by Lisa Emme
She glanced over Rowdy’s shoulder and saw Sal approaching. “There some trouble here Allie?”
“No Sal, nothing I can’t handle. I’m going to take five, though. I need some air.” Tossing her bar towel down on the counter, she ducked past Rowdy and hurried to the back door, not waiting for Sal’s reply.
***
A minute or so later, Mike found her leaning up against the back of the bar. At his approach, she quickly swiped away the tears on her cheeks.
“You okay?” Mike asked, concern in his voice.
“I’m fine. Fine.” She pushed away from the building and backed a few steps away from him. “And I don’t need you to fight my battles, Michael Finn.”
“He was way out of line.” Mike took a step towards her, undeterred.
Allie laughed bitterly. “Of course he was. He’s been a bully to me all my life. Why should it be any different now?”
“You know, it’s okay to be upset. You don’t always have to be so strong.”
Allie straightened and looked him in the eye. “Actually, I do.” She made to brush past him. “I should get back inside.” Stepping into her path, Mike blocked her retreat.
“You going to tell me why your own cousin seems to have it in for you?” he asked arching an eyebrow.
“Boy, you are new around here. I can’t believe you haven’t heard the infamous town gossip by now.”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“It’s not much really, just a story that seems to have reached epic proportions in the retelling. I won’t bore you with the details.”
She tried to step past him again, but he held her arm. “I’d rather hear it from you than some town gossip.”
Allie rolled her eyes and let out a deep breath. “Fine.” She shrugged off his hand. “There’s not much to tell really, despite the fact that some people seem to think it’s a story to rival Romeo and Juliet. My parents were from different sides of the track, so to speak. My mom was a MacAllister and, in case you haven’t noticed yet, the MacAllisters practically own the whole town. Needless to say, Duncan MacAllister wasn’t overly thrilled with the idea of his daughter hooking up with my dad, the poor farmer boy who thought he could make it big in the city. He tried to keep my mom from seeing my dad, so they ran off together, got married and nine months later…voila.” She gestured to herself. “Then my folks were killed by a drunk driver when I was five and I had to come back here to live. My aunt, my dad’s sister, and her husband took me in. Dear old gramps would have nothing to do with me. Still won’t. He prefers to ignore my existence. Not that it matters. The bastard can go to hell for all I care.” She wrapped her arms around her chest suddenly feeling a chill. “I guess Rowdy must think it’s his job to make my life hell because of it. He takes after our grandfather – they’re like two peas in a pod. Stubborn as hell and nobody crosses them.” She blinked and turned her head away as her eyes began to tear up.
Mike reached for her again, this time managing to pull her close. “I’m sorry,” he said softly as his arms encircled her. He felt Allie stiffen, trying to pull away. “Shh, hold on. Just give yourself a minute.”
Reluctantly, she relaxed, finally leaning into his embrace. They were of similar height, Mike maybe had a couple inches on her, and Allie couldn’t help but notice how their bodies fit together nicely. She rested her head on his shoulder briefly, took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. He smelled like the outdoors and the spicy man smell she had begun to associate with him.
After a minute, Allie pulled away. “I should really get back inside. It’s almost last call.” She looked at Mike and smiled weakly. “Thanks. I…well, just thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Anytime. I mean it.” He smiled wryly. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easy.”
“Huh, well…you’re not so bad to have around.” She brushed past him and headed towards the door but then stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “Still think you made up that San Francisco style though.” She turned quickly and stepped inside, letting the door swing closed with a bang.
“Come on you stubborn piece of….” Allie wrenched at the board with the claw end of her hammer. “Argh!” She whacked angrily at the offending board as she perched precariously near the top of a rickety, old ladder under the tree house. She had spent the last few evenings, after Dougie was snug in his bed, removing all the broken and rotten boards so she could replace them. She’d gotten lucky and scrounged up a couple of wooden pallets from Mr. Lawson at the hardware store. The wood was in decent enough shape and the small boards had been easy to pry apart to reuse on the tree house.
