Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 2: Maid to CraveAll I HaveThe Last First DateLight My Fire

by Rebecca M. Avery

  “So, um, is that all?”

  Dell cleared his throat. “Uh-huh.” She studied him. Still wearing his clothes, her brown hair wet and hanging limp at her shoulders. His fingers itched to touch that damp hair, rifle though it. Itched to find skin under the layers of cotton.

  He didn’t get it. He really didn’t. He’d known her most of his life, though not well. Still, she’d always been there, so it made no sense he suddenly found her irresistible.

  “Dell?”

  Totally insane, but screw it. He’d never been any good at listening to the voice of reason if reason didn’t get him what he wanted.

  He stepped toe-to-toe with her and in one swift movement cupped her face and pressed his mouth to hers.

  She was stiff at first, holding her arms still between them, enough that his brain was starting to tell him this impulsive move was the biggest in the long line of mistakes he’d made today. Then she softened against him, the distance between their bodies gone. Her posture relaxed and she kissed him back.

  He slid his tongue over her bottom lip, just to get a taste of her. He kept his hands on her face because he didn’t trust himself otherwise. Her palms rested on his chest, the only thing separating them.

  There was something tentative and sweet about the way she kissed him, and he wanted to sink into it until there was nothing sweet about it. But this was Mia. Mia who hadn’t had sex before.

  Dell pulled away, though he kept his hands on her face. He brushed his thumb down her cheek. Had he ever noticed how soft a woman’s cheek felt or how pretty she looked right after being kissed? Flushed and breathless and excited. If so, he couldn’t remember it. Usually he was too busy galloping forward.

  There would be no galloping forward with Mia. He dropped his hands, took a step away and felt as though he’d been hit by a stun gun.

  She only stared, her mouth parted slightly, eyes blinking at him like he was some foreign object she couldn’t identify. Considering he couldn’t figure himself out, that seemed about right.

  “Tomorrow. Six.” He turned around and walked back to the truck, shaken by the sudden realization he was in way over his head. Kissing her was inviting all kinds of complication into his life and he didn’t need that. Couldn’t afford it. Not if he wanted to find a way to fix whatever damage today had wrought.

  He was so far from the right guy to be in such a sensitive situation. She was sweet and smart and funny and he didn’t know what to do with any of those things. But he’d kissed her and, damn it, he wouldn’t forget the way she felt, not for a very long time.

  Chapter Nine

  Mia stood stock-still long after the taillights of Dell’s truck disappeared around the corner.

  What on earth had just happened?

  He’d kissed her. Like, really kissed her. And it was kind of awesome. No first-kiss jittery awkwardness or insane confessions. It was only fair. The universe owed her that after what had happened at his place.

  But…how had it happened? Why had it happened? And where was she supposed to go from here? He’d just left. And was picking her up tomorrow morning and… What the hell?

  Beyond all that, she had no idea what the damage to her crops was or what she was going to be able to do about it. She had her stuff put away for tomorrow, but what about the crops she sold to the restaurant in Millertown? What about the next few market weeks? What was left and what could she do?

  Good God this was a mess.

  Cara’s car headlights swung into the parking space in front of the apartment and Mia realized she hadn’t moved since Dell released her.

  “Oh, my God. How many times has Mom called you?” Cara slammed her door and walked up the sidewalk. “I swear, it’s like she didn’t even believe me there was no hail in Millertown. Where’s your truck? At Mom and Dad’s?”

  Mia swallowed. “Well, no.”

  Cara walked inside, tossing her keys and purse on the ancient couch in their small living room. “Ooookay. So, where is it? Did you have hail damage? Mom said the hail was as big as footballs.”

  “Softballs, maybe.”

  Cara pulled a can of soda out of the fridge, studied her for a beat. “Okay, give it up. Why are you being so weird?”

  “I’m not—”

  “Gonna close the door?”

  Mia looked at her hand. Yup, it was still holding the door open. Wow. Close door. Take off shoes.

