All I Have. Nicole Helm

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СКАЧАТЬ hide the shiver as his breath danced along her neck. “High school. Most of us weren’t thinking. I’m not worried about it. I was a geek. Either trying too hard to fit in or too hard to be invisible. Neither ever worked. In a town this size, you don’t get to disappear.” Why was she talking about this? Oh, yeah, because she never could shut her yap when she was uncomfortable.

      When Dell didn’t say anything, Mia bit her lip to keep the words from pouring out. She made it about five seconds before she couldn’t stand it. “I’m pretty sure there’s a statute of limitations on name-calling in high school. It ended a few years ago. Forget it.”

      Since she couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes, considering her face was probably red from the roots of her hair to the V of her shirt, she watched the underside of his stubbled chin move back and forth.

      For the briefest flash she wondered what it might feel like, the whiskers against her palm. Against her face. But, oh, my God, so not the time. So not okay. This was Dell. Not some random guy.

      “I’m not sure there’s a statute of limitations on anything,” he said grimly. “Mia, that was a really shitty thing for me to do. I know it probably doesn’t make much difference now, but I am truly sorry.”

      “It doesn’t matter.” It didn’t. She wanted to forget about it. Forget about him and him suddenly being all nice and repentant, and, no, she didn’t want any of this. She wanted to hate him. He was making it impossible.

      His mouth turned grim. “Right. Because you don’t like me anyway. I’m just the dumb guy taking off his shirt. You can say it. Heard it plenty.”

      “I don’t not like you and I don’t think you’re dumb.” Mia squeezed her eyes shut. What a stupid thing to say. To admit. He was the enemy. Stealing her customers. Mia shook her head. How did she get to be on a dance floor in a bar dancing with the guy she was trying to beat in sales? Could she possibly get any dumber?

      Just as Kenzie had accused her of, and Dad and Anna and Cara had backed up. She was a softie. Any sob story had her sobbing right along with the teller, sympathizing.

      But this was Dell. Her enemy. Her only enemy. She didn’t need to feel guilty or assuage his guilt, either. “Look, I wish you’d keep your shirt on and stop stealing my female customers, but I don’t not like you.” Yeah, that helped. Why didn’t she just say, “I don’t not like you” fifty more times so he really got the message? Why didn’t she just lean right up against him and really show him?

      The tap on Mia’s shoulder almost made her jump, it was so startling. Cara was grinning, practically intertwined like a pretzel with Kevin.

      “Hey, Kevin’s going to give me a ride home.”

      “Oh, uh, okay.”

      “Keep an eye on her for me, Dell,” Cara said with a wink.

      “Catch you another time, man.” Kevin offered Dell a goofy grin as Cara pulled him toward the door.

      Mia looked back at Dell, realized her hand was still in his. He considered her for a second before speaking. “You, uh, need a ride home? Or I could buy you another drink.”

      Mia reminded herself it was pity or guilt over high school or eight million other reasons beyond Dell Wainwright wanting to spend a few extra minutes with her. It was none of the reasons she wanted to spend more time with him, and she could really not afford to want to spend more time with him. “No. No, I have my truck. You should head home. All that stuff to prove, remember?”

      He grinned. “Right.” Finally, finally, he released her hand, and she made sure to put more space between them.

      “Bye,” she offered lamely.

      “See you Saturday, Mia.”

      She nodded, turned and tried not to scurry out of the bar like a frightened animal. She looked back briefly to see Dell watching her go. Swallowing down the weird suspicion that he’d been checking out her ass, Mia let herself break into a jog once she got to the dark parking lot.

      This was the absolute last time she ever let Cara talk her into anything.

       CHAPTER EIGHT

      “YOUCANMARCH right back out of here, because I do not forgive you.”

      Dell stared at Kenzie, curled up on his old bed, a laptop on her lap. What had once been sparse and filled with camo and John Deere decor was now all pink and sparkles and girl.

      Even Kenzie’s computer was pink.

      She was, and always had been, a bit of a foreign object to him, but he hated when she was mad at him. Usually because she made him pay, but also because on more than one occasion she was his partner in crime.

      Also, he thought his reaction to catching his baby sister making out in the barn with some guy was pretty tame. What he’d really like to have done was tie Jacob Masterson to a tree and shoot him with a BB gun.

      “You know I’m looking out for you, right?”

      “I can handle myself, thank you very much. Please don’t act all pious as if you weren’t doing way worse at my age. Charlie can give me that lecture. Not you.”

      “What do you think is ‘way worse’—nope, never mind. Don’t answer that. You should be focusing on getting into a good school.” Not some idiot with a penis.

      Kenzie snorted. “Did you and Charlie swap bodies?”

      “No, I—”

      “Have never lectured me before. Do not start. I will not be held responsible for what I do to you.” She slid off the bed, all grace and condescension. “The men in this family need to realize the women do not need to be told what to do. Being far superior to the three of you lunkheads arguing all the time. All because you can’t just accept that people are different.”

      He hadn’t ever lectured her before. Usually they were too busy pulling pranks on Charlie or the like. But he was starting to see what his wayward youth had created, and he wanted to make sure she didn’t follow in his crap footsteps.

      She shouldn’t have to fight to do what she loved, and he trusted no man when it came to his baby sister.

      As for being one of the three lunkheads who couldn’t accept they were different... “I’d like to accept it. Surely you know that.”

      Some of her flip teenage know-it-allness slipped. “Okay, you’re the least lunkheadiest.”

      “Thanks.”

      Charlie appeared in the doorway, clearing his throat. “Mom told me to come get you two. Dinner is ready.”

      Kenzie shared a look with Dell. “Poor perfect Charlie. What a chore.”

      Charlie’s eyebrows drew together. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

      “Nothing,” Kenzie said in a singsongy voice, waltzing past him and down the stairs.

      Charlie frowned СКАЧАТЬ