Allie eyed the board as it dangled from one stubborn, bent nail. Then, with a quick glance to the ground below, she reached out with a hand to the large, thick tree branch above to steady herself and climbed a step higher. The ladder wobbled and Allie threw out her free arm for balance. “Whoa!”
After a second or two, she found her balance and slowly turned to look at the board. “Alright then. Now I’ll get you.” With one hand on the tree for support, she eased the head of the hammer around the nail and tugged. Using the claw of the hammer like a lever she pulled down with all her might. “Come on…come on…”
With a squeak, the nail slid a fraction. “Yeah, that’s it baby. Out. You. Come.” She pumped the hammer up and down, slowly extracting the nail. Finally, with one last tug, she popped it free. The board clattered to the ground. “Yay!” She cheered, then “Whoops!” The hammer followed the board as she frantically grabbed at the tree, the ladder rocking. Her foot slipped and the ladder started to tip sideways. Arms wrapped around the tree branch, the bark cutting into her bare skin, she hooked the ladder with her foot, holding it upright. “Whoa, that was close.” She eased herself back on to the top of the ladder in relief.
Just then, the sound of a motorcycle roared up the road. Thinking immediately of Mike, Allie turned to look. The ladder wobbled and her foot missed the step. “Oh shit!” She flung herself at the branch and grabbed on just as the ladder tipped out from beneath her and landed with a crash, leaving her hanging twelve feet off the ground. Arms screaming with the exertion of holding her weight, she kicked her leg back and forth, flinging it up to loop over the branch. The sound of the motorcycle got louder as it roared into the yard.
Dangling from the tree like a monkey, Allie watched as Mike parked the bike near the tree house and pulled off his helmet. Oh man! He cut his hair. Bummer. His long, unruly locks had been so sexy. She frowned and rolled her eyes. What on earth had gotten into her? Here she was dangling dangerously from a tree and she was thinking about Mike’s hair.
“Well, what do we have here?” Mike asked with a grin. He stepped under the tree looking up at her. “Looks like a kitten caught up a tree. Should I call the fire department?”
“Ha, ha. Aren’t you Mr. Hilarious?” Allie scowled down at him.
“That’s Dr. Hilarious, if you don’t mind.” Mike dusted an imaginary speck off his shoulder.
Allie adjusted her grip and muttered, “More like Dr. Dead, if you don’t set the ladder back up for me right this minute.”
“What was that? I didn’t hear you.” Mike looked up at her, eyes laughing. Despite looking a little frazzled, she was still damn sexy. Her lean, strong legs had begun to turn a deep brown. Her short t-shirt gaped, exposing her creamy belly and even it seemed to have a bit more colour. Mike wondered if she had been traipsing around the farm in just a bikini top. The thought made his blood run hot. He swallowed.
Allie called down, exasperated, “Earth to Dr. Mike. Hey, are you going to help me or what?” Just then, her leg slipped from the branch and she dangled from her arms. “Shit!”
Mike snapped to attention and ran directly below her. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
“What?!” She looked down at him in panic.
“Just let go. I’ll
catch you. Trust me.”
“I’m too heavy, I’ll - ”
“Trust me,” Mike interrupted. He looked up at her, his face conveying nothing but confidence. Allie’s eyes met his.
“Fine. Okay. Here I come.” She let go of the branch with a little squeal. A split second later, she felt Mike’s strong arms wrap around her hips and she grabbed onto his shoulders to steady herself as she looked down on him in surprise. “Uh, nice catch.”
Mike smiled up at her and then slowly let her slide down his body until her feet touched the ground. She stood for a moment wrapped in his arms, her eyes locked with his. She blinked, suddenly pushing herself away from him and Mike reluctantly let her go. Her shirt had ridden up, exposing her bare midriff. Allie tugged it down, but not before Mike caught a glimpse of her new lacy, purple bra. “Nice,” he grinned.
