| |
JANAE RUSHED TO USE the bathroom and get dressed for outdoors. It was cold of course, but hadn’t snowed in the last few days at least. The blinding sun of winter was out in full force, so she had to shield her eyes while listening to Damond call her name and threaten to leave her from the other side of the door.
“What took you so long?” She quipped, not able to contain the snicker as he came out.
“Cute.” Damond gave her a quick look over though he hadn’t been talking about her outfit. “Come on, let’s go.”
The ride into town was going to take at least thirty minutes. And after a few minutes of silence Janae broke it with a question.
“I didn’t ask before but where are we going?”
“There’s a Meijer, figured we’d hit that since we can pick up food and anything else we need without running all over the place.”
“Good thinking.”
“Thanks Professor, does that mean I get an A in class?”
“Not yet, but we’ll consider this your first paper and give you a B+.”
“Damn, glad I never had you in college. Hated teachers like you. You have to basically give a pint of blood for a good grade.”
“And I bet you were a joy for them too.” Janae said dryly.
Pulling out a pad of sticky notes and a pen from her purse, she started writing as silence descended again. She was actually startled when he spoke.
“What are you writing over there?”
“Just finishing my shopping list.”
Damond laughed and if it hadn’t been at her expense she would have admitted it was a pleasant sound. His voice when relaxed was nice and smooth. Janae had the odd thought he could be a late night DJ by simply dropping his voice an octave. Yeah, like Keith Sweat and now she was the one chuckling.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, sorry I was just tickled. Keep your eyes on the road.”
For the rest of the way they let the music fill the void. Strangely it was comfortable and by the time she hopped out the vehicle Janae was feeling fairly relaxed. Until they got inside and both tried to grab the same cart. For some reason she felt embarrassed as their hands overlapped. The thought of rolling through the store with a cart between them immediately made her think of an old married couple. Which was crazy since this task would be no more personal than the drive in was.
Clearing her throat she spoke. “Uh hmmm, do you want to meet here in say forty minutes?”
“That works but make it thirty, you have a list already. Should make it easy for you.”
“Fine. These store layouts are basically the same no matter the location. See you then.”
* * *
DAMOND DIDN’T NEED all that time as he had his own mental list, but was trying to be considerate. Women and shopping in his experience never was a quick thing. Maybe her list would help. Veronica his ex, had never used them, which always ended up with her complaining about something she’d forgotten. It had annoyed him to no end. Why he was thinking about his ex out the blue and Janae in the same context was weird because they were nothing alike.
Veronica had been impulsive, a very “living in the moment” type of person. Her body had been tall with ample curves, he’d liked barely tilting his head down to kiss her. It was amusing but Janae was almost the exact opposite. He would stick a needle in his eye if coming up here to write wasn’t the most “impulsive” thing that woman had done in the last five years.
The professor was slim, just above being skinny, for her height he supposed she was shapely. Janae was short compared to the women he usually favored. Hell kissing her would give a man back pain without a doubt. Not that he wanted to kiss her buttoned-up behind. Overall, he gave her props in how she had handled everything so far.
Most women would be whining about not getting their way, then again most women wouldn’t have had the balls to stay alone with a strange man in the first place. She had some “grit’ like his grandpa used to say. To be fair she mostly stayed out of his way, which was why he’d thrown her a bone with this shopping trip. Janae wasn’t messy or extra loud or overly demanding, if you didn’t count her trying to take his house and office. Damond chuckled, causing the woman across the aisle to look at him strangely.
“Ballsy.” He muttered, pushing his cart forward.
She had some nerve asking him to give up the office he’d claimed as his own, as if sharing his living space wasn’t enough. He wondered had she gotten that stubbornness and never backing down from teaching the smart-mouthed and bold youth of today, or was it her natural personality? He figured it was probably fifty-fifty, or maybe she was just nutty. Turning his mind back to shopping he finished picking up items he needed, remaining aware of the time. Refusing to let her accuse him of being tardy of his own self-imposed time limit.
*
JANAE’S LIST did help her with getting all the items she needed quickly. Like snagging some of her normal healthy items but also adding savory soups and pasta. The latter was usually restricted to eating no more than twice a month. Then she thought the hell with it and treated herself to some junk food too. Winter was a tough time as the cold meant less activity and the urge to eat a lot of fattening food overtook the mind.
One of those old ingrained habits in humans. The need to fatten up for the winter was imbedded in our DNA. That primal thought that food would soon be scarce as the cold came. At the core of it we were animals. Homo sapiens just got the luck of the draw, bigger brains and opposable thumbs is the only reason we were top of the food chain. Why look at Damond, some men were closer than others to their animal cousins.
Janae supposed she was being a little harsh. He wasn’t a complete barbarian. She’d been holding her own against much more blatant assholes the whole of her academic career. Men who were snide just for the hell of it, like being snotty was a prerequisite to entering a Ph.D. program. Add in the misogynistic tendencies coupled with competition and you had grade-A bastards around you. Of course, this was a broad generalization. She had met and was still friends with a good number of perfectly nice male colleagues too.
