Second Chance With the Rebel: Her Royal Wedding Wish by Cara Colter Page B

truth was he was hard to resist. Even complete strangers could see how irresistible he was. She did not miss the sidelong glance of a mother with a baby in her buggy or the cheeky smile of leggy woman in short shorts.
    But it seemed as if his world was only about her. He didn’t even seem to notice those other women, his focus so intent she could be giddy with it.
    If she didn’t know better than to steel herself.
    But even with steeling herself against his considerable charm, just like that the most ordinary of things, shopping for groceries, was fun! He scoured the store for oddities, blowing dust from obscure items on the top shelves.
    He thought he had her at quinoa, but when she said she made a really good salad with it, that went in the cart, too.
    The strangest thing was that she was in a grocery store that she had been in thousands of times. And it felt as if she was discovering a brand-new world.
    “Got it,” he finally said. He held out a large jar to her. “You have never heard of this!”
    “Rolliepops,” she read. “Pickled herring wrapped around a savory filling. Ugh!”
    “Gotcha!”
    He bought the largest size he could find, and they found the rest of the things on the list, plus items he deemed essential for movie night: popcorn, red licorice and chocolate-covered raisins.
    “You are really going to enjoy snacking on your Rolliepops during the movie,” he told her as they strolled out of the store with their laden cart.
    “I’d rather eat the bread crumbs.”
    “Then you shouldn’t have admitted you knew what they were. Retribution for the quail eggs all those years ago,” he said happily as he stowed all the things he had bought—most of them not on the list and completely impractical—in the trunk of her car.
    The video store was also fun as they wrangled over movies. This was the part of being with him that she had forgotten: it was easy.
    It had always astonished both of them what good friends they became and how quickly. They had thought they would be opposites. Instead, they made each other laugh. They thought their worlds would be miles apart, instead they were comfortable in the new world they created.
    And now it was as if seven years didn’t separate them at all. She felt as if she had seen him just yesterday.
    Finally, after much haggling, they settled on a romantic comedy.
    By the time they got back, it never even occurred to Lucy not to join him at Mama’s house for the movie and fresh strudel. They parked the car back in her driveway and walked over with the groceries.
    The strudel was excellent, the movie abysmal, Mama got up halfway through it and went to bed.
    Suddenly, they were alone. Too late, Lucy remembered what else had come so easily and naturally to them.
    When they were alone, an awareness of each other tingled in the air between them.
    Back then, they had explored it. She with guilt, he with hunger, both of them with a sense of incredible discovery. The memory of that made her ache with wanting.
    He was so close. She could smell the familiar, intoxicating scent of him. If she reached out, she could touch his arm.
    “I have to go,” she said, jumping up abruptly.
    “Something urgent to do? Feed your fish? Put up a new swatch of color?”
    “Something like that,” she said.
    “Don’t forget, you owe me. You still have to eat a Rolliepop.”
    She grimaced. “I think I’d have nightmares. Herring wrapped around something ‘savory’? Not my idea of a bedtime snack, but you know what? A bet is a bet.”
    “Yes, it is, but even though we had a deal, I’ll let you off the hook. For tonight. I’ll enjoy having something to hold over you.”
    He insisted on walking her back across the darkened lawns. A loon called on the lake and they both stopped to listen to its haunting cry.
    “I don’t like it that Mama was tired tonight,” she said as they stood there. “She always insists on watching every movie to the end, even if it’s awful. She told me once she