Noticing where he was gazing, she crossed her arms. “Thanks for the rescue, but I could have managed fine on my own.”
“Uh-huh.” Mike’s eyes were laughing.
“Well, I could have.” She scowled at him.
“I know,” said Mike. “But isn’t it nice to let someone else help you? You don’t always have to go it alone.”
Surprise was mirrored on Allie’s face, followed by a look of discomfort. She turned away and busied herself by picking up the hammer and the board. She tossed the board on top of a pile of other rotten boards and then walked over to the ladder, setting it upright.
Mike watched her, hands on his narrow hips, a look between laughter and exasperation on his face as she crouched down in the grass to peer at it. “What are you doing?”
Allie ran her fingers through the grass, searching. “I dropped an old bent nail. I don’t want Dougie to step on it.”
Mike crouched down across from her and looked around. “Kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. You got a magnet?”
Allie frowned. “Hmm, I don’t think so. Good idea though.”
“Not just a pretty face you know.” Mike winked.
Allie shook her head and rolled her eyes. No kidding, got a killer ass too, and those eyes! God, she loved the colour of his eyes. Embarrassed at where her thoughts were headed, she cleared her throat. “It’s got to be around here somewhere, I just dropped it.” She looked up to the tree above then moved over a little to the left.
They searched in silence for a few minutes. Allie was on her hands and knees with her back to Mike. It was giving him all kinds of ideas and he was rather enjoying the view of her luscious ass.
“What does this nail look like?” Mike asked a few minutes later.
“What? It’s just a nail.” Allie shrugged her shoulders. “You know, rusty metal, a little bit bent…” She turned to look at him and noticed his big grin. He was holding up a rusty, bent nail between his fingers.
“You found it! Why didn’t you say something?” She got to her feet, brushing the dirt from her knees. “Thanks.” She reached out and grabbed the nail from him, stuffing it in the pocket of her cutoffs .
She stared at him for an awkward moment then blurted out, “You cut your hair.”
Mike ran a hand through his short, light brown hair. “Yeah, Doc kept razzin ’ me about it, so I thought I’d tidy it up.”
“It looks….nice.” Allie said. She blew out a puff of breath. “Listen, thanks for your help and all, but why are you here anyway?”
Mike gestured to his bike. “It was such a nice evening, I thought I’d take a spin. Ended up passing by here so I decided to see if someone wanted to go for a ride.”
“ Dougie’s already in bed.” Allie said quickly.
“Oh. Well, actually, I was talking about you.” Mike’s gaze met hers.
“Me?” Allie’s eyes widened. “Oh…go for a ride? On your motorcycle?”
“Unless you had something else in mind.” Mike looked at her, feigning innocence.
Allie blushed and looked away. “Uh, no. A motorcycle ride would be fun.” And damn sexy too, I bet. She hurried on, “It’s just that I really wanted to try and finish up the repairs on the tree house tonight. Maybe another time?”
Mike smiled reassuringly. “Sure, no problem. There’ll be plenty of other times.” He looked up at the tree house. “Hey, why don’t I give you a hand here instead?”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. Really.”
“I know. I want to.”
“Okay. Sure.” Allie looked over at him appraisingly. “You any good with a handsaw? Because I suck.” She gestured to the old wooden sawhorse where a toothed handsaw was leaning up against a stack of boards.
“No problem. You measure, I’ll cut.”
***
With Mike’s help, replacing all the boards she had removed went quickly. Like a few nights before at the bar, Mike proved to be fun company. Allie was grateful for his help and said so. She stood on the deck and looked down, watching his rippling muscles as he cut the final board. Man, oh man. What a turn on.
With a final stroke, he finished cutting the board and then climbed the ladder, joining her up in the tree house. While Allie nailed the last board in place, Mike stepped inside and took a look for the first time.
“Wow!” Mike stood, his eyes wide with wonder, and looked around at the graffiti covered walls. From floor to ceiling, the whitewashed walls were covered with what seemed to be an entire childhood of messages and drawings. He whistled.