  Mia forced herself to act, all while Cara studied her intently.

  “What are you wearing? Those are not your clothes. Where’s your truck?”

  “Well, my truck is at Dell’s.” She hoped if she mumbled the information nonchalantly enough, Cara would let the subject drop. And she wouldn’t pick up on the fact Mia was wearing Dell’s clothes and take that the way wrong way.

  “What? What is your truck doing at Dell’s? Are you wearing Dell’s clothes? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Spill it!”

  “My windshield is bashed in.”

  “Mia.” Cara plopped onto the couch, and Mia sank to the couch next to her.

  “All right. I went over there to yell at him because he put a produce stand up next to the farm.”

  “Evil bastard.”

  Mia was about to defend him—evil and bastard were harsh—but defending him would give away more than Dell’s clothes did. “Anyway, it started hailing and raining. My windshield got bashed, my shirt was wet and a little see-through, and he gave me some dry clothes and drove me home.”

  That was her story and she was sticking to it. Cara didn’t need to know the rest. No sirree. She would not crack under Cara’s speculative stare.

  “And he tried to kiss me and I blurted out I was a virgin and then we got here and he really did kiss me.”

  “What!” The screech had to have broken the sound barrier. Grandma Phelps in Arizona had probably heard Cara’s outburst. “You told him you’re a virgin and he…” Cara shook her head, held up a hand. “Back up. Walk me through it. No detail left unturned.”

  Reliving her idiocy wasn’t high on her to-do list. She had to start making some contingency plans for what farm damage awaited her in the morning light.

  But…maybe Cara would know what to do about Dell, because after that kiss, Mia had no idea how she was supposed to act when he came to pick her up tomorrow morning.

  Oh. God.

  She went through the whole scenario. Her face overheated at the whole virgin blurting retelling, and Cara’s occasional screeched “what” or “oh, my God” didn’t help, but Mia got the story out. With her face buried in her pulled-up knees, Mia groaned. “So?”

  Cara was quiet for a few seconds. Mia peeked between her knees, trying to read her sister’s expression. No such luck. Cara had complete poker face on.

  Mia was so jealous she could cry. Why didn’t she have the ability to keep her mouth shut and look totally unaffected?

  “Oh, my God,” Cara said in a hushed tone. “What if he has some kind of creepy virgin fetish?”

  “Cara! Ew!”

  “Well…”

  “He said he wanted to kiss me before he knew that! And if you’d seen his face after I let that little bomb drop, you’d know you were wrong.”

  Cara’s concern turned into a grin. “I totally thought there was something between you guys at the bar, but I talked myself out of it. I figured you’d never go for the bad boy.”

  “He’s not a bad boy.” Nothing she’d seen of Dell in the past few weeks was bad, per se. Sometimes a little underhanded, but seeing why he was acting that way changed her perception of it.

  “Kevin has some stories to tell. Apparently Dell and his buddies got drunk one night and wrecked his Dad’s brand-new bailer. Kevin’s brother was there and saw it all.”

  “And how many years ago was that?”

  “Man, you’ve got it bad.”

  “I don’t have anything, but I know what it’s like for things you used to do to follow you long after they’ve stopped being relevant.” Mia toyed with the sleeve of her—no, Dell
’s—sweatshirt. A warm, jumpy sensation pinged through her stomach, bringing her back to the important subject at hand. “What do I do tomorrow when he picks me up? If I don’t have a plan I’ll start talking about my period or something even more embarrassing.”

  Cara snorted out a laugh then reached over and patted Mia’s knee. “No idea, but think of it this way. He kissed you after you said, like, the most embarrassing thing ever.”

  “That doesn’t help me. He walked away, too. And…you’re the expert on guys. You’re supposed to know what I’m supposed to do. Help me.”

  “Okay. Well, do you like him? I mean more than in the middle-school sense. Is he a nice guy? Is he respectful? Do you want to jump his bones?”

