Read Online Instant Gratification by Jill Shalvis - Free Book Online Page B

Lilah.”
    “Again, no problem.”
    “And third—and possibly most importantly, for not beating me with your bat.”
    She felt a smile tug at her mouth. “You got lucky.” She moved toward the next aisle—fruits and veggies, dammit, but she couldn’t just grab a fistful of candy bars right in front of him. So she grabbed some grapes even though she didn’t like grapes, and dropped them in her cart.
    Shifting a little closer, he reached for the bag dispenser, just over her head, making her hyperaware of his big body and the fact that he smelled amazing.
    A woman came down the aisle with four young kids, each of them screaming and yelling and beating each other with light sabers from the toy aisle. The woman started to pass by them with an apologetic smile, but stopped at the sight of Stone. “Hey, you,” she said with familiarity. “I’ve been wanting to thank you for the bag of t-shirts, the kids loved them.”
    Stone smiled easily, picking up one of the boys before he could climb the banana display, setting him down by his mother. “No problem, glad you could use them. Alice, this is—”
    “Doctor Sinclair,” Alice said with a much more formal tone than she’d used with Stone. “I’ve heard about you. How’s your wonderful father doing?”
    “Better, thank you,” Emma said, hoping to God that was actually true.
    “Good.” With one last sweet smile for Stone, Alice moved on, surrounded by chaos.
    “We went to school together,” Stone told Emma, once again following her as she turned into the next aisle. The woman shelving soups sent Stone a hopeful smile combining a sultry invitation and a knowing satisfaction. “Hi there, Stone.”
    “Hey, Tina,” Stone said with more easy familiarity. “How’s Danny?”
    “Oh, I’m not seeing him anymore.” Cocking her head, she eyeballed Stone up and down, as if maybe he was a twelve course meal and she was starving. “I signed up for another rock climbing class. Requested you.”
    He laughed softly and shook his head. “Cam takes those now.”
    “Yeah? Well, maybe you could make an exception?”
    “The schedule’s pretty set.”
    “Well damn then.”
    “An ex?” Emma asked dryly in the next aisle.
    He slipped his hands into his pockets. “Sort of. We went out once.”
    Uh huh. Telling herself she didn’t care, she headed up the frozen aisle toward the checkout. A beautiful dark brunette in a white tank top and a black skirt was in the middle of the aisle inspecting two different bags of frozen peas. Surprise, surprise, she nodded at Stone, though without a smile. “Hey, Wilder.”
    “Serena.”
    “Tell Annie her pies are ready.”
    “Will do.”
    “And tell your brother I hope Katie-the-new-girlfriend has dumped his sorry ass.”
    “She’s the fiancé now,” Stone told her.
    “Yeah, I know. With any luck, she’ll wise up in time.” The woman gave Emma a long, speculative look, then strode off.
    Stone turned to Emma who shook her head. “Are you three the only guys in town or something?” she asked.
    “Nah.” He smiled a little wryly. “But somehow we have this reputation.”
    “ Somehow , huh?”
    “It goes back several generations.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah. My great, great, great, great grandfather hung out with Jesse James. He ended up six feet under after a bar fight. That was the beginning of the legend. Or so they say.”
    “The legend?”
    “That the Wilder men will never amount to much.”
    She watched him lift a broad shoulder as if that didn’t hurt in the least, but something in his eyes gave him away, and her amusement faded. “That’s quite a legacy to have to live with.”
    “We’ve managed to do just that for generations.”
    “How about this generation?”
    He slanted her a glance, as if surprised she’d even bothered to ask, but she knew a little bit about living up to expectations. Her mother, as wonderful as she’d been, had pinned her hopes and dreams for the elusive “great life” on her only