6. Harper

6

HARPER

He couldn't be serious. He didn't go to strip clubs? What kind of man didn't like to see naked women dancing on stage? Not that I was particularly in tune with what men wanted, but it seemed like a pretty obvious form of entertainment for the male species.

Then again, maybe he just hadn't come across the right woman strip dancing for him.

I swung my hips to the side as I gripped the pole and slid down into the splits, wincing at how much it hurt. But I would take the pain for the sexy man sitting in the front row. His eyes heated into molten lava as he zeroed in on the apex of my thighs. I was wearing a barely-there thong, giving him just enough of a peek to see what I had in store for him. I was definitely taking him home tonight.

Grabbing the pole, I used my upper body strength to haul myself back to my feet, but I didn't stop there. I swung my legs in the air, spinning myself around and around, using only my muscular arms to hold me up. My sweat-soaked hair clung to my neck and face as it whipped with every spin.

I wrapped my legs around the pole and let my body fall backward. My breasts nearly slipped from the confines of my bralette, but somehow stayed in place. For my finale, I pressed my hands to the floor and did a half cartwheel until I landed on my heels. There was no need for me to cock my hip or shoot him a wink. I already had the sexy man on his feet and marching toward me.

As he jumped onto the stage, I felt my heart pounding in my chest. He stalked right up to me, wrapping his arm around my slick body and pulling me against him. His hot breath mingled with my own as he threaded his fingers through the hair at the base of my neck.

He leaned in close, whispering in my ear, "I have to ? —"

"Ma'am."

"No!" I cried out. I was so close to hearing what he had to say, and then this idiot interrupted my daydream. Now, I would never know what the dream version of him was about to say.

He cocked an eyebrow at me, staring at me like I was crazy. "Are you okay?"

Huffing, I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

"Are you sure?"

Irritated, I decided to move on. The fantasy was over. I would never know what the sexy man was about to say. "Did you need something?"

"Just to check out." He shook his card in front of my face. "Remember this?"

"Of course, I remember that," I snapped, taking the credit card from him. "I'm not stupid."

I thought I heard him snort slightly and narrowed my eyes.

"I didn't say you were. But you did space out for about two minutes."

"I did not!"

"Uh…you did. I was talking to you and everything."

"Well…" I struggled to come up with something to say other than explaining to him that I was stuck in a massive daydream about how I would do a strip tease for him and then he would wrap me in his arms and have his way with me. Somehow, I didn't think telling a stranger that would be very smart.

"You know, I don't come to your place of business and tell you what to do. "

"That's because I don't work at a grocery store."

"Well, whatever you do, I could come say the same to you."

"I work in private security. Good luck getting on the property," he smiled sarcastically.

My brain went offline for a moment as I registered that this man worked as a bodyguard. A fine, muscular specimen just waiting for someone to wrap her body around his thighs and ride him as he pulled out his gun and shot the bad guys. It was totally a thing in my mind.

It made complete sense now. The muscles, the tattoos, that dangerous look in his eyes wherever he went. It was one hundred percent amazing. He was the whole package.

"Look, is there a chance you could just take my card and swipe it?"

I did as he asked, allowing my fingers to brush against his in the process. It was like a mini orgasm rushed through my body, sending tingles down my spine as my legs clenched together. A small moan escaped my lips unwillingly, which only drew more attention from the sexy bodyguard.

I quickly straightened and finished the transaction, though I was loath to do it. I didn't want him to leave. I was very much enjoying his company, even if he looked like he wanted nothing more than to leave my presence.

"Hey! There you are. I was just looking for you!" another man said, cutting in line behind him and loading a massive amount of avocados onto the conveyor belt, annoying all the people behind him.

"Um…I already rang up the transaction. You're going to have to wait at the back of the line."

The man glanced up at me with a grin. "Oh, I'm with him."

"Right, but as I said, his transaction is closed out and?—"

"Can you believe how many people aren't buying avocados?" He turned to the man behind him, peering in his cart. "No avocados. I don't get it. Do you know there are actually wars over these in Mexico? Well, to pay taxes on them because the farmers make so much money off them. Of course, who doesn't love avocados? Am I right?"

The man stared at him. "I hate avocados."

"Fox, you can't just cut in line!" Edu said, grabbing the avocados and putting them back in the cart. "There are other people in line. "

"Yeah, but I'm with you. I just couldn't find you."

"That's because I was hiding from you."

"Why would you do that?"

As they continued to bicker, they also took turns putting avocados on the conveyor belt and then removing them. It would be comical if it weren't for the fact that my boss was always watching me, waiting for me to screw up in some way.

"You don't need this many avocados!" Edu shouted.

"Uh, I think I do. I can make avocado salad, guacamole…shawarma with avocado. Ooh, I bet dipping Funyuns in guacamole would be amazing."

"Great, get one avocado, then!"

I didn't know what to do, and the line was going nowhere like this, so I started scanning the avocados and placing them in the bag. It looked like he took the entire stock of them. And some were already going over. If I sold him all these, he would be wasting his money. No one could use this much in just a few days.

"Are you going to have an avocado bar?" I asked.

Fox—the man Edu was talking to—turned to me with wide eyes. "That is an amazing idea. Do you think they have avocado smoothies?"

"You could make them."

"And I could grind up shawarma and put it inside. Talk about a protein smoothie."

"What is shawarma?"

It was the stupidest question I ever asked. The man practically pulled me across the counter to tell me all about shawarma. "And then it's made on a spit and you cut it off as it cooks. Tender and juicy…it's the most amazing thing you'll ever try!"

"Can we move this along?" the man behind him said. "He cut in line and now he's talking about food! Some of us have places to be!"