  Mia cradled her head in her hands. “I don’t even know what bones I’m supposed to want to jump.”

  “Only one, kiddo, and even you aren’t that naive. But, you know, are you interested?”

  “I don’t know. He’s a direct competitor and probably out of my social league and the guy cannot keep a shirt on.”

  “That’s not answering the question. Besides, when a guy looks like Dell the shirt thing is a plus, not a minus.”

  “I…” Mia looked down at her clutched hands. Even contemplating sex with Dell seemed like a big leap. He’d kissed her once. And there were enough complications with the market and their opposite personalities that she didn’t imagine she’d be magically falling into bed with him.

  But if the situation presented itself…

  The problem was, she did like him. Liked his dedication to his farm and his sense of humor. There was an inner decency about him. Getting her dry clothes, driving her home, not being a total ass in the face of her embarrassing confession.

  But…but…but…

  Ugh.

  “Just be yourself. That’s what you were doing when he kissed you, right?”

  “Well, yes, but I could do without the verbal diarrhea. Whether that’s being myself or not.” But Cara had a point. It wasn’t as if she’d been some better, more seductive version of herself at Dell’s house. She hadn’t been trying to be anything, and he’d kissed her anyway. Kissed her really, really well. Not that she had a frame of reference, but still. That was one damn good kiss. One she wouldn’t forget any time soon.

  Of course, she also couldn’t forget he’d left without a word right after. Well, except that he’d pick her up at six. Mia groaned and curled into the couch cushion.

  Cara patted her shoulder. “Welcome to the real word, big sister. It kinda sucks. But, hey, if you’re lucky you’ll finally get some sex out of the deal.” Cara hopped off the couch. “I’ll get the ice cream.”

  She didn’t need ice cream. She needed a time machine. Not necessarily to go back and change it, but to fast-forward to a point where she knew what the hell to do about it.

  Chapter Ten

  Mia paced her living room, hoping if she played out every single scenario she wouldn’t be prompted to say something stupid. It had kind of worked when she’d first started working at the market. Practicing what to say had allayed her nerves to a manageable point and people who hadn’t grown up with her never looked at her twice.

  That first year at the market, growing into her confidence, her ability to be around people without the label “geek” weighing her words had been amazing. Liberating. And every year had gotten better. Maybe she’d never entered social-butterfly territory, but nobody looked at her funny when she answered a question or offered change. She wasn’t making lifelong friends, but she wasn’t a laughingstock, either. Mia nodded to herself. Yesterday was a blip.

  She glanced at the microwave clock. 5:59. Okay, it was very possible she was going to be sick. She pressed a hand to her stomach, took a deep breath. Not going to be sick. Not going to be nervous. She was calm, cool, collected.

  Sure.

  A knock sounded on the door and Mia jumped. Yeah, real calm, cool and collected. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. She opened the door. The sky behind Dell was black and he had his beat-up baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.

  “Morning,” he offered in a gruff voice. “Ready?”

  “Yeah.” Mia grabbed her coat and slipped it on before locking the door behind her. She followed Dell to his truck and silently repeated as many self-affirming, keep-your-mouth-shut mantras as she could.

  “You see your damage this morning?” Mia patted herself on the back. A normal question. She could do this. She could totally be normal.

  “Not much. Still too dark. Cold frame intact. Major miracle right there. Pretty sure the corn is shot. Tomatoes. Greens probably hit or miss. Squash might come through. But I just planted a whole bunch of stuff. Can’t imagine it survived.”

  She’d find the same once she inspected her fields, but she didn’t have a cold frame. She could also afford to break even this year. She wouldn’t like it, but she could handle it knowing the weather was to blame.

  Mia glanced at Dell from her peripheral vision as he pulled out of the parking space. She couldn’t see his eyes, but his mouth was grim. He looked tired.

  “You get any sleep last night?” Was that was too personal a question? She didn’t know, but at least it might keep conversation in neutral territory.

  “Not much.” His mouth curved into a small smile. “Few things on my mind.”

