Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Compromising Positions excerpt

Compromising Positions blog exclusive excerpt!

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David tried to remember the last time he’d been to a grocery store. College maybe? If there was anything at all in his fridge, his sister put it there. Kelly was wonderful about leaving ice cream and chips in her wake.

“If we split the list it will go faster.” Sophie smiled up at him.

“Okay,” he shrugged, taking the torn piece of notebook paper from her hand. He scanned the items. All produce. “What’s on your list?” he asked, taking it from her hand. More produce. He knew it. Women ate weird. His sister was the only sane woman in the entire world.

“The joy of having a nutritionist for a brother in law. Craig’s using me to test his latest diet plan,” Sophie explained.

David took a step back and looked at her again. Even in sweats she looked fit. “Why?”

She waved her hand. “Who can keep track of Craig’s reasons? I just indulge him. To a point.”

“You should do his Deliver-ease. It actually has real food, not just vegetables.” And since the plan was run through Strong Gyms, utilizing the plan let him do a little quality control.

Sophie raised a dark eyebrow. “You’re on his diet plan?”

“You’re not the only one who indulges Craig. Besides, it’s easy. Comes right to the office. I don’t even have to think about it.

She looked at him in disbelief. “But why are you on a diet?”

“I’m not.” David pushed the cart forward, away from the lettuce. “Craig decided twenty years ago that he knew better than I did what I should be eating. It’s a habit from way back.” He didn’t want to get into his bodybuilding days. It had been an obsession for him for a while, something he and Craig did together. But it was not an arena he had ever excelled in, just gotten by. He wasn’t comfortable being average.

Sophie began to study the different lettuces so David attacked his list. How did one pick out a cantaloupe? He looked at the melons piled atop one another. Do you just grab the one on top or did you study the specimens the way Sophie was now sizing up the citrus? He picked up two, weighing each in his hands. How could a person possibly know which one to buy? He moved his hands together eying the fruit, trying to squeeze them to find some difference. They looked exactly the same.

Sophie was suddenly in front of him, taking away the cantaloupes and replacing them with grapefruits. “This is much more realistic David, unless you’re into fakes.” It took him a minute to realize her insinuation.

“I was not, not…” he stammered

“Feeling up the fruit? Sure you were. It’s okay; your secrets are safe with me.” Her smile told him she was teasing as she turned the cart toward the apples.

He stomped after her. “I thought you weren’t into apples.” He smiled as she blushed, obviously recalling her earlier lecture.

“Apples can be good. As long as they are part of a whole bowl of fruit and not the only thing in the dish.” She gave him a cocky grin.

He laughed, full and deep. This girl was a piece of work. “You handle the fruit since you are the expert. I’ll stick with the vegetables.” He couldn’t help himself. As he brushed past her he leaned in and whispered, “Just how big do you like your cucumbers?”

1 comment:

Jessa Slade said...

LOL! Clean up on aisle 6!