Allie joined Mike inside. “I know. It’s kind of a mess,” she said.
“Are you kidding? It’s great. It’s like insight into the mind of a teenage girl.” He looked around then pointed to an excellent sketch of a horse. “Did you do all this?”
Allie shrugged. “Most I guess. The drawings are all mine. There may be some poems that Lori or Becky, friends of mine, wrote.” She ran her fingers across a picture of a hawk in flight.
“Uh-huh,” Mike said, looking distracted. He turned and pointed to a section of the wall. “And who would have written this?”
Allie looked to where he was pointing and blushed. It said, Today I Kissed B.S. in faded purple letters. Above it, in brighter red lettering it said, Bobby Stockton can go Suck Eggs!!! Covering her face in mock shame, Allie laughed, and then sighed dramatically. “Ah, yes,” she said, “Bobby Stockton, my first kiss. Alas, it only led to heartbreak.” She ran her finger along the purple lettering. “I wrote this after our first kiss.” Then with another laugh, she pointed to the red lettering. “I wrote that two days later when I caught him kissing Mindy Fink.”
“So was he a good kisser, this Bobby Stockton?” Mike’s eyes gleamed with mischief.
“Oh yes. He was a very good kisser.” Allie grinned and leaned back against the wall. “Of course, as I found out, it was because he had a lot of practice.” She closed her eyes, remembering that first kiss, a wistful smile on her face. “I think I even let him slip me some tongue,” she added and then gasped in surprise at the fact that she had just said that out loud. She shook her head and slapped a hand to her forehead, colour rising to her cheeks.
Mike stepped up close and leaned in towards Allie, a hand braced on either side of her head. When she felt his breath, her eyes snapped open and she found herself staring into his incredible green eyes.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Mike said, his voice a bit husky. “Was it like this?” Before she could think to move, he closed the distance between them and brushed his lips across hers. It was a shy, tentative kiss, only lasting a moment.
He pulled his head back and grinned at Allie’s surprised look. “Or, was it more like this?” His kiss this time was firmer, more confident. Allie’s hand strayed forward to rest against his firm chest as she leaned into the kiss. Mike sucked her lower lip then retreated. Allie blinked in surprise.
“Uh, no…” She shook her head slowly. “It wasn’t like either of those.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe you had
better try again?”
“With pleasure,” Mike replied with a smile. He leaned in, grasped her chin with his hand and guided her head to the angle he wanted. His lips captured hers in a long, deep kiss. This time he didn’t hesitate but simply thrust his tongue past her lips. Still kissing, he took a step closer and moved his other hand to her lower back, pulling her in close. Allie moaned and he bit her lip gently then kissed a path along her jaw, before taking her mouth again. The kiss went on for breathless minutes, playful yet urgent.
When Mike’s hand slid from her jaw to cup her breast through her t-shirt, Allie gasped and pulled away, panting. “Um, yeah…Wow. Okay -”
“So, do I get my name on the wall?”
Allie stood for a moment with her mouth open in surprise then snapped it shut quickly with a nod of her head. “Oh, yeah. You totally blew Bobby Stockton out of the water with that one. Trust me.” She smiled, relieved that his joke seemed to ease the tension in the room.
“That’s a relief.” Mike smiled. “I’d hate to be outdone by a fourteen year old.”
Staring at his lips, Allie replied absently, “Twelve. We were twelve.” When she realized what she had just said, she shook her head and blushed.
“My, my…Precocious.” Mike chuckled.
Roused by his comment, Allie made a face and stuck out her tongue. “You’re just jealous.”
Mike’s eyes widened, his expression thoughtful. “I think maybe I am.” A look of surprise at the admission flashed across his face.
Allie shifted uncomfortably, shoving her hands in her pockets. “Listen. I…I don’t want to give you the wrong idea. I mean the kiss was great. Really great…” Who was she kidding? Her panties were damp, just from his kiss. She shook her head. “I mean, you seem like a really great guy and all, it’s just - ”