Love in a Nutshell - Janet Evanovich [16]
Kate let go of the basket and Matt took an involuntary half step backward. Marcie gazed speculatively, first at Matt and then at Kate. “So how long have you two known each other?”
Matt was seemingly oblivious. “Since I hired Kate last week.”
Marcie settled a hand against her heart. “So, no long-ago romance rekindled? That means you felt a spark right away. How sweet.”
“There was no spark,” Kate said.
A bold-faced lie, of course. But her feelings were hers and she wasn’t sharing her spark with the whole town. Or even Matt.
“Nonsense,” Marcie said. “I have an eye for these things. I could tell immediately with each of Shay VanAntwerp’s three husbands. There’s always a spark.”
“Cheese. I need cheese,” Matt said.
Kate figured that was as good a change of topic as any. She whirled around and took off for the deli counter, followed by Matt.
Matt stopped dead halfway to the counter. Junior Greinwold was peeking out at them from behind a soft drink display.
“Hey, Junior,” Matt said.
Apparently, Junior didn’t spy often. He stammered something, grabbed a couple of plastic two-liter bottles, and bolted.
Kate turned to Matt. “You know Junior? He’s been working at my place. He seems like an okay guy, but I have to say the way he holds on to that blue cooler like it’s made of gold is a little creepy.”
Matt resumed walking toward the display case filled with cheese. “He’s a good guy. Hangs out at the brewery. The cooler’s probably filled with my beer, but nobody really knows for sure. And don’t worry about Marcie, either. People love to talk in this town.”
She shook her head. “I don’t care about the gossip. What I care about is having my job made tougher.”
“Tougher how?”
“Tougher, as in nobody is going to talk trash in front of me about you or Depot Brewing if they think we’re an item.”
“I could give you back your basket,” he offered. “You know—the symbolic handing over of the cauliflower to mark the end of our affair?”
Kate tried not to smile. “Funny. But I’m being serious here. There’s no point in handicapping myself.”
“True,” Matt said. “I should have thought about that.”
They’d arrived at the deli counter, as had Marcie, Junior, and a couple of women Kate had seen at Bagger’s Tavern every now and then. Somehow, she doubted they all craved cold cuts.
Marcie hustled around the counter and nudged aside the teenage boy working there. “I’ll take care of this.” She gave Matt a cheery smile. “What can I get you?”
“Three pounds of Swiss and two of American, sliced medium, please.”
Marcie didn’t move. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you dating anyone, Matt.”
“Work keeps me busy,” he said.
“Then it’s nice to have found someone right there at work, isn’t it?”
Matt was unfazed. “About the cheese?”
“Sammy, three Swiss, two American, medium,” she called to her helper without letting her gaze waver from Matt. “Really, I’ve never seen you look at any woman the way you do at Kate.”
Kate tried to respond but had to pause to catch her breath first. Was that true?
“I am not dating Kate,” Matt said. “I have no plans of dating Kate. She’s an employee and that’s all.”
That might have been true, and even what Kate wanted, but darned if the words didn’t feel harsh. She glanced at her watch and pretended surprise at the time. “Speaking of which, I need to go home and get cleaned up for the dinner shift.” She retrieved her mutant cauliflower and focused on Matt. “I guess I’ll see you at work this evening?”
“No, I have dinner with my family tonight.”
“Good,” she said, and she meant it, too.
Kate needed some time to get her “this is only work” attitude in place. It was that or give in to the spark she refused to feel.
* * *
MATT SAT looking at the dining table, worn and scarred from decades of family dinners. Lots of happy memories were contained in those scars and, even though he and his sisters were adults with their own lives and dining room tables, there was something comfortable and special about that particular table that drew