Bad Taste in Men (Clover Park, Book 3) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) (12 page)

Shane marched across the street to his shop. Janelle hurried to keep up with him. He gestured to the group. “Tell Mike what you want. On the house.”

Then without another word, he went straight out the back door and went for a drive.

~ ~ ~

Rachel didn’t know what made her agree to go to Barry’s shop. Maybe it was the compliment he gave her. Maybe it was the jealous stab of watching Janelle sitting so close to Shane.

Maybe it was just to avoid Shane. She knew they had to keep things strictly business, but when she saw him again today sitting in that library conference room, she got another one of those ridiculous hot flashes. And the way he looked at her. Like he wanted to eat her for breakfast. That was way more than a hot flash, more like an inferno that would consume them both and spit out the cold, dead bones of their friendship.

So here she was in the cowmobile. If Shane couldn’t reach her, she couldn’t cave. It was dumb and temporary, given that they had to get the café off the ground, but it was the best she could do the day after their make-out session in Liz’s kitchen. All day she’d been reliving that kiss.

Her mind flashed to that incredible heat. The pull she’d felt, like she wanted to climb inside and somehow merge with him. She went damp at the memory of his hardness pressing between her legs. It couldn’t happen again. Kissing was a slippery slope to the end of their friendship. And she’d do anything to keep Shane as a friend. He was the only man she could ever truly count on. Boyfriends didn’t last. Friends were forever.

A sudden moo startled her and snapped her attention back to Barry. He grinned as he pressed the button to make the loudspeaker on top of the car moo again. “The kids love it,” he told her.

She sank further down into the seat. “I bet they do.”

Barry told her all about his plans for making his fro-yo shop a hit, and she found she could relate. Here was an enthusiastic businessman willing to work hard and try new things to make his business a success. She wanted Book It and Something’s Brewing Café to succeed something fierce.

They pulled into The Dancing Cow parking lot.

“We’re here, my lady,” Barry said. And before she could say
I’m not your lady
, he’d leaped out of the car and run over to her side to open the door.

“Thank you.”

He offered his arm again and led her into his shop. She looked around, studying it carefully, very interested in the setup now that she was getting into the food business. The floor was white with black speckles—good for quick clean up—there were several lime green melamine tables with pink cushioned chairs plus a long counter with bright yellow stools. The walls were painted with farm scenes of rolling hills dotted by cows. Frozen yogurt machines lined one wall, boasting eight flavors of frozen yogurt that you could dispense yourself and pile on the toppings at the toppings bar. The whole thing was self-serve, so Barry only needed staff to keep things neat and ring up the purchases.

Several families were already here enjoying their healthy frozen yogurt covered in toppings. The gummi bears seemed especially popular.

“Help yourself,” Barry said. “I’ll be behind the counter, waiting to check you out with your coupon.” He smiled and laugh lines formed around his eyes. He really was a nice guy. She knew Shane saw him as enemy number one on account of the frozen yogurt-ice cream competition, but maybe Shane could learn something from him.

She smiled back. “Thanks.”

She grabbed the smaller size paper bowl, which was still very large, and pulled the lever for a swirl of peach. Then she added piña colada and watermelon on top of that. Next the toppings bar. This was kinda fun doing it yourself. She had just reached for the bin of Nerds when the lights started flashing and a disco ball she hadn’t noticed before started spinning. She froze, wondering if this was the part with the dancing cow.

Sure enough, a dancing cow appeared doing a little Irish jig in the center of the store. It was Barry. She couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe Shane couldn’t learn anything from Barry. The idea of Shane dancing a jig in front of customers made her laugh even harder. Barry produced several pairs of wacky glasses—black rimmed with big blue eyes on the lenses—and danced around the shop, giving them to delighted kids.

“Have a moo-tastic day!” Barry said to one. The girl, five at the most, looked thrilled as she put the glasses on.

“These are fresh from my udder!” Barry told a little boy.

“What’s an udder?” the boy asked.

“It’s where my udderly delicious fro-yo comes from!” Barry replied.

Some parents groaned good-naturedly. The boy laughed.

“Remember, fro-yo is healthy because of the pro-bee-otics!” Barry sang. He gave out more wacky glasses, patting kids on the head and dancing silly in front of them.