"You know where you should be?" Fox asked. "Getting avocados. They're a delicious fruit."

"And apparently, there's a war going on over them," I added, unsure why I was joining the conversation aside from the fact that this man was so animated, it was hard not to be involved .

"Harper!" my boss shouted, marching over to me. "What is going on here?"

I looked at the conveyor belt of avocados that were rolling around as Fox tried to gather them and keep them from hitting the ground. "Um…it appears there's an avocado shortage."

"An avocado shortage?" a woman called out from the line behind me.

"Well, technically, it's not a shortage. It's more like a run on a bank."

"What bank?" the man behind her said, his voice laced with panic. "It better not be First National!"

Wow, that didn't come across the way I expected. "It's not really a run on a bank. I was comparing a run on a bank with avocados. See, this man is buying all the avocados."

"But why?"

I didn't even know who shouted that. "Because of the avocado wars in Mexico."

"Harper, your job is not to spread social awareness about the avocado wars. You are simply supposed to scan the items, bag them, and take the customer's money!"

"Hey, I didn't start this conversation. I'm merely explaining why all the avocados are disappearing."

"Shouldn't there be a limit on the number he can buy?" a woman asked. "What if I want to make my famous salad? How am I supposed to do that now?"

"Then I guess you should have bought them sooner!" Fox yelled at the growing line.

"He can't just take all the avocados! Other people need them!"

"Actually, you need things like toilet paper and water," Fox corrected, then snorted. "Can you imagine if there was a run on toilet paper? Now, that would be hilarious."

"What about the toilet paper?" an old gentleman asked. "There's no more?"

"There's no more toilet paper?" someone shrieked.

My boss raised his arms, trying to quiet down the chaos. "Everyone, I can assure you there's plenty of toilet paper! "

"I'm getting mine now!"

"I only have two rolls left at home!"

"The next store isn't for another fifteen miles!"

A stampede of elderly and young alike raced out of the line and toward the back corner of the grocery store where the toilet paper was located. Shelves were knocked over, women and children were screaming, Little Debbie Snack Cakes were crushed under the boot of the working man. Just as quickly as the line had backed up, there was now no one here aside from my fantasy man and his insane avocado friend.

And my boss, who was glaring daggers at me.

"Harper?"

I winced at the bite in his voice. "Yes?"

"You're fired."

"Fired?" I gasped. "But I didn't cause the stampede! I was just doing my job!"

My muscular hero sighed heavily, turning to the manager. "She's not lying. My…friend has a bit of a problem controlling his eating habits." He motioned behind him to a second cart filled with Funyuns.

"I don't care! Enough is enough! First, you show up late?—"

"I've never been late once."

"You're insubordinate and make a mockery of this establishment?—"

"How can I mock a grocery store?"

"And you've now caused a run on toilet paper!'

"Which will bring in excellent sales for the rest of the day," I pointed out.

He was practically fuming, but I could tell he knew he didn't have a leg to stand on.

"Now, see, that just pisses me off," Edu said, taking a menacing step toward my boss. "She's only doing her job and instead of having her back, you're firing her?"

"It's my job to maintain law and order in the grocery store."

I gasped as my man stiffened, seeming to grow taller as he stood before me. A light appeared behind him at the same time that a dark air swirled around his avenging spirit. Stars twinkled in my eyes as he yelled at my boss, threatening him with all sorts of lawsuits and other things I didn't hear because all I could see was the way he stood up for me and defended my honor.

I was going to marry this man.

"Harper."

The permanent smile etched on my face couldn't have been removed with a chisel. Not even when my handsome prince stared at me, clearly annoyed with the fact that I was spacing out again as I pictured what dress I would wear as I walked down the aisle on the day of our wedding.

"Edu," I said dreamily.

Sighing, he walked around the counter and scooted me over, taking over scanning the avocados. I probably should have been a little embarrassed, but he was standing right next to me. He smelled amazing, and the way his arms brushed against mine had me shifting so I could slide my hand up to squeeze his bicep.

He stopped and stared at me, then his eyes flicked to my hand still curled around his arm. "Do you mind?"

"Not really. You smell amazing. That's not grocery store body spray."

Again, he just stared at me.

"Would you like me to finish?"

"Well, it is your job, and I did just save it."

"Because you're my hero."

Grunting in frustration, he stepped away from me. "I'm not your hero."

"You just said you saved my job. That makes you my hero."

"It does," Fox agreed, now eating an avocado that he had someone peeled right in the line. His lips were covered in green mush, but he didn't seem to care in the slightest.

"Fox, now isn't the time to encourage my stalker."

"Oh, I'm not a stalker. I haven't followed you anywhere. In fact, you showed up at my place of business."

"She's right," Fox agreed, pointing a Funyun at me. "If anyone's stalking anyone, it's you."

"I'm shopping for groceries!" Edu snapped.

"Hey, I didn't make up the rules," Fox said, holding up his hands .

"There are no rules. I'm buying groceries. I can't be stalking someone when all I'm doing is coming to the only grocery store in town to pick up necessities!"

Man, he was really getting worked up over this whole thing. "How about we call it square?" I asked, tilting my head at him.

His nostrils flared angrily, and that was what did it for me.

"Square? We'll never be square," he grumbled, reaching across the counter and yanking me up on the belt. With his arm still wrapped around me, he thrust his hand into the hair at the nape of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. "I was a fool," he murmured. "When I saw you that first day behind the counter, I knew that behind that red, polyester vest was the woman of my dreams. Say you'll leave it all behind and run away with me!"

"Yes," I grinned. "Yes, I will."

I sighed in contentment at the man across the register from me. Daydreams really were the best. However, he was watching me like I was about to have a seizure. Oh well, some dreams weren't meant to come true.