was an argument in itself. Hudson tried to grab the cheapest toilet paper, and I said the only toilet paper anyone should have in their home was Charmin. I won and grabbed the largest pack I could find, along with paper towels.
“Oh, they have my protein bars here!” Hudson grabbed the entire box and dumped them into the cart.
“So that’s where you get your protein from?” I asked dryly as I picked up one of the bars and read the back of it. When I glanced at him, Hudson was looking at me in a way that made my entire body tingle. Then he smiled. I loved when his dimple popped out and those dark, cognac-colored eyes sparkled.
“You’re a health nut, aren’t you, Greer?”
“No,” I quickly defended.
“Do you realize how many things you’ve taken out of my cart that I wanted to buy?”
I felt my cheeks warm. “Not many?”
He nodded, then leaned in closer. “Why, Ms. Larson, are you concerned for my health and well-being?”
I licked my suddenly dry lips, watching how his gaze flicked down to my mouth and then back up to my eyes. Lord, did I want him to kiss me. Right here in the middle of the grocery store.
“Of…of course…I mean…I don’t want you going into a sugar coma or anything.”
A slow, easy smile spread over his handsome face. “Of course not.”
I wasn’t sure how long we stood there staring at one another before a female voice from behind me cleared her throat. “Don’t mean to break this up, but I need to get that peanut butter right there.”
Both Hudson and I jumped out of the woman’s way as she gave us a smile and then walked away.
When we finally got back to the cabin and unloaded everything and put it away, I got straight to browning the hamburger and making the filling for the lasagna and the pasta sauce. Normally, I would cook the noodles first, but went with the non-cook ones since I was short on time.
“What are you doing?” Hudson hopped up and sat on the counter across from me.
“Well, first I’m going to get a lasagna going for you. I’ll cut it up into slices, so you can pop one into the oven whenever you want to eat some.”
“Where’s the microwave?”
“There isn’t one.”
He jerked his head back as a look of horror crossed his face. “That’s the only way I know how to heat anything up.”