And with Brett Connors.
Her stomach fluttered, and she told herself it was butterflies, not nerves. Same with the heart palpitations and the perspiration dampening the back of her neck.
He pulled her closer still, groaning. His biceps under her palms were rock hard, and she suddenly remembered everything muscles like that could do.
She clutched at him. But before she could push him away he lowered her back onto the dock. The weight of him pressed into her. Adrenaline flooded through her until she feared her heart would explode.
She pushed at his chest. “Wait. Wait.” Her breaths came in gasps.
He was a dark shadow over her. “What’s the matter?”
“I-I—” Her throat swelled up, choking out her words.
“Shhh. It’s okay. We’re just kissing.” The white of his teeth gleamed in the moonlight.
His quiet voice calmed her. This wasn’t Shark, forcing himself on her. Nothing bad was going to happen. It was just Brett. He was a nice guy.
“I’ve been sweet on you awhile, Josephine Dupree. You know that?”
“Is that right?” She tried to tame her unsteady voice. Wondered briefly about Shelby and how she fit into all this.
“I had fun tonight,” he said.
“Me too.” He was a good dancer, and they’d fit well together. He’d flirted and joked with her, and he’d had eyes for no one else. Not even Shelby.
He set his lips on hers again, the motion slow and soft, undemanding.
Josephine returned the kiss. The water rippled over rocks, and crickets chirped. She drank in the familiar night sounds, letting them soothe her as she eased back into his kiss. Tried to like it as much as she should.
When she felt his warm hand on her bare stomach, she startled.
“Shh,” he said. “It’s just your stomach. Your skin’s so soft.”
He made lazy circles on her stomach, and she tried to lose herself in his kiss again. She clasped the front of his T-shirt and breathed in his masculine smell.
It’s just a kiss. It’s just a kiss.
But then his hand closed over her breast.
“Stop.” She pushed at him, turning her face away, her heart beating up into her throat. She gulped in a lungful of oxygen, suddenly feeling just plain stupid. Especially when she turned back and saw the stunned look on his face.
“Your friends—” she croaked, then cleared her throat. “They—they’ll wonder where we are.”
He’d pushed up on his arms, but he still had her pinned to the wooden planks. It was all she could do to keep from pushing him off her. But she didn’t want to ruin this. She really did like him. He’d been so fun tonight, and nothing but a gentleman.
You’re so stupid, Josephine! You’re ruining everything!
“They’re all drunk. They’re not keeping tabs on us.” There was a new tension to his voice.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice quavered, and she felt every bit the dimwit Eddie said she was. “Can we just, you know, take it slow?”
“If that’s what you wanted, maybe you shouldn’t have been dancing with me like that.” He rolled off her abruptly.
The coolness of the air left her feeling bereft somehow. A blanket of shame crawled over her. She hadn’t been dancing any different from the other girls. Had she?
But maybe the other girls weren’t pushing their dates off them right now. “I didn’t mean—I’m just not—”
He sat up, then pushed to his feet. “Come on then. I’ll take you home.”
The new strain in his voice propelled her to her feet. He didn’t hold her hand as she trailed after him through the dark woods. She had to walk fast to keep up, and she had a sinking feeling this date was officially over.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” Ashlyn said into her ear Monday morning as she caught up to Josephine in the hall.
She’d been dreading school since Saturday night. Brett hadn’t called her since prom. Not that she’d expected him to after the way their date had ended. He hadn’t even walked her to her door, much less given her a good-night kiss.
“Told you what?” Josephine asked. A junior jock walked by, leering at her. She clutched her algebra book to her chest, looking away.
“You and Brett, silly girl. Why on earth didn’t you tell me you did it?”
Josephine stopped in her tracks. “What are you talking about?”
A girl smacked into her from behind. “Watch where you’re going.”
Josephine recognized her as a cheerleader. “Sorry,” she mumbled, but got only a glare in return.
Ashlyn grabbed Josephine’s arm and pulled her over to an empty bank of lockers. “It’s all over school. Hello, your best friend is the last to know! What in the world?”
“I—no, I didn’t—”
“How was it? Tell me everything! You owe me after holding out like that.”
“Who’d you hear that from?”
“Who didn’t I hear it from? What’s wrong? Why are you so pale all of a sudden?”
Josephine’s gaze darted around the hall. Things were making sense now. Boys had been noticing her today. She’d thought it was because she’d gone to prom with such a popular guy, but now she realized why the looks she’d enjoyed last week were making her uncomfortable today.
She pulled her eyes away from the crowd and fastened them on Ashlyn. “I didn’t have sex with Brett,” she whispered. “We only kissed.”
Ashlyn gave her a suspicious look. “That’s not what everyone’s saying.”
“Well, that’s all that happened!”
“All right, all right. Simmer down. I believe you.”
She couldn’t believe this. Had Brett lied? He must’ve. And now everyone thought . . .
Shelby Green, of all people, passed at just that second. Her eyes hardened into tiny brown pebbles, her mouth tilting in a sneer as she gave Josephine a look of death. She held Josephine’s gaze as she turned into a classroom.