No, Damond was just blunt, with a good dose of testosterone thrown in for good measure. He was similar to a few of her male students, a lot of barking and no bite. His sophomoric attempts to embarrass her with sexual banter also wasn’t a first for her. Though she could honestly say no student or co-worker had ever made her blush from it. Then again she’d never seen those people half naked either.
Damn it, why wasn’t this line moving? And why did her mind keep going back to that image? Probably because it had been a year and ten months since she’d had sex. Her last foray at attempting to form a relationship had tanked five months ago and with it any hope her sex drive had. Which she hadn’t thought much about since “men and sex” fell into the larger category in her life marked no time and often disappointing. She chalked up her reaction to Damond as a by-product of visual stimulation and hormones. It would pass, besides there was no law against acknowledging a fine specimen of the species when one saw it.
Finally, it was her turn with the cashier and the subject was wiped from her mind. She was walking towards the door to wait when she saw him coming from the other direction. Janae would give the man his due, he was timely at least. Moving her cart out the way and waiting for him, she used the time to review the receipt for any mistakes.
“I think you’re the first woman I’ve met who doesn’t take all day in a store.” Was his greeting as he parked alongside her.
“Do you practice being sexist or does it come naturally to you?”
“I like to believe all my talents are natural.” Damond grinned unrepentant. “Let’s head on back. Because you were on time, I’ll ask if you feel the need to go anywhere else while we’re in town.”
“You are just a beacon of giving today aren’t you? Thanks, but no. I’m all set.”
“Are you sure,” Damond pressed. “Because once I start the car the only direction I’m heading is to the cabin. I’m not coming back out again if you suddenly think of something.”
“I’m sure.” Janae frowned not understanding why he was harping on this. “Here’s an FYI Damond, I’m capable of driving myself. Remember, little ole me drove all the way up here on her own.” Her voice dripped with sweet condescending sarcasm.
“You’re right...sorry about that.”
For the first time she saw him look taken aback and he actually sounded contrite. They got the bags in the car after that, and as they buckled up she spoke.
“I did however really appreciate you bringing me along today Damond, so thanks.”
“No problem. I just didn’t want to leave you at the house alone with my stuff.”
That surprised a laugh from her, and it was a few seconds before she gave him a stern look.
“Trust me, you have nothing of interest for me to steal. Plus I’m not a thief, just an unexpected house squatter.”
Damond shook his head. Had she actually made a joke? Maybe Ms. Williams had a sense of humor after all.
“That’s one thing we’re in complete agreement about Professor.”
They didn’t talk much after that, letting the music do its thing again. His car must have satellite radio, because the R&B and Hip Hop couldn’t be coming from a local station. When they arrived Damond parked, clicking open the hatch to the back before they got out. She took three of her bags and went to open the door, sitting them just inside, using the heaviest one to prop the door open. Then she went back to get the rest, passing Damond loaded down and coming her way.
“You didn’t have to try and carry everything. I was coming back to help.”
“I know and I didn’t,” he said. “There are still two more in the back.”
“Oh...okay I’ll get them.”
And she did, snagging one in each hand before heading back. This time her head was down watching her step, as she had slid a little before. So when the cold, projectile hit her squarely in the crook of her neck she jumped, dropping the low hanging bags. In shock, Janae looked up and over at the man already forming another snowball.
“Damond you’ve lost your damn mind!”
Leaving the groceries to fend for themselves, she ran back behind the car, buying some time to form her first missile. Peaking around the corner she saw Damond wasn’t the waiting kind and had advanced forward. Doing the unexpected she jumped out and let him have it, hitting the top of his head before he could completely avoid it. A giggle escaped before it turned into a squeal as he let loose his own.
Janae ran, scooping snow as she went trying not to fall. The next hit landed on top of her head as it was lobbed over the car. Shrieking in outrage even as she busted out laughing. Instead of continuing around to the other side Janae waited for him to reach her. When he rounded the corner they both fired almost at the same time. Hers hit first throwing off his aim, and so it hit the back of her shoulder as she was turning to avoid it—and slipped.
Janae was laying on her face, not moving or saying anything. Damond didn’t think he’d hit her that hard, but he’d thrown with snow in his eyes. He went to check as maybe the fall had done the real damage.
Bending down he shook her. “Are you okay?”
Janae flipped grabbing his arm, pulling him off balance at the same time she rammed a handful of snow in his face. She fell back laughing like a loon as he landed next to her.
“Well played...you have a sneaky streak.” Damond got out, catching his breath and rolling over towards her.
Janae’s eyes were closed while she still laughed softly in the back of her throat. Like this, her face looked relaxed and happy, a change from all the severe looks he’d gotten since her arrival. Mouth stretched into a small smile, the color in her lips whether from the exertion or not, gave the impression of warmth. Damond didn’t know what came over him, but he bent down intending to press his cold lips to her inviting ones. But when her eyes popped open, both of them stilled like a deer caught in headlights.
“I think I dropped the eggs.”