Only when her breath caught and someone cleared their throat in disapproval did I let her go. The kiss upset my balance. I expected trees around us not shelves with overly sugary cereals. I was all the more aware we were in a place I hated. But at least I’d helped Della with her anxiety, and she gave me the biggest smile with pink-pleased cheeks.
“Kiss me like that again, and we’ll be arrested for indecent exposure.” She looked me up and down as if she’d rather eat me than the food on display.
“Look at me that way for much longer, and this town expedition will end as quickly as it began.”
She laughed softly. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“I know you did.” I wiped my bottom lip where her taste still lingered. Honey and chocolate from the Toblerone bar she’d opened and snuck a piece before we’d paid.
“Okay, so we’re done here, right?” I coughed once and picked up the basket from the floor. Another tube of toothpaste, sunblock, painkillers, and a range of perishable and non-perishable foods. We used a basket to select what to buy so we didn’t fill up a cart and forget we had to carry it for miles.
“Oh, almost forgot!” She dashed back to the toiletry aisle while I made my way to the checkouts. At least today I wouldn’t be stealing. The cash I’d saved before leaving and the deposit on the apartment we’d had refunded were more than enough to keep us going for a couple of years before the dreaded concept of employment knocked on our strange holiday-honeymoon.
As I placed the basket on the conveyor belt behind an elderly woman counting out coupons, Della tossed three boxes of condoms on top of our innocent fruit and veggies.
“Three?” I raised my eyebrow, flicking a quick glance at anyone who might’ve seen. I didn’t care that we were buying condoms. I cared that they’d figure out Della was the one person I should never be sleeping with.
“Tina told me a couple of years ago that the pill takes up to a week to become effective, and if I have a tummy upset, secondary precautions are needed, too.” She gave me another coy I-want-you-right-now kind of look. “I won’t last a week, Ren. And don’t pretend you will, either.”
I gritted my teeth as the checkout girl stole our basket and started scanning things before tossing them into plastic bags. “You’re forgetting I exercised self-restraint for years. I can manage a week.”
She pinched my ass as I pulled out a bundle of cash from my back pocket. “That was before.”
Before.
Such a simple word, but it held so much history.
“You’re right.” I smiled, loving the way she stood close, her eyes twinkling with joy—joy for just sharing something as mundane as shopping with me.
Clearing my throat, I tore my gaze from hers and looked back at the cash in my hands. Handling the money shot me back to the time Della had helped me tally up and charge for the hay bales at John Wilson’s place.
Not for the first time, I thought about him. How he was? Did he get another farmhand? Was his family okay?
And not for the last time, I wondered what he’d say now that I’d broken that self-restraint and claimed Della.
Would he understand?
Would he condemn me?
Would he say I told you so?
His warning of finding a way to keep Della as my sister ran through my head as the teller reeled off a figure, and I handed her a bunch of notes. I’d failed in that respect, but really, looking back…I think he knew. He knew there was something more between us, and that was why he’d sent us away.
Because eventually, even if we’d stayed there, we would’ve fallen into bed, and things would’ve gotten messy. Especially with Cassie in the mix.
“Have a pleasant day,” the checkout girl said blandly, already scanning items of the customer behind me.
I grabbed two bags and Della took one as we left the supermarket with its annoying beeps and bright lights and stood on the pavement where the sun reminded us we were wasting one of the last days of camping weather by being cooped up inside concrete and steel.
“I don’t want to be much longer, Little Ribbon.”
“Me neither.” She placed her well-used and scratched aviators on to avoid the glare and strode purposely toward the doctor’s. “How is this going to work, do you think?”
I shrugged. “Same way we’ve always done it. Our name is Wild. We’ll pay cash. We lost our driver’s licenses, so have no identification, yada yada.”
Slowing to a stop, she looked at me, biting her lip. “Hey, Ren?”
My heart pumped faster—as it always did when she looked at me like that. “Yeah?”
“On the form, if they ask what our relationship status is…um, what do I put?”