Taking them out, she slapped them onto the shelf in front of her. “Of course not. This conversation has just made me…”
“I like it,” he returned as she struggled to put an adjective on her state of mind.
She rolled her eyes and moved farther down the aisle. She stuffed chap stick, doggy treats and catnip into her basket, trying very hard to ignore the man she’d just been thinking about. How could he show up when she was vulnerable like this? Did he have some sort of psychic powers and knew exactly when he was on her mind?
“What are you doing here anyway?” she asked. “Doesn’t your housekeeper do all of this kind of shopping for you?” she asked and randomly selected a dog and cat toy. They were cheap items, but maybe if she got something to entertain Jasper, he wouldn’t wander into Angelo’s house so often.
“That’s not going to help.”
Jade looked up at him, then back down at her basket. “What won’t help?” she asked.
“The toys and the catnip.”
She sighed and turned to face him fully. “Okay, so would you mind telling me why my animals are suddenly so enamored of your house lately?” she asked, trying to dig deeper to find some patience.
He smiled, looking very mysterious and sexy. “Haven’t you heard that you should trust an animal’s instincts? They like me. You should too.”
She shook her head, refusing to laugh at his logic. “I just got out of a relationship.”
“One you never should have gotten into in the first place. First of all, he wasn’t good enough for you. And secondly, you didn’t love him.”
Her mouth dropped open at his declaration. “Of course I loved him!” she countered. “I can’t believe you would say something like that.”
Angelo was already shaking his head. “If you loved him…”
“I did!” she argued.
He hesitated. “Did you cry over his betrayal?” he asked softly.
“I cried!” she declared.
His eyebrow went upwards with that obvious lie.
Jade shifted uncomfortably in front of him. “Well, I was angry. I’ll get around to crying about our breakup soon.”
Angelo’s only response was to raise an eyebrow.
Jade’s mouth firmed up. “I refuse to argue with you about something so personal.”
“We’re personal,” he claimed.
“A few kisses doesn’t make us personal,” she countered.
He bent down low, his voice deep and husky while his lips enticingly brushed against the shell of her ear before he said, “We’ll be intimate very soon.”
Jade couldn’t respond. Her mind was too wrapped up in the image of becoming intimate with this man. Her pulse increased and her breathing was ragged. He moved a step closer, his hand coming up to touch her cheek. “You know it’s going to happen, don’t you?” he asked but it was more of a statement.
“I don’t know anything of the sort,” she said, but the sentence didn’t have any heat behind it. She wished she could just tell him to go to hell, but she was too afraid of him, and too entranced by his touch, the smell of him so close to her.
Suddenly, her mind betrayed her and she started wondering what it would be like to kiss him, to taste him once again. And more! She wanted to feel him, to run her hands along his chest, to explore…
“I have to go,” she said, taking in a deep breath as she turned away from him.
Jade was relieved that he didn’t stop her, that she could walk away from him and go about her business. The man was just too overwhelming to deal with easily. She was already up to the cashier when she remembered the samples that she needed him to make a decision on. “Angelo…” she started to say, turning her body slightly while Bob, the store owner, rang up her purchases.
“I’m here.” And he dumped several items down on the counter beside her.
Half of her brain was astonished that he’d been able to pick up all of these items so quickly. He definitely hadn’t been standing there with a basket when they were talking to each other, had he? She wasn’t exactly sure because she’d been so distracted by the conversation, not to mention his enormous presence. Then the other half of her brain was quickly taking an inventory of the items he’d tossed onto the counter. There were the innocuous items such as deodorant and shampoo, both of which she knew weren’t his brands since she’d been in his bathroom since she’d just finished renovating the space. But her eyes widened on the multiple brands