He made his way over to her. “For my lady.” He tipped the glasses back and forth, showing her how the eyes blinked.

“I’m not…” She trailed off as he slipped the glasses on over her own glasses. It was silly, but it was also kinda fun. Barry smiled before dancing away.

She pushed the glasses to the top of her head and finished piling candy onto her yogurt, topping it with a maraschino cherry. While she waited in line to pay, she looked around the shop. Everyone was happy and smiling. Barry did that. He was funny and strange and annoying, but his heart was in the right place.

She made it to the cash register, where Barry placed her fro-yo bowl on a scale. The price rang up by the pound. “Coupon?”

“Oh, yeah.” She pulled it out from her purse and handed it to him.

Barry rang up her purchase. “That would’ve cost eight dollars and twenty-three cents, but with the coupon, you saved eighty-two cents. Doesn’t that feel good?”

Eight dollars for yogurt? Barry must be making a fortune. It was so easy to fill up those huge bowls. How much did the bowl weigh anyway?

“Yeah, okay.” She pulled out the money and handed it to him. At least at Shane’s shop the prices were reasonable. You never left feeling like you were ripped off. “I’ll take this to the patio.”

“Great.” He waved to a customer. “Let me know when you’re done, and I’ll drive you home.”

“Okay.” She turned and walked out to the patio, which had a few empty tables on this hot July night. Most people wanted the air-conditioned inside tables. She felt someone staring at her and turned, nearly dropping her fro-yo to see Shane sitting at a table with an angry look that she’d never, ever seen directed at her.

She actually felt guilty, eating the enemy’s fro-yo, even if she did save eighty-two cents. She sat across from him. “What are you doing here?”

He crossed his arms. “What are
you
doing here?”

“It’s not like it looks,” she said, trying for a light tone. “I had a coupon.”

“A coupon. A fricking coupon. I can’t believe—” He stopped and clenched his jaw.

She wasn’t going to apologize for eating eight-dollar fro-yo. Wasn’t it bad enough she got ripped off?

He lowered his voice. “We always make fun of this place, yet here you are.”

She tried the yogurt. It was…cold. Not much in the flavor department. No creamy texture. Kind of a chalky aftertaste. “It’s not very good,” she told him.

He looked somewhat mollified. “Frozen yogurt is made with a thin, low-fat base. It could never have the mouthfeel of fresh-made ice cream.”

“Absolutely.”

“Let me try.”

She handed him the spoon, and he took a small sample. “Blech.” He handed her back the spoon. “At least I know I have him beat on quality. This tastes like it was made from a mix.”

He could tell that from one sample?

“The product’s just okay,” Rachel said, “but I think we can learn something from Barry.”

“Like what?” Shane huffed. “How to dress up like a cow and dance around?”

She gestured inside the store. “Look at all the families in there. They’re smiling and happy. They don’t care that they just spent ten bucks a pop for fro-yo from a mix. He makes it fun. The shop is fun with its bright colors. The cow’s cute.”

“The cow is cute!”

“Yeah, and he dances and hands out party favors. Don’t you remember getting glasses like these when you were a kid?”

She took the glasses off the top of her head and tilted them back and forth to show him. He glowered at the glasses.

She slipped them on, scooped up some Nerds, and spoke around the candy in her mouth. “Plus, the coupon makes you feel less like a dope for spending so much.”

“What’s wrong with having reasonable prices to start?” Shane asked. “I can’t lower my prices any more or I’ll go out of business.” He scowled. “I’m not gonna jack up my prices just so I can hand out stupid coupons.”

She took off the wacky glasses. “Okay, okay, relax. You guys have two different approaches to frozen desserts. Nothing wrong with that. You do your thing; he does his thing.”

Shane fixed her with a steely look that instantly put her on edge. “I’m driving you home, not Barry.”

She set her spoon down. “Is that so?”

He raised his chin, his eyes full of challenge. “Yeah, that is so.”

“You might have to fight Barry for that privilege.”

“I will gladly kick his ass,” Shane growled.

“Shane! That’s not like you.” She stared at his frowning face. “You’re a lover, not a fighter,” she teased.

He gazed into her eyes. “Remember that.”

