“Well, well, well, this is a surprise,” he drawled, setting the bottle back down on the table. He made no effort to move, instead hooked his arm over the back of the chair. “Come here often?” he asked with a wink.
Mia clenched her hands into fists. She wasn’t sure who she wanted to kill more. Cara, C.J. or Dell.
The expression on Mia’s face was enough to keep Dell from being uncomfortable with her appearance. It was the if-I-could-shoot-lasers-you’d-be-dead look, and it amused him to no end.
Although, now that he noticed, he was about eye level with her breasts while she stood in front of him, and that took care of amusement. Dell cleared his throat, took another swig of beer. “Gonna join us?”
She mumbled something incomprehensible. With Kevin sidled up to Cara, Mia had no choice but to take the chair next to Dell.
She wasn’t at all happy about it and she made no bones about showing it.
“Buy you a drink?”
“I have a drink.”
Dell raised an eyebrow at the fruity mixed-drink and floating cherry. “Want me to buy you a real drink?”
She smirked. “No.” As if to prove a point, she took a dainty sip of the cocktail in front of her. She looked all around the bar, pretty much everywhere but at him.
Dell took another sip, his eyes never leaving her. “C.J. said to let you know he was sorry, but he had to go.”
Mia frowned. “Why’d he tell you that?”
Dell shrugged.
She leaned forward, and Dell’s gaze was drawn to the V in her T-shirt. He’d seen women show off a lot more cleavage than that before, but because he’d pretty much never seen Mia’s cleavage it was a little difficult to be a gentlemen and return his gaze to her face.
She was blushing when he did. And scowling. “Why are you here?”
Dell nodded over to Kevin, who already had Cara practically in his lap. “Kev asked me to meet him at Juniors. So I did.”
“I mean why are you at my table?”
“Kev was talking to Cara, so I came over. Then your boyfriend got a little peeved at that since he and I never have seen eye-to-eye on just about anything.” C.J. was an asshole. “And since he’s a big ole coward, he moseyed on out of here.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Mia looked down at her drink. “And don’t say mosey. This is Missouri, not Texas.” She tacked on a “moron” under her breath.
Silence settled over them, and Dell tried to pretend she wasn’t there, but it was just so weird seeing Mia look…well, hot. It kind of irritated him. God knew why. “So, this new look isn’t just for the market?”
She scowled at him, more death lasers shooting from her eyes. “It’s a new leaf. Haven’t you ever wanted to turn over a new leaf?”
Dell sipped his beer. Yeah, he knew that feeling pretty well. Only, didn’t matter how many leaves he turned, the old one still stuck in his family’s mind. “In a town like this, people see who you’ve always been.”
She toyed with the napkin under her glass, brows together. “I don’t care what people see. It matters what I feel.”
Well, that was a nice attitude to have. He wished he could duplicate it. Dell took a deep drink. He didn’t come to Juniors for philosophizing or talking to Mia Pruitt. He came for good company, pretty girls and a few laughs.
Dell frowned. When had Mia become a pretty girl? He shook his head. This was all backward. He looked at Kevin, who practically had his tongue down Cara’s throat. Why had Kevin called him at all if he was just going to try to get in Cara Pruitt’s pants?
Dell would make his excuses and leave. He opened his mouth to do just that, but then realized he’d be ditching Mia with the make-out kids, and that didn’t seem very fair. Well, they could always talk about farm stuff. Not exactly the best Saturday night, but he enjoyed it and Mia knew what she was talking about.
“You guys got any cold frames out at your place?”
She gave him a puzzled look, rubbed her tongue back and forth across her bottom lip.
Oh, Jesus, noticing her tongue was worse than noticing her breasts. Breasts could be innocuous if you tried hard enough to make them so. A tongue licking lips…yeah, not so much.
Dell cleared his throat, started yammering on about the cold frame he’d built last year. She finally stopped doing the tongue thing and he breathed a sigh of relief as they spent the next fifteen minutes talking about farming.
Damn, she knew her stuff, and she seemed just as into it as he was. Anyone who listened to their conversation would think it nuts two young twenty-somethings were sitting around talking about fertilizer over a few drinks, but hell, he was actually kind of enjoying himself.
“So, how did it start?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
“How did what start?”
“The stupid take-off-your-shirt thing. You obviously care about your farm, so what gives? It makes you seem like you don’t take it seriously.”
