Page 11 of Cross Point
“Chocolate anything.”
That made him chuckle. “That’s easy enough.”
They walked down the street in the direction they’d both found parking spaces, and she pulled him to a stop in front of the ice cream parlor, Creamy Delights. The shop was owned and run by an old friend of his, Elodie Simmons.
He’d met her when she’d first moved to the island to live with her aunt, Adeline, who was the current major of the island. He and Elodie had attended school together from middle school until they had graduated high school. The pretty blonde had always been shy and kind of quiet, but she’d been coming out of her shell since she had recently started dating Noah Diaz and Carlos Sanchez.
The shop owner was heading toward the front door, presumably to flip the sign, when Trinity pushed it open. With a sigh of resignation, Jackson followed her inside.
“Elodie Simmons, this is Katrina Cross. She just arrived on the island.”
Despite the last-minute intrusion, Elodie smiled. “Nice to meet you, Katrina. Welcome to Creamy Delights.”
Trinity breathed in the scent of sugar, vanilla, and waffle cones that filled the shop. “I’m sorry to barge in on you last minute, but I have an emergency. Must have chocolate, or all men within ten feet of me might be in grave peril.”
“Well, we can’t have that, now, can we? Let’s see what we can do about your emergency,” Elodie said with a laugh as she flipped the sign on the door, signaling the shop was closed for the night.
“Bless you,” Trinity said it with such sincerity that Elodie laughed again.
Trinity followed her back toward the counter and looked at the display case. There were several different ice cream flavors available, and she had to chuckle as she read the suggestive names given to each of the offerings like Butter Up My Pecans and French Kiss Vanilla.
“A scoop of Chocolate Bourbon Ecstasy.”
She turned her head to ask what he wanted and smiled when she saw Jackson was too busy looking at her ass to care about ice cream. She waited until his eyes met hers and was pleased when she saw the heat in his green gaze. He watched her like a predator eyeing his prey, but the poor guy didn’t understand that she was the real hunter in this game between them.
Glancing back at the display case, her lips twitched when she found the one she wanted. “And one scoop of Mint to Be Mine.”
How very appropriate.
“Two scoops?” Jackson stepped closer to her. “Do you really have room for that?”
“Don’t you know that women have a whole different stomach specifically for dessert?”
“I can attest to that,” Elodie readily agreed as she scooped up very generous servings of each ice cream flavor and put them in waffle cones that had been molded into colorful plastic cups. Trinity took both cups, then held one out to Jackson.
“I don’t want ice cream.”
“Sure, you do. Everyone likes ice cream. And this way I can try both without feeling like a total pig.”
“Ah…okay.”
“You guys can hang out in here if you want,” Elodie offered. “I’m just going to be cleaning up.”
“Thanks.”
Trinity started to protest when Jackson pulled his wallet out to pay at the counter, then shrugged it off and carried both ice cream cups over to one of the small tables set up in the front of the parlor. Since she paid for dinner earlier, it was fair that he treated her to dessert.
The shop had a retro feel to it and was decorated with pastel colors that were pleasing to the eye. As was habit, she took a seat with a view of the entrance. The shop was obviously in a good location since there was a decent amount of foot traffic walking by. There were a few disappointed faces that glanced at the ice cream parlor’s closed sign, but most of the shops in the area besides the bars and restaurants were already closed.
The ice cream parlor probably could have done brisk business if they stayed open a little later, but she knew businesses on islands ran on their own schedules. Trinity saw a tall, older woman approaching the shop carrying a purse the size of Texas, and she pushed the door open, completely disregarding the closed sign.
The woman was wearing a denim dress with a wide white belt that had a huge silver buckle in the front. Her soft gray hair was fashioned into an elegant chignon, and she had a pair of bright red glasses hanging from a beaded lanyard around her neck.
“Hello!”
Jackson had turned at the sound of the door opening, and he nodded at the newcomer. “Good evening, Madam Mayor.”
She scoffed as she shut the door. “Jackson, I changed your diapers. As I’ve told you a million times, I think you know me well enough to call me Addie.”