Branded as Trouble. Delores Fossen

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       CHAPTER SEVEN

      “I DON’T WANT to risk getting seaweed and sand in my hoo-hoo,” Belle said.

      Mila just nodded. Something she’d been doing a lot since Belle had shown up at the bookstore at nine a.m. and had brought her list of fantasy dates with her. The list now included discarded ones, the possibilities and her favorites. Despite the fact that Mila had told her she needed to order some books and do paperwork before she opened the store at ten, Belle had sat down as if this were a social call.

      “That’s why I’ve decided against From Here to Eternity,” Belle added. “Plus, I’d have to drive a long way to get to a beach.”

      Good point, but she had convinced Mila at the no seaweed or sand in the hoo-hoo. At least she was convinced if hoo-hoo was Belle’s word for her lady part. If not, then Mila had no idea what the woman meant.

      “That brings us to the pottery scene in Ghost and the scene from Twilight. The one where they’re in the woods, and he tells her to ‘say it.’ I like that scene a lot.” Belle sighed like a schoolgirl. “I like the one from Ghost, too, but I don’t want to fall in bed with my undies showing.”

      Mila wasn’t sighing. The first one would mean very close contact, and if Belle got someone like Wesley, then it could turn ugly. There was also a problem with the Twilight scene because it was indeed in the woods where Belle would be alone with this guy.

      “Uh, you just got out of the hospital a couple of days ago—” Mila started.

      “Four days,” Belle corrected. “That’s plenty of time, considering I wanted to jump-start my life. This is the slowest jump-start in history, since it’ll take me at least a week to set this up. And that’s after I decide which one.”

      Since it was obvious she wasn’t going to be able to use Belle’s health to get her to rethink this, Mila took the list and looked it over again. And mentally ticked them off one by one. Great day, but the woman had lofty fantasies that ranged all the way from Tolkien scenes to Pretty Woman.

      “How about Scarlett O’Hara?” Mila suggested. “You could do the scene where she visits Rhett in jail.” That way, “Rhett” wouldn’t be able to get his hands on her.

      Belle stared at her, huffed. “All right, what’s wrong? You did this fantasy stuff for a couple of years. If it was okay for you, why isn’t it okay for me? And don’t say it’s because I haven’t had a date in over forty years because you haven’t had a real date in ages, either.”

      The woman had a point, but Mila thought maybe she picked up on bad vibes a little better than Belle. Maybe not, though, since she had had that encounter with Wesley.

      “Honestly,” Belle went on, “I see just as much risk in you going out with Dylan later today as in me doing Twilight. And my name’s already very close to the character so that might be a good sign.”

      Mila froze. “How’d you know about Dylan?”

      Belle froze, too. “Uh, Lawson mentioned it.”

      Great day. That meant it was all over town. “It’s not a date. It’s just coffee.” Mila was thinking of it as more of a prequel to a possible date.

      Belle just stared at her. “Dylan isn’t the ‘just coffee’ type. He could charm the panties off a nun. Or you.”

      Maybe, but it would be a nice change of pace from the other guys in town who were trying to do the same.

      “How’d Dylan set up this date with you, anyway?” Belle asked.

      “He’s friends with Julie Dayton. She’s the librarian at the school.” Basically, Julie had played matchmaker, and Mila didn’t know whether to thank her yet or not.

      Mila braced herself for Belle to tell her all the reasons she shouldn’t go out with Dylan. After all, it wasn’t her coffee meeting that folks were chattering on about. They were also talking СКАЧАТЬ