Over the course of the next few months, Bucky accompanied Anna to Jones' Fresh Market whenever he had the chance. He liked to think that it was just to annoy Rosie, but lately, he couldn't get her outta his head. In the mornings, he'd see the pale green walls of the dining room and think of Rosie's sparkling green eyes. When he assisted Howard, he'd day-dream about her wild, barely contained brown curls. And whenever someone told a joke, he'd think of her beautiful smile and animated laugh. Bucky was definitely head over heels for Rosie. He would absolutely never admit to it, but he was.

"Hey, Barnes! Get your head outta the clouds and give me a hand with this!" Howard called from across the workshop.

Bucky snapped out of his Rosie-induced day-dream and went to help Stark with his latest project. They were working on a new device that could cloak objects. More specifically, one that would cloak Howard's hover car. In Bucky's mind, that was almost as exciting as Rosie.

"How long until you think it'll be ready to test?" he asked Stark.

"Probably not much longer. I think that if we can reconfigure the cloaking rays to run off of the car battery instead of a power outlet then we'll be in business." Howard replied, snapping his goggles into place and got to work. He really didn't need them, but Bucky knew Howard thought he looked cool wearing them.

"What are you going to do with it once it's finished? I assume that you've already figured out you can't sell it to the public."

"Of course," Stark waved him off. "I'm going to fit the hover car with one, and sell the rest to the S.S.R.. Screwdriver."

"I'm sure Thompson will get a kick outta that." Bucky grinned as he handed over a screwdriver. "What are you planning on making next?"

Howard smiled his evil genius smile. "That's for me to know and you to find out." He took his almost-reconverted-cloaking-device over to the car. "Hey, isn't it about time for you and Anna to go shopping?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Bucky asked.

"'Course not. Just don't want you to miss out on seeing your girl." Howard replied cheekily.

"She's not my girl, Stark." Bucky huffed, but made his way out of the lab anyway. "You want us to get you anything?"

"No, just need my lab assistant to get his head outta his butt and make a move on not-his-girl."

Bucky rolled his eyes and went to find Anna.

X-X-X

Rosemarie was manning the checkout counter and tried not to look like she was watching the clock. It was 4:30, her shift ended at 5:30 and Mrs. Jarvis, usually accompanied by James, always arrived by 4:45. But it wasn't like she was waiting for him or anything.

She smiled at Mrs. Williams as the older lady approached the counter. "Did you find everything ok today, ma'am?"

"Yes, dearie. I always do. Are you waiting for your young man to stop by?" Mrs. Williams smiled suggestively.

Rosemarie froze. "I don't have a young man." She declared, even as the image of James' boyish grin danced in her mind.

"Oh, of course not." Mrs. Williams winked sarcastically. "And it most certainly wouldn't be James Barnes of all people, either. Silly me."

"Absolutely." Rosemarie replied. After ringing Mrs. Williams up, she continued, "that'll be $2.37."

Mrs. Williams shelled out the money. "Don't look now," she said as she made to grab her bags, "but not-your-young-man just walked through the door."

Rosemarie sighed, but turned to look. Sure enough, it was James. Today he was wearing a blue button down shirt that brought out his eyes and tan slacks. He's devastatingly handsome. She thought before shaking her head.

James met her gaze from across the store and Rosemarie quickly averted her eyes. She most certainly did not have a crush on him, and she never would, thank you very much. James went on his way and Rosemarie very successfully did not follow him with her eyes. She managed to focus on her counter the entire time he was there.

"Hello, Rosie."

Well, almost the entire time. "Hello, James. Did you find everything alright?"

"Yes, I did. I can't wait for the day you ask me something exciting for once." He waggled his eyebrows.

"All right then," two could play at this game, "did you notice the star fruit? It's quite good."

"Now that is exciting. What's a star fruit?"

"It tastes a bit like an apple, and if you slice it right, it'll be shaped like a star." Rosemarie said before remembering his lack of an arm. Can he even slice fruit?

James, of course, wasn't bothered. "Well then, I'll have to try it next time."

"Be sure you do." Rosemarie recovered. "My father special orders them for the Fourth of July. We won't have them for much longer."

James' face did a funny thing where he looked like he'd been sucker punched. "Is it really almost the Fourth?" He choked out.

"Yes," she answered, puzzled. "It's next Tuesday."

"I need to go. Thanks." James stuttered as he slapped some money onto the counter before grabbing his groceries and dashing out the door.

Rosemarie looked after him, wandering what she'd said wrong. As she went to count the money James had left, she noticed he overpaid by almost four dollars. She huffed, deciding to return it to him the next day.