Jack looked at her, his gaze sticking for a long moment. “That’s true. Girls had nothing on nature. Most girls, at least.”
Emma wanted to look away but couldn’t. There was something magnetic in his eyes that held her attention. Something about him that made her mouth go dry and her body burn hot.
“Can I help you?” A store manager walked up to the table where they were sitting. For a moment, Emma had forgotten that she was seated at a store display.
“Yeah.” Jack leaned back in the chair and kicked his boots up on the table. “Can we have a couple of lemonades and menus, please?”
The store manager didn’t look amused. He frowned and looked over his small glasses at them. “There are plenty of restaurants around if you’re hungry. I’m afraid this is not the place for social gatherings.”
Emma straightened. “I’m interested in purchasing this set for my café on Main Street. I’d like two sets actually.”
The store manager looked at her over his glasses now. She recognized him as one of her regular customers at the café. Marvin. He always came in for a tall, hot coffee. No cream. No sugar. He liked his coffee bitter, which seemed fitting for his personality.
Marvin seemed to recognize Emma as well. “You want to take the display model today?”
“Well, no, I don’t have the means to take it home right now. I’ll order it and have it delivered, I guess.”
“Then you’re not buying this set right now,” he said, seemingly proving his point that they were doing something wrong. He looked at Jack’s boots and back up at Jack.
Jack put his feet back on the floor. “I was just joking around by trying to order the lemonades.” He pointed a finger. “Hey, wait. I recognize you. I’ve seen you at the park, haven’t I? Are you the guy who tried to take my whole stack of bird-watcher charts?”
Marvin folded his arms over his narrow chest. “They were free. The sign said so.”
“It said take one,” Jack said.
Marvin shook his head, an annoyed sound escaping his mouth. “You asked me to leave your workplace, and if you’re not purchasing today, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to do the same.”
* * *
Jack stood, towering a good foot over the store manager’s head. He didn’t like this guy. “We’ll take this model and one more set. Today,” he told him. Then he looked at Emma. “I have a truck. I’ll deliver them to the café myself.”
Emma looked at him. “Really?”
Jack nodded and looked at the store manager again. “We’ll take those lemonades and menus, too, if you got ’em.” He couldn’t help himself.
The store manager’s mouth pinched tighter. “I’ll have someone load the tables up for you,” he said curtly before turning and walking off.
“I almost hate to give that guy our business,” Jack muttered.
“He’s a regular customer of mine. His name is Marvin.”
Jack looked over. “You have to see that guy every day?”
Emma laughed. “Some customers are easier than others. You learn to grin and bear it. Like right now. It’s worth dealing with him in order to get these tables and chairs. They’re perfect.” Emma ran a slow hand over the surface of the table. “Thank you for helping out,” she said, looking back up at him, her hazel eyes more green in this lighting.
“No problem. It’s still your birthday week after all. What the lady wants, she gets.”
“But you’re here to get things for Sam’s stay. Now there’ll be no room in the back of your truck.”
“Ah, it’s okay. I couldn’t find what I needed anyway.”
“What were you looking for?” she asked as they headed for the check-out.
“Everything. A bed mainly. I suppose he can take mine, and I can sleep on the couch until I figure something else out.”
They reached the register, and Emma paid for the table sets. Then they headed to the parking lot to wait at Jack’s truck for a store employee to cart them out. That early morning rain shower had helped cool things down, but the temperatures were still higher than normal, even now as the sun made a slow descent.
“I have a spare bed you can take over to your place for the rest of the summer,” Emma offered. She pulled her sunglasses from the front of her shirt where they were clasped and slid them over her eyes.
Jack noticed his reflection in her lenses. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”