“I take it plenty seriously. Last year I was talking to some lady about how hot it was and she laughed and told me to take off my shirt. Said I’d probably sell a few more tomatoes that way. So I took her advice.” Dell grinned. “She was right.”
“You know it’s totally demeaning, right?”
“Hey, you seem to be using my tactics.” He pointed at the V of her shirt.
“I am fully clothed!”
Outraged was a good look for her. Her cheeks got a little pink and her full lips made a sexy little O.
For Chrissake. Sexy and Mia did not belong in the same sentence, even if she was.
“Keep telling yourself that, darlin’.” Dell touched her hand. Just the lightest brush of fingertip to wrist. She jerked it back so quickly her drink shook and barely avoided toppling over.
He’d blame it on the beer, except he’d had all of one. Maybe he’d just blame it on her antagonistic attitude. He had always liked to bother people. Good-naturedly, of course. Besides, if he flirted a little over the top, maybe he’d get her scurrying off and then he could stop feeling conflicted about being attracted to her.
She popped up out of her seat. “I have to go to the bathroom.” Her entire face was beet-red as she turned to walk past his chair.
Dell chuckled. “Same old Mia.” The outside appearance might change, but deep down she still was awkward and geeky. Thank God.
She whirled around. “Wanna dance?”
He choked on his drink, sputtered and coughed as it burned down the wrong pipe. “What?” he croaked.
She smiled sweetly. Way too sweetly. “I said, wanna dance?”
Sweet baby Jesus, what on earth was Mia Pruitt up to?
Chapter Five
Mia was pretty sure making Dell sputter over his beer meant she was winning at life. Same-old Mia her ass.
Then he grinned. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”
Damn it. Talk about backfire. Not only could she not dance, but she’d never danced with a guy before. Now she was going to dance with Dell in a bar blaring poppy country music?
What bizarro world had she tumbled into? He was supposed to say no and disappear, not tower over her with that smug smile on his face. Not put his hand on the small of her back and guide her to the dance floor on the opposite side of the bar.
Dell’s hand was on the small of her back. Dell’s very big, very warm hand. Dell Wainwright. If her mind repeated the information enough times maybe she’d process it enough to react appropriately, or at least stop the squealing in her mind.
What was she supposed to do? Where was she supposed to put her hands? Where was he going to put his hands?
Dell stopped her on the dance floor, and before any more questions could circle in her brain, paralyzing all rational thought or function, Dell grabbed her hand and twirled her around.
On a breathless laugh, she ended up too close to the faded red cotton of his T-shirt, but he put his hand on her hip and guided her enough to the medium tempo beat that she surprisingly didn’t feel like an idiot.
He lau
ghed with her, eyes meeting hers briefly. A weird humming second of—what? Attraction? Awareness? Mia frowned at their feet. This was a bad idea.
He cleared his throat. “So, what prompted this new leaf?”
Mia shrugged, trying to ignore the reaction of her body to his fingertips on the curve of her hip. “Lots of things.”
“Name one.”
She glared up at him. “No.”
He chuckled. “Prickly suits you, Mia.”
Mia didn’t know how to respond. Dell was about the only one who brought out the prickly. Usually being mean or snarky made her felt guilty. The only other person who goaded her was Cara. Mia peeked over her shoulder to see Cara still cozied up to Kevin.
“Don’t know why he bothered to invite me if he was going to spend the whole night chatting up your sister.”
“You’re telling me. Coming here wasn’t exactly my idea.”
Dell laughed. “And here I had you pegged as a Juniors regular.” When she glared at him, he only laughed harder.
“I imagine you’ve spent plenty of time here.”
“Surely you can imagine me doing more interesting things than that.” His grin was so pretty and wide, if she wasn’t so embarrassed by what she could imagine, she might have smiled back.
Dell passed a glance over Kevin and Cara again. “Eh, probably for the best he’s occupied. Shouldn’t stay out too late, anyway.”
“Got a curfew?” Mia fake smiled up at him, mentally patting herself on the back for the flippant tone.
This time when he laughed it was completely void of humor. “No, just a business I have to go above and beyond proving I can run if I ever want it.”
The information was so strange, Mia forgot all about the awkwardness of having one hand in Dell’s and her other hand very, very lightly on his hip. “Your dad’s not giving you the farm?”
“I’m working on it.” His jaw set, twitched. Obviously a sore subject. How…weird. “Your Dad giving the farm to you?”
Mia nodded. “Anna can take over the dairy part if she wants, but I started buying five percent of the crop land last year from my market profits. Long as everything goes according to plan, I’ll own the farm outright in twenty and Dad can retire.”