She had to do something. Maybe Brett didn’t know what folks were saying. Maybe he could fix this.
She left her next class early and waited for him outside biology so she could catch him alone. When he saw her, his lips thinned into a straight line. He walked right on by.
“Brett. Wait.” Josephine jogged to catch up. “Do you know what everyone’s saying?”
“I’ve heard.”
“You have to do something!”
He angled a look at her. “It’s not like I can keep people from talking.”
She grabbed his arm, stopping him. “You can tell them the truth.”
His eyes rolled toward the ceiling before returning to hers. “If you want to play with the big boys, Josephine, you gotta roll with the punches.”
She gave him a hard look. “You know we didn’t do anything, Brett Connors.”
He shook her hand off his arm. “You should be thanking me, little girl. You’ll be more popular than ever now. And nobody knows what a little tease you were.”
Her mouth fell open as he walked away. A stain of shame filled her face. Her eyes stung, and she ducked her head and slipped into the nearest bathroom. She locked herself in an empty stall and stayed there through lunch.
If Josephine thought her day couldn’t get any worse, she was wrong. When she finally escaped the bathroom and returned to her locker, something red caught her eye. Turned out Jo had an unfortunate rhyme, and someone had written the title all over her locker for the whole world to see.
Chapter 15
Sweetbriar Ranch
Present day
Noah used the last of his laptop power to check in with Mary Beth. She was sick, but her father was there helping her out.
Next he checked the weather. The snow was supposed to stop sometime in the morning. He figured it would take another day or two to get the mountain roads clear. Maybe more. But it looked as if the wind would let up sometime tomorrow afternoon, and he’d be able to take Josephine back to town on the snowmobile. She should be able to mak
e some of her event at least.
He sank deeper into the recliner, releasing a heavy sigh.
“Everything all right?” Josephine looked up from the Tony Dungy book. She was huddled under the blankets Noah had brought from the bedroom.
“Just getting a little stir-crazy, I guess.” The laptop screen went black. Well, that was officially gone. He had just a bit of power left on his phone.
The fire was dying down, so he added a few more logs.
“What’s the weather saying?” Only the upper half of her face peeked out from the blanket. Her nose and cheeks were rosy. They’d eaten an early supper and settled in for a long evening.
“Snow’s supposed to continue through morning, and the wind should die down in the afternoon. I’ll be able to take you home then.” He set down the poker. “I need to check on the horses.”
At her feet, Shadow lifted his head, perking his ears at the magic words.
“I can lend a hand . . .”
“No, you stay warm. I won’t be long.”
The wind cut right through him as he strode from his truck to the barn. Inside, the horses were quiet, except for Kismet. He was showing signs of agitation again.
“Sorry, buddy. Wish I could put you out to pasture.” Noah spent some time talking to the horse, trying to coax him with a flax treat.
Once Kismet had settled, Noah cleaned out the stalls and brushed down a few of the horses. By the time he left the barn his nose was cold, his fingers stiff. He fought the wind and drifts on his way to the truck and headed back to the house.
He called his brother in the cab. “Hey, Seth.”
“Hey. How’s it going up there on Mount Splitsville?”
“Funny. Our electricity went out last night. I just wanted you to know ’cause my cell battery’s going, and I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Our, huh? Sounds like she’s already clawing her way back under your skin. Like a tick. It’s not your physical well-being I’m worried about, bro.”
“It’s not like that. She’s in her corner, I’m in mine.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts. This might be a good time to finish up that attic.”
“Yeah.” In reality, they’d given up sanding. Cleaning up was too hard with no running water. He pulled up in front of his house and shut off his engine.
“Just keep your walls up, man. And put some barbed wire at the top for good measure. That girl can cast a spell with the best of them.”
Noah opened his mouth to defend her, then decided it would be a waste of breath. “Listen, can you call Mom and Dad and let them know what’s going on? I don’t want them worrying if they can’t reach me.”
“Sure thing. And don’t forget what I said.”
Noah turned off his phone, staring at the cottage. It looked like a cozy little refuge from the storm, with its wisp of smoke curling from the chimney.
His brother was right about Josephine. But they’d called a truce. It might’ve reduced the tension, but it also required him to lower his trusty wall. He wondered how long his heart would survive without it.
Already he struggled to keep his eyes from seeking her out, from just taking in her beauty. His gut clenched when her laughter rang out, her siren’s song. He’d always loved the way her eyes arched in half-moons when she smiled. When she’d done it earlier it had been like a sucker punch.
How were they going to pass the time? Lots and lots of time. He looked up at the heavens. Of all the people in the world to get stuck here, God. My kryptonite. Give me strength.
On the way up the walk he reminded himself of all the things he didn’t like about Josephine. The cynicism that twisted her lips sometimes. The way she tossed her hair and flirted with men. Her manipulative side. The way she wore her sex appeal like a second skin.
Okay, that one had its benefits too.
