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shrugged. “Maybe both. My brother, Matthew, got married recently and now I’m being more or less forced out of my home so the newlyweds can set up housekeeping.” He lifted the lid on a large, dark-sided container and used a plastic scoop to measure out the required amount of red worms. He’d done the same thing so often he knew approximately how many worms each scoop would net. Once the scoop came away with a writhing mass of dirt-covered worms, he dropped the contents into a container then repeated the steps for the second.
    â€œI heard about his whirlwind romance. Something about a kissing booth, right?” Alice continued to scrub at her hair but watched him in the mirror.
    â€œYeah.” Mark popped lids on both containers. “So, if you know of anyone renting a place, let me know. Maybe living in town would be a good change of pace.” Of course, Grandma will throw a hissy fit. “If there’s nothing, I’ll have to try my luck in Indianapolis, which means I’d need to give up the bait shop.” For which Grandma will also throw a hissy fit.
    â€œI’ll ask around.”
    He nodded and crossed to a larger container. Inside, he removed a small box, already containing the required number of Jumpers. These guys came pre-packaged and were a bestseller. “I don’t really want to move, but it’s necessary. Plus, the bait gig, while interesting, isn’t what I want to do forever.” Great, just great, I’m rambling.
    Finally, Alice dried her hands on another paper towel, dropped everything in a nearby waste basket then turned to face him. She rested her backside against the sink. “What do you want to be in life?”
    â€œA hero.” When he realized he’d said that aloud, heat rushed up the back of his neck and into his ears. “I mean, I want to do something heroic, maybe help people. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just always be the bait guy.”
    â€œThere are worse things.” She treated him to another grin. “I’m a fan of superheroes, myself. Of course, I have my favorites and can’t say whether I like the ones who fly or have some other power.”
    Mark gaped at her while she kept on talking about the various superheroes she admired and the ones she didn’t. Then she launched into a whole thing about penguins — the animal — and their eating habits. Her penchant for changing into barely related subjects left him breathless. When she theorized about penguin mating rituals, he grabbed onto the opening. “So, what’s your story? Are you dating anyone?” He hadn’t seen a ring on her finger.
    Her eyes went wide and her kissable lips formed a soft “o” of surprise. “Um, no, I’m not attached.”
    An awkward silence sprang up between them. She didn’t elaborate on her statement, and Mark’s tongue seemed glued to the roof of his mouth. His pulse thundered through his veins, while heat seeped into every inch of his body. He mentally berated himself for not having the gift of gab — him, the guy who teased his short-on-words brother for not liking to converse on anything. “Well,” he cleared his throat then thrust the containers and box of worms into her hands. “Here ya go.”
    Way to go, Mark, you big freak show. He shot out of the storeroom and breathed a sigh of relief once he was safely behind his cash register. By the time Alice had followed him out and put the counter between them, his heart rate had settled into normal. “That’ll be twenty bucks.”
    â€œThanks.” She dug a twenty from the front pocket of her jeans and handed it over.
    He grabbed the very edge of the bill to avoid touching her hand. If he had such a reaction to her just by talking, he didn’t want to know what would happen if they had contact. Well, he did, but he didn’t want to look like a bigger dork than he probably already was.