She felt a jolt at the heated promise in those eyes, but she had no time to come up with a snappy comeback because Barry caused a fervor of excitement when he made an appearance on the patio still wearing the cow costume.

Shane rolled his eyes. Barry handed out his coupons to all the parents outside. He stopped by Shane and Rachel’s table.

“How is everything?” Barry asked. “Can I get you some fro-yo, Shane? You’re looking a little overheated. Hot night, isn’t it?”

“No, thanks,” Shane said tersely.

Barry handed them both coupons. Shane dropped his to the table.

“Let me get out of this cow suit, and then I’ll be ready to drive you home,” Barry said to her. “No rush, of course. Finish up all that delicious, healthy fro-yo. The more you eat, the more pro-bee-otics will boost your health.” He smiled widely.

Rachel bit back a laugh and turned to a very pissed-off-looking Shane. Geez, not even pro-bee-otics were funny anymore.

“Sure thing, Barry,” Rachel said. “I’ll be inside in a bit.” Barry left, and Rachel smiled at Shane. “So I guess that settles the car-ride thing.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw, and if she was the kind of woman who knew when to stop talking, she might’ve known that was a red flag.

“Barry’s all set to drive me.” She poked around in the cup, looking for more gummi worms. “I’ll see you tomorrow for our business meeting.”

“Say good-bye, Rach.”

“Good-bye?” She snapped her head up and saw him approach, a hard glint in his eye. “Why would I say—ohhh!”

He plucked her off the seat like she weighed nothing, carrying her cradled in his arms. She tried to see over his shoulder. “My fro-yo!”

“Barry can toss it in the trash where it belongs.”

He carried her down the patio steps over to his car, unlocked it, and slid her into the passenger seat. She watched him stomp around to the driver’s side and hid a smile. She had to admit, despite all her misgivings, some part of her liked this new caveman side of Shane. Me want woman. Me take woman.

He turned the ignition, and they peeled out of the lot.

“Where to, partner?” Rachel asked.

Shane was silent, tension radiating off him.

She exhaled sharply. “It’s not like I betrayed you. It’s fro-yo. I was just checking the place out. I wanted to see what made his place so popular. I think there’re some lessons that could help both our shops.”

A beat passed in silence.

“You got into the cowmobile,” Shane ground out.

“It’s just a Honda. I hate to break it to you, but Barry’s not the devil.”

“You hung onto his arm,” Shane accused.

“He was being a gentleman. And hello! You and I are business partners. I can hang onto as many arms as I want.”

Shane went silent. Fine by her. Geez, where did he get off after the way Janelle was all over him at that meeting? She didn’t see him pushing Janelle away. They rode the rest of the way home in tense silence. Shane pulled into the parking lot behind her shop and turned off the car.

She waited for him to tell her off or demand she never eat that crappy fro-yo again, both of which she could’ve handled, but instead he leaned toward her, his hand reaching out, eyes at half mast. She sucked in a breath. Were they going to have an angry, passionate make-out session? Some part of her was on board with that. A very important part that remembered all too well the make-out session from last night.

Her heart thudded in her chest. They shared a breath as his mouth hovered near hers, but he didn’t move, just waited. She had a moment of indecision between pulling back and leaning forward when he made the decision for her, saying simply, “Good night, Rachel,” and pushed open her car door.

She straightened and exited the car. “Good night,” she said sharply and headed inside her apartment.

She sighed, a little relieved, a lot disappointed. She really should get a cat. Or four. Do this spinster thing up right.

Chapter Ten

Rachel had been planning on shopping online for some of the furniture and decorations she and Shane had talked about for the café, but after checking out a restaurant supply warehouse website over breakfast, she started thinking it would be better to go there in person. The warehouse was in the Bronx, about an hour away. She didn’t absolutely need Shane to come with her. She could ask Liz to drive her. Besides, Shane was in charge of food; she was in charge of the shop. He’d already given her a debit card for direct access to the funds for the café.

He was probably way too busy.

She walked across the street to Shane’s Scoops anyway. Just for some caffeine. It was already open and serving up coffee. Shane was behind the counter in his blue and white striped apron along with his part-timer Matt.

“Coffee?” Shane asked. His tone was terse. He was still pissed about her “horrible” misstep in trying Barry’s fro-yo. Geez, get over it.