On the porch he stomped off the snow, thinking of the night ahead. The laptop was dead, the TV useless, and renovations were out of the question. He’d have to find something else to occupy his time. Something without Josephine. He’d pull another book from his shelf. Who cared if he’d already read them all?
He entered the house on a swirl of wind and snow to find Josephine sitting on the rug. She’d pulled the coffee table in front of the fire and set up a Monopoly game. She was snatching at the colorful dollars that had gone flying when he’d opened the door.
When they were together they’d spent many quiet nights playing games. She was a whiz at Monopoly, and he always bested her at Uno.
“I found it in the closet.” She looked up at him from a bundle of blankets, her eyes wide.
The childlike hope on her face made a fist tighten in his gut. Because, for all her flaws, she still had that vulnerable part of her that sucked him in like a vortex.
Idiot.
He shut the door and shrugged from his coat.
“At least it’ll pass the time . . . ,” she pleaded.
He pulled off his boots, knowing he was going to give in. He’d lost the battle the second he’d looked at her.
That girl can cast a spell with the best of them.
“Noah?” Her smile had fallen from her face. “It’s just . . . you know, we’ve got a long night ahead and all.”
He nudged his boots against the wall and attempted a smile. “It just had to be Monopoly, didn’t it?”
“I believe that’ll be six hundred dollars.” Josephine held her hand over the board, palm up, fingers waggling. She’d forgotten how much fun this was. Noah had landed on Boardwalk, and she had two houses on the property.
He gave her a look. “You know I don’t have that. I’ll give you two hundred and St. Charles Place.”
Josephine tilted a saucy smile. “I don’t believe bartering is in the rules, Mr. Mitchell. Besides, St. Charles is only worth a hundred and forty.”
He leveled a look at her. “It’s only eight o’clock. You really want the game to be over?”
“Good point.” She scanned his properties. “St. Charles and States Avenue, plus the two hundred.”
He gave her a mock frown but handed over the money and properties.
“You’re only prolonging the inevitable, you know.” A roll of the die landed her on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Noah groaned as she fished through her stacks of money with a flourish and paid the bank for the property.
While she handled business, he turned on his phone to check for calls.
She batted her lashes at him. “Trying to escape reality?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, I am.”
A little giggle rose in her throat, surprising her. She’d forgotten how much fun she had with Noah. It was even more fun when she was winning. And though he was sulking, it was in a playful manner. He was having a good time too, though he’d never admit it.
She settled her Pennsylvania Avenue deed neatly in her long line of deeds, taking care to straighten the others.
He shoved the phone at her. “There’s a voicemail for you.”
She put it to her ear. The message was already underway—Callie, her tone frantic.
“. . . at least two inches of water. I guess the pipes froze or something, and I turned off the water, but—”
Callie went silent.
The phone beeped twice as Josephine looked at the screen. It was black. “What happened?”
“The battery must be dead,” Noah said.
“No . . .” Josephine tried to turn it back on, to no avail.
“What’s going on?” he said.
“It was Callie. She said something about a pipe freezing. Something about two inches of water.”
The look on Noah’s face was not encouraging.
“I have to talk to her. Where’s your laptop? I can message her on Facebook.”
He winced. “Ah . . . it’s dead too.”
Josephine sank back down. The girls from the Hope House were supposed to start arriving at nine o’clock in the morning. If the shop was flooded, the event would have to
be canceled.
“Maybe it’s not as bad as it sounded.”
“She was beside herself. Did you notice what time the message came in?”
“No. I wish I could call Seth. He has a plumber on staff. But surely Callie would’ve called someone already.”
“I don’t know what she would’ve done. She always runs things by me first. If a pipe did burst, how long would it take to get it fixed? To get it cleaned up?”
He was shaking his head. “It depends how bad it is, what kind of plumbing you have.”
Josephine pressed her finger into her temple. “I can’t believe this. The girls will be so disappointed if tomorrow falls through.”
“Hey, Callie’s resourceful, right? I’m sure she’ll do her best to get it under control.”
“You’re right.” Josephine’s mind spun with all the things she’d be doing if she were at the shop. But she wasn’t. She was stuck here without so much as a phone. Completely cut off from the rest of the world. “But I feel so helpless.”
Noah gave her a sympathetic smile. “Well . . . I can’t fix the pipes or clean up the water, but I’ll say a little prayer it all goes off without a hitch. Have a little hope.”
“Thanks, Noah.”
He was right. There wasn’t a solitary thing she could do from here. Maybe God would answer Noah’s prayer. Maybe she’d even give it a try herself. Not that it had ever done her any good before.
She shivered and pulled the blanket more tightly around her. The fireplace wasn’t big enough to put out much heat, and there was no blower. It was going to be a cold night. A long, cold night, worrying over her shop and tomorrow’s event.
Her gaze drifted over the Monopoly board, and she pushed back the worry, searching for the happiness she’d felt only moments before.
Fretting will get you nowhere, Josephine.
She pulled her lips into a smile and eyed Noah. “So . . . have I sufficiently humbled you with my Monopoly skills?”
He tucked in the corner of his lips. “If I say yes, does that mean we can officially quit?”
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