“Must be nice.” Dell stared at some point beyond her.
Well, who knew? The Naked Farmer wasn’t quite as frivolous as she’d made him out to be. She’d always figured Dell the type to take over his dad’s farm because he didn’t want to work at anything else, but farming was hard work. Generally not something you fell into. And if he was fighting to convince his dad he could take over, maybe he had a bit more at stake with the farmer’s market stuff than she’d given him credit for.
Not that it mattered. The shirtless routine was stupid, and she certainly wasn’t going to let her guard down just because he had a few daddy issues or made her insides feel like melted Jell-O.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever met your dad. How is that possible in New Benton?” He smiled down at her, but the way his lips curved was tight and uncomfortable, like it was a very forced smile. A forced conversation.
Well, darn it. Dell wasn’t supposed to have hidden depths or be nice enough to force conversation. Mia looked at the faded logo on his chest. “Probably because he’s a hermit.”
Dell laughed and she absolutely got no secret thrill from that. “No, seriously, outside of my family there are only three people he talks to. The priest at St. Mary’s, Rick at Orscheln, and the guy who buys our milk.”
The song ended, but Dell didn’t let go of her hand. Mia’s stomach did a weird flipping drop when he squeezed it instead.
“Wanna keep going until those two stop going at it?”
He gestured to Cara and Kevin making out in the dark corner. Mia grimaced. “Yeah. Sure.”
“You know, you’re pretty good at letting the guy lead in a dance. It’s a little shocking. You’re not half-bad.”
Mia smirked. “Coming from the guy who coined ‘Mia, Queen of the Geeks,’ that’s quite a compliment.”
His head snapped back. “I didn’t make that up.”
“Well, you’re the first person I remember calling me it to my face,” Mia returned. When his face fell into surprise and discomfort, and then guilt, Mia shifted uncomfortably in his grip. “I remember it quite clearly. Nothing like the homecoming king and queen laughing at you in the cafeteria when you’re a lowly sophomore.”
“Hey, listen, I’m sorry.” When he moved to the music this time, the distance between them shrunk. He lowered his mouth closer to her ear, and Mia had to focus on the high-school memory to keep her heart from escaping her chest and galloping out the door.
“Long time ago,” she managed to croak. She moved to get a fraction of the distance between their bodies back. “Might have hurt my feelings at the time, but I got over it.” Eventually.
“Well, I’m still sorry. I wasn’t big on thinking much beyond my own feelings at the time. Shitty enough overhearing that nickname. Imagine it’s worse having someone say it to your face.”
Mia shrugged, more to 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 the hell was she talking about this? Oh yeah, because she never could shut her yap when she was uncomfortable.
When Dell didn’t say anything in return, 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.
“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.”
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?
Her family always called her out for being a softy. And it was true. Any sob story had her sobbing right along with the teller.
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?
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. “No. No, I have my truck. And 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 sensation 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.
* * *
“We’d make a good chunk of change going with a developer. Your mom and I could retire.” Dad shoved a bite of cherry pie into his mouth.
“You can retire by selling to me. I’ve got enough for my section of the farm right now. You sell your pig operation to Dean Coffee like he’s been asking, that’ll keep you for a few years while I make enough to buy the rest.”
Dad shook his head. “Stupid,” he said through a mouth of pie. “Why can’t you get it through your head this place is nothing? Five years down the line you’re going to be surrounded by subdivisions and malls. You can’t hold on to this. Best let it go now.”
“I don’t care what I’m surrounded by.”
“Foolish.” Dad drained the rest of his milk, slammed the glass on the table. “You ever plan on settling down and having a family?”
“Christ.” Dell shoved a hand through his hair. What would it take? He’d been having this fight for years, and he’d gotten nowhere. When did he give up?
He looked down at the table. His grandfather had built the damn thing and just as it belonged in Mom’s dining room, Dell belonged in this place. But maybe belonging wasn’t enough.
“Well?” Dad prompted.
“I don’t know. Not my concern right now. My concern right now is that this place belongs to me.”
“You’re a damn fool, and I’m not letting you screw up by not seeing sense.”
Dell pushed away from the table, his pie half-eaten. “Tell Mom I headed home.” He tossed his napkin on the table and walked out. There was no way he was spending another hour beating his head against the brick wall of his dad’s opinion.
Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 2: Maid to CraveAll I HaveThe Last First DateLight My Fire Page 29