Upon showing up for work at the Food Outlet, the largest grocery store in Hoquiam, Becky was rewarded with an unexpected promotion of sorts, in her mind, as she was moved to the deli department from the bakery, where she had been stuck at the back of the store. Even though the change didn’t include a raise from the meager minimum wage she was still making after a year of working there, it did include an upgrade in uniform from the white baker’s coat to a yellow and black nylon shirt with the store logo. It reminded her of a bumblebee, but at least it wasn’t as bulky, and in the deli department, at least she was around people.

However, once her new supervisor, Mary-Beth—who was a thirty-year-old divorcee, she’d learned in the first minute of meeting her—took one look at her finger, she was not only ordered to wear two gloves but was relegated to stocking the counter with already cut and wrapped cheeses. Fine with Becky. At least now she could move about the store and not be stuck in back, wearing a godawful hairnet. Yay!

“So what’s the best cheese you can recommend for sandwiches?”

The male voice had her looking over, and she took in the emergency room doctor who had stitched up her hand. Dr. Campbell, still the hotty, was wearing an unzipped black all weather coat. His hair was the same tousled mess that took him from dishevelled to badass and made him even more attractive. He also appeared to still not have shaved. His five o’clock shadow now had a scraggly look that had the opposite effect of messy; it was sexy. He wasn’t quite as tall as her dad, but he was a man women noticed. She noticed him, and she felt like an idiot standing there, gaping.

He gestured with his free hand, the one not holding the basket. “How’s the finger?” His coat rustled.

“Fine.” She lifted her double-gloved hand. She’d also added gauze around the cut before leaving home just so she wouldn’t gross anyone out. He was still watching her, the expression on his face and in his eyes unreadable. “So you’re looking for cheese?”

He was holding a basket, and she could see a couple frozen dinners, a loaf of bread, and a box of cereal, the sugary one her mom would never let her eat.

“For a doctor, you have about the worst diet. There is like zero nutrition in any of that.” She couldn’t believe she’d said that.

He made a face. “It’s easy, and I don’t cook,” he added, lifting a block of stilton, a ripe cheese she actually liked, and seeming to give it all his attention. Was he done talking? She didn’t have a clue. He was a hard man to figure out. Maybe it was her comment he didn’t like.

“Great cheese, that one,” she said, and he glanced over to her. She could see he was tired, but there was something else that had her wondering how bad she looked. She swallowed, as he was making her feel inadequate, young, and insecure, which she wasn’t. “Also, the provolone is great for sandwiches. So is the Havarti with peppers, if you like something with a little bite.”

He was now looking at all the cheese.

She picked up one of the cranberry goat cheeses and handed it to him. “This one is nice, too.”

Geez, even standing this close to him, he smelled good, and the chemistry he exuded…holy crap! What was it about this off-the-charts attraction? Totally one sided, she was sure. It made her uncertain of who she was and what to say, and that wasn’t Becky, ever.

He held his hand out, taking the cheese from her, his finger brushing hers, a touch that had her warming and her stomach doing flips. Even her breath seemed to squeeze in her chest. She needed to cool it and hoped her expression didn’t show the effect he was having, so she forced on a smile as her heart kicked up. She did everything in her power to rein in her reaction.

“Didn’t know you worked here. Let me guess: This is the answer to your school problem?”

For a second, she wasn’t sure what he was talking about, and then she remembered the hospital and their conversation, the one she didn’t think he would have remembered. She had to be just one of how many he’d seen in the ER?

“Sort of, I guess. My uncle is busy pulling strings to get me into Grays Harbor, business courses until I figure out what I want to do. This is my job for now, part time until I figure out what’s next. Spare cash and gas in my car. Kind of need a job.” She shrugged and wondered why she was explaining. Stop talking about it.

The look he gave her said so much more. It was something she’d never experienced from a man. She didn’t know if he was angry with her or what. She ran her hand over the back of her neck as he tossed the cheese into his basket and looked across the store as if it held all the answers. What an unreadable man.

“Anything else?” she said to him, tapping the side of the cooler.

“Coffee,” he said, and she lifted her hand to point to the other side of the store, aisle six. He gazed down at her, not smiling but with that same brooding look, one that confused her because it excited her and at the same time made her damn uncomfortable. “With me,” he clarified. It took a second for her to understand his meaning, since he wasn’t smiling.

“You want me to have coffee with you?” She was sure her voice squeaked as she stared into his eyes, deep blue, not warm and filled with light but everything she was sure her mother would have warned her to stay away from.

“No,” he said, “but have coffee with me anyway.”