She stopped and looked at him. “I’m not crazy, nor am I stalking him. I figure this way I can keep an eye on him without having to battle Alejandro and his rat cartel on the roof.”
“Alejandro?”
She shrugged. “He looked like an Alejandro.”
“He might have been a she with a whole parcel of babies somewhere.”
Gina glared at him. “Great. You’ve succeeded in making me feel guilty about hoping the rabid little fur ball was dead.”
“Sorry,” he said, his wide smile obviously saying otherwise.
“Uh-huh.”
“Anyhow, I promise I won’t let the mouse mafia get you.”
“Rat cartel. That thing was definitely a rat.”
“Mouse. Nowhere near big enough to be a rat.”
She shook her head. “That pointy-eared bastard was huge.”
Rick laughed. “He wasn’t that big. If he comes back, I promise I’ll protect you. But we aren’t stalking your ex-boyfriend’s house.”
“You make that sound so immoral.”
“That’s because it is immoral. Or illegal, at least.”
She shrugged. “Eh, I see it as more of a gray area.”
“Ha! I think you see most things as a gray area.”
“Gray is so much more interesting than non-gray.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.”
Another two minutes of that logic and Rick would have a pounding headache. “There’s nothing to agree or disagree with. There are laws. Things you do and don’t do. Consequences if you break those laws. No gray.”
She leaned in like she was going to tell him a secret and whispered, “I like gray,” before turning to head up another aisle.
He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips, and followed her to the next rack of snack food.
“I was trying to find a more comfortable spot,” she said. “Nothing immoral, illegal, or otherwise ill-advised, I swear. There’s a nice little park across from Tony’s place. Comfy benches. No rats.”
“That you know of.”
Gina’s eyes narrowed, and Rick didn’t bother hiding his amusement. “No,” he said. “No park. No apartment. The roof across from your truck or nothing.”
She watched him for a second, like she was waiting for him to change his mind, and then finally shrugged. “Fine. But if I get jumped by anything with more than two legs, it’s your fault.”
“Noted.”
She split the wrapper of the Slim Jim and took a big bite of it.
“I think you’re supposed to pay for those before you eat them,” Rick said.
Gina kept chewing and wandered a little farther up the aisle, snagging a bag of chips to add to her stash.
“Really,” he insisted. “It’s bad enough you stole from me, but you can’t steal from someone else, especially right in front of me.”
“You’re off duty.” She took another bite and stopped in front of the shelf that held various flavors of frosting. There was only one can of chocolate left. She grabbed it, frowning.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m off duty. I can’t let you…”
“Hey, Harry!” Gina leaned over so she could see the counter. “Where’s all the chocolate frosting?”
“You know the owner?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I used to work here in high school. It kept me busy and out of trouble, and the money came in handy.”
Rick chuckled. “Hell, if it kept you out of trouble, the man deserves a medal.”
Gina scowled and turned her back on him, hauling her armload of goodies up to the counter.
“So, where’re you hiding all the chocolate? I can’t eat my graham crackers without chocolate frosting.”
“Sorry,” Harry said. “Tony came in an hour ago and cleaned me out.”
Gina’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, he did, did he?”
Harry finished ringing her up, including the empty Slim Jim wrapper she dropped on top of the pile with a sideways look at Rick.
“Thanks, Harry,” she said, gathering her bags.
Before Rick could say anything, Gina took a left and headed back toward the bakery.
“Wow, no more arguments? I’m stunned,” he said.
“Oh zip it. Seriously. Tony just stocked up on chocolate frosting.”
“And? Maybe he’s making a cake or something.”
Gina cocked an eyebrow at him, showing how much she thought of that idea. “Tony doesn’t bake. Or cook. If it can’t be microwaved, he doesn’t touch it.”
“So the frosting is for recreational purposes?”
“I would assume so. Chocolate seems to be his flavor of choice. It was everywhere last time he broke in.”