A/N: As always, thank you for the reviews and follows. Here's the next chapter. Red and Lizzie spend some time together but when another man shows interest in Lizzie there's trouble.

Chapter twenty-eight

Red and Lizzie were at the outside market at the small town. The weather was good. It was nice to walk by the different stalls with produce. Red had Lizzie's hand in his, their fingers entwined and he held Jethro's leash in the other. Lizzie let Red lead the way. She was happy he was here with her. The fact that he was going to stay with her really felt like a weight had lifted from her shoulders. With him by her side she knew she would heal faster. The simple fact was, and by now she could admit it to herself, she needed him in her life. She never before considered the possibility of having a soul mate. She still had a hard time believe that, but with Red, in a way it seemed to hold truth. She felt connected to him and his absence had made it all that much more obvious that without him she was half of a whole.

Red kept walking from stall to stall, buying all kinds of fruits and vegetables. So much more than she usually bought. "You don't have to feed the whole town you know. It's just the two of us."

Red stopped and looked at her. Leaning in he kissed her cheek. "I just want to make sure we have good and healthy food." He was going to make sure that this week she ate good and healthy. "Come on." He slightly pulled at her hand and they continued their stroll.

At a certain point the food stalls were gone and now there were stalls with arts and crafts. But also with beautiful handmade jewellery and clothes and accessories you'd never find in a store. Usually Lizzie never visited this part of the market. Today however Red just continued walking and Lizzie couldn't stop herself from strolling from stall to stall to browse through all the different articles and objects. Red left her alone for a while to look at one stall that had caught his interest.

Lizzie was looking at some scarfs when the owner of the stall walked up to her.

"I'm glad you finally decided to grace my stall with your presence." The man greeted her.

"Excuse me?" Lizzie looked at the man. He was tall, muscular and had blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was handsome, but not her type.

"I'm sorry. That came out wrong. What I am trying to say is that I've seen you here before, but you never walked this way. I'm glad you did."

"Thank you." She didn't quite know what to think of him.

"I'm Jason." The man introduced himself. "You live nearby?" He asked.

"Yes, I do." She started to look through the scarfs some more. "These are beautiful." She remarked as she touched a few of them.

"They are." He nodded. "They will look beautiful on you."

Lizzie blushed. She didn't quite know how to deal with the obvious appreciation she saw in the man's eyes. "Thank you." Was all she managed to say. She looked through some scarfs. She was glad when another customer appeared and needed Jason's attention. However the woman quickly made her choice, paid and was gone again. Jason turned his attention back to Lizzie.

"You never told me your name."

"I'm sorry." Lizzie apologised. "I'm Liz." She shook hands with Jason. "Do you live here?" She asked. Jason seemed nice and so far she'd avoided every conversation with strangers. She'd always kept to herself. Now that she was finally feeling better, she felt more comfortable to meet new people.

"No I don't. I come to this market once a week but I have my own shop in Burton. I'd love for you to come visit one time." Jason smiled at her.

"That would be nice. What kind of shop do you have?"

Jason stepped closer to Lizzie, getting in her personal space. "Mostly accessories, scarfs, bags, wallets, some jewellery."

"Do you have a business card with the address information?" She never did give herself much time to shop, but that didn't mean she didn't like it. Maybe Red would join her some day?

"Of course. I'll be right back."

Jason returned a few minutes later with a business card and a scarf. "I wrote my phone number down too." He said, handing her his card. "Also, I have this beautiful scarf." He handed her a beautiful red scarf.

It had different shades of red, ranging from light to dark. It really was beautiful. Lizzie carefully let it slide through her fingers. "It's beautiful." She wondered if Red would like it. She looked around for him, wanting his opinion. She finally found him and Jethro standing on the other side of the small street they were on. She smiled at him, happy to see him again. However, he didn't return her smile. She didn't quite know what she saw in his eyes. He also didn't seem inclined to join her. But she had Jethro who would make sure he would. She called out to her dog who was sitting at Red's feet and immediately stood up and ran over to her with Red being pulled around behind him. Liz greeted Jethro with before she smiled at Red. "Hi." She said softly.

Red merely nodded. He'd watched his Lizzie with the man from the stall. He was standing far too closely to her for his liking. He'd also seen Lizzie smiling at the man. She didn't seem to mind that attention. From the moment he'd seen them together he felt a pang of jealousy run through him. She was his girl. He didn't like it that other men showed their interest. He knew all too well how beautiful she was and he felt lucky that she was in his life. But scenes like this made him insecure too. He was all too aware of his flaws. Those flaws made always made him doubt how right he was for Lizzie, or better said, how wrong he was for her and the fact that she deserved better. But he was a selfish man and he wanted her in his life and just as a friend simply wasn't good enough anymore.

Lizzie tilted her head to the side and observed Red. She didn't understand his mood. He was distant. He usually sought her out, placing a hand on her back or her arm or taking her hand in his. He always got in her personal space and she liked that. Now he seemed to be certain not to get into her personal space. His stance was also very rigid. Well even if he seemed to want to avoid any contact, she didn't. She reached for his hand, entwined their fingers and slightly pulled on his hand to get him into her personal space. "Do you like this one?" Lizzie asked, holding the scarf in her hands to show him.

Red nodded. The scarf was beautiful and he was sure it would look beautiful on her. "How much is it?" He asked, addressing the other man for the first time.

"It's a gift." Jason said, keeping his eyes on Lizzie.

"I can't accept that, Jason."

"Please." Jason took the scarf from her hands and draped it across Lizzie's neck and shoulders, letting his hand linger on her shoulders.

It took a lot of Red's willpower not to push the man away from her. The urge to punch the man was getting stronger and stronger especially when the man didn't move out of Lizzie's personal space.

"No, really. I can't accept that. How much is it?" Lizzie asked.

"30 dollars." Jason relented. He looked at the man who was staring dangerously at him.

Silently Red handed over the money. With the money exchanged and the scarf packed in a small paper bag Red immediately turned away from the stall and walked away. Liz quickly said her goodbye to Jason and promised him she would come by to visit him. Within a few steps she joined Red again.

"Hey." She said to get his attention. When he just kept walking she grabbed his hand once more and pulled on it to get him to stop, which he did. She walked around him to look at him. "Hey." She said once more. Once again he didn't meet her eyes so she put her hand on his cheek. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Liz rolled her eyes. Did he really think she was going to believe him? She would leave it for now. They were going to talk when they were back home. She leaned up on her toes and kissed his cheek. Taking Jethro's leash in one hand and Red's hand in the other she led them back to the car.

TBC...