  She really couldn’t imagine being in his position. Her dad supported every decision she made, encouraged her to take what she wanted from the farm, never made her feel bad about not wanting to deal with the dairy portion.

  “In case you didn’t catch that, you were one of the things on my mind.”

  The sound that came out of her mouth really couldn’t be counted as a word. Something like a squeak and a gasp hidden under the guise of saying “oh.”

  “Can’t say as I know what to do about you, Mia.”

  She clamped her teeth into her bottom lip. It was the only way to keep another inarticulate sound from escaping her. And she wasn’t embarrassing herself this morning. She absolutely wasn’t.

  He chuckled softly. “You’re going to have to speak at some point. Even if you blurt out something goofy.”

  She shook her head. He was very wrong. She didn’t have to speak. She didn’t have to utter another word ever again.

  “Suit yourself. Just means I get to do all the talking. And if you’re not talking, that means you can’t disagree with me. That suits me just fine.”

  What happened to confident and collected? What happened to ‘she could do this’? She unclenched her teeth and focused on saying each word precisely. “What would I disagree with you about?”

  “Well, I was thinking we could do this share-a-ride thing more often. I did some math last night when I was trying not to think about what I’d like to do to you, and if we split gas costs, I could save a decent chunk of change.”

  Her stomach flipped like it did whenever Cara badgered her into riding a roller coaster. Mia had never cared for that feeling, but Dell’s cocky grin gave it some appeal. That, and the spark of heat in a sorely neglected part of her anatomy.

  “It’d save you money, too, so I figure we’re not really undermining our whole competitor’s stance.”

  Mia nodded. “Right. No. That sounds good.”

  He gave her a brief glance and winked before returning his eyes to the road.

  “Cara once told me only douchebags wink.”

  Dell laughed, which made her smile. There was something nice about making him laugh.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Are you under the impression I’m a douchebag?”

  “No.” Since he was driving, she didn’t feel self-conscious about studying his profile. His face was all angles and planes. A masculine face. Right under the brim of his cap, lines fanned out at the corner of his eyes, either from smiling too much or squinting at the sun too much. Even in May his skin was tan and golden and she itched to touch it.

  It made her smile to think she might be able to. “So, what are you going to do about me?
”

  He met her gaze as he stopped at the stoplight and she noticed the black under his eyes and the couple days’ growth of beard. Some of her bravado faded into concern. Her hand reached out to touch his cheek, but she caught herself.

  Which was stupid, because her hand was now just there, in the air between them. Awkward.

  Just as she got enough brainpower to snatch it back, Dell grabbed it. Then, in a move that made her heart beat so hard it felt like her entire body was pulsing, he pressed the palm of her hand to his cheek. Then he scraped the edge of his whiskered cheek across her palm.

  The fact she could imagine him rubbing those whiskers on other parts of her body was enough to make her squirm and turn really, really red.

  A honk interrupted the moment. She cleared her throat. “Um, green light.”

  He shook his head, released her hand. “Right.” He returned his focus to the road as the guy behind them laid on the horn.

  Dell muttered something about jackasses and then turned the truck onto the gravel drive leading to the farm. “Where do you want me to go?”

  Mia pointed to the vegetable barn, trying not to grin at the thought she’d affected him as much as he affected her.

  He pushed the truck into park and, without another word, they both got out and he helped her carry her pallets of vegetables to his truck as the sun began to rise in the east, covering the farm with a pretty golden glow. Dell had kept one half of his truck bed empty and her goods fit with only a bit of room to spare. He had a good idea with this ride sharing. Especially in light of the money she’d lose rebuying seeds.

  “Well, that’s it.” Mia pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. “Timed it pretty well, really.”

  When she looked up, she realized he was standing in front of her. The rising sun haloed his hat and he just smiled.

  “What?” she demanded. “Dirt?” She wiped at her face.

  He closed the distance between them so fast she didn’t even notice until she looked up and her chest bumped into his stomach.