“Bull,” she said plainly, hands braced on the end of my shopping cart like we were about to do battle. “It was more than that and don’t think I didn’t spot his rust bucket outside your house until the wee hours of the morning. The wee hours,” she emphasized just in case there might have been some doubt as to what she was talking about. “But I’m happy to keep that little bit of info to myself, if you tell me that I’m gonna win this month. Well, am I?”
“Win what? I thought all this matchmaking was just a way for you retired ladies to have some fun and get your kids coupled up and married off.” That’s what Bo and Hope had made it seem like, but now I had my doubts.
She sighed and rolled her eyes, finally unblocking my path as she walked around the cart and put her hands on my shoulders, keen brown eyes taking in every detail I couldn’t hide fast enough. “Of course we want the young people happy and in love, bringing in another generation of Tulip citizens,” she sniffed as if offended but the hot pink and leopard print ruined her effort.
“And?” I motioned her to keep talking with my hand because I knew there was more. “I was raised by two world class manipulators so go on, Miss Eddy and spill.”
“Oh all right. There’s a hundred bucks per couple, plus the losers have to make dinner for the winner for a full week. And whoever has the most matches gets to choose our next girls getaway.”
“Dang,” I whistled, shocked and kind of impressed with the old ladies’ ingenuity. “Admirable but I can’t help you.”
“And why not? You too good for the likes of Nate Callahan? I’ll have you know that I know his mama and there’s not a woman sweeter in all the world.”
There was no way around it. I tried to keep the town gossip about me to a minimum, but it couldn’t be helped. “I just got out of a relationship Eddy. I was engaged to a man who cheated with my so-called best friend and the last thing I need is another man who isn’t looking to settle down.” Though the truth was that Mitchell had no problem settling down. With Charla.
“Nate’s a good boy. I don’t know what you’ve heard but it’s normal for a big strong boy like that to sow some wild oats. He might be a tad cynical, but he’s a good man.”
“Maybe so, but he isn’t the man for me. But hey, you’re single aren’t you? I’ll bet you’re not the kind of woman to be put off by something as arbitrary as age, are you?”
The glare she sent me said she saw right through me and I shrugged. It was worth a shot. Her glare transformed into a dirty little grin. “If I didn’t know him so well, I might give him a test drive. But I do. Besides, he’s not for me. He’s for you.”
“You’re not gonna give up, are you?”
“Not until the fat lady sings, packs her bags and throws a slab of ribs on the grill.” With those parting words, she left and probably went to harass someone else.
I felt sorry for whoever that person was, but also immensely gratefully that it was no longer me. So grateful that I rushed through the rest of my shopping before another of the matchmakers could accost me. Or bribe me. I made it all the way to the parking lot, undisturbed, and smiled at my good luck.
I should have known the smile was premature the moment that wonky wheel veered hard to the right and I almost hit a…rust bucket. Nate. Dammit. “Need some help with those bags?” My gaze climbed up his big body, ignoring the way those well worn dark blue jeans clung to powerful thighs and accentuated the length of his legs. And the way the green and gold t-shirt of the National Parks Service he wore highlighted his green eyes.
Not that I noticed or anything. “I’ve got it, thanks.”
He shrugged but his hand didn’t let go of the shopping cart. “There’s no harm in lettin’ people help you, Mikki.”
Of all the condescending things to say to a woman. “If I needed help, the kid inside who’s job it is to help would be helping me. So it would seem since he isn’t here, that I don’t need help.” Why the heck was he being so darn persistent anyway, when he couldn’t wait to get away from the last two times I saw him? Oh, of course. “Of course!” I shook my head and moved the cart around him, barely holding back the string of profanities on the tip of my tongue.
“Of course, what?” His words came out on a growl that I shouldn’t have found sexy, but dammit I did.
With my trunk wide open, I spun on him and poked a finger against his hard, massive chest. “I don’t need you doing me any favors because you have some misplaced sense of guilt, Nate. I never expected anything from you but the good time you gave me, so your conscience is clear. Totally.”
He blinked, confused but that didn’t’ stop him from wrapping a hand around my wrist. “Guilty? What the hell do I have to feel guilty about?”
Because of course he wouldn’t feel guilty. I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Whatever it is you’re trying to fix by offering to load up my car. It’s not necessary.”
“I’m just trying to be helpful. Neighborly. It’s what we do around here.” He reached for a bag but I snatched it before he could because I could take care of myself. Regardless of what Daddy or Mitchel, or even my own mama thought, I could take care of myself just fine.
“I don’t need your help, Nate.” And I didn’t want it. When and only when I wanted help would I ask for it, until then I was determined to be as independent as possible and Nate was a strong reminder of why.
The last time I trusted a man, it didn’t turn out well for me. It wasn’t a mistake I was keen to repeat.
Nate
“A little damn help here!” After my encounter with Mikki I was in a bad mood and taking it out on everyone. Luckily for me I worked with a bunch of men who didn’t give a damn and who gave as good as they got.
Preston came out of the emergency services building first, using the entrance reserved for Tulip’s big red fire trucks. “Who took a dump in your oatmeal?”
I raised a brow at him and shoved three bags into his arms. “You’ve been spending too much time with Nina.” The old Preston would have never said something so crass and I kind of liked it.
“Well she is my wife so time together is hard to avoid. Plus, she’s awesome. So, who took a big nasty in your cereal Nate?”
“Mikki,” I grunted and turned around because I knew Preston wouldn’t let it go at that. Since he hooked up with Nina the dude wanted to talk about his feelings and her feelings, hell everybody’s feelings, day and night. “Who else?”
“Considering your stance on commitment, it could be anyone. When did you start something up with Mikki?”
“We didn’t start anything. It was one time, well one night. Just one night and now she’s being, I don’t know, a brat.” No, that wasn’t exactly true, but I couldn’t explain it.
“She’s asking for more than you want to give?”
I barked out a bitter laugh and slammed the back of SUV shut, picking up the rest of the bags as we made our way inside. “Hell no. I took off before she woke up and now when I’m just trying to be nice, she’s acting like I’m a leper. I think she’s upset.”
Preston stared at me like I was a stranger or maybe from outer space. “You think?” He shook his head as we made our way between the fire trucks and across the communal living room where the recliners and a big screen tv were, and to the kitchen.
“Why the hell should she be upset? I made sure we both had a good time, a damn good time.”
“What’s going on?” Ry and Jase strolled in from the other side of the building where the ambulance trucks were located, both wearing the wide satisfied smiles of men who woke up wrapped around a warm woman this morning.
With a laugh that was too damn amused for my liking, Preston filled them in and I had to ball my hands into fists for a minute to keep from screaming at the looks all three men shot my way. “Nate thinks she might be mad and he doesn’t know why since they both had a damn good time.”
I pointed at each man, all of them my friends and brothers in arms. “If any of you even thinks about laughing, you’ll be walking fu
nny for a week.”
Jase shakes his head, looking sad and sympathetic. “I thought you were the brother with all the game. How disappointing,” he said in mock disappointment.
“I have plenty of game, thank you very much. Usually, I do, but something about her makes me constantly say and do the wrong thing.” I hated to admit it, but dammit I didn’t like how she seemed to be going out of her way to avoid me. Like she didn’t want anything to do with me.
Three pairs of eyes, none belonging to me, bounced around the room, an eager gleam lighting all of them. “Oh.” That was Ry, giving me his best poor bastard look, which I hated. “So you like her.”
“No.” I shook my head vehemently because I didn’t like Mikki, not like that. “I mean she’s all right, but I don’t like her, like her.” I didn’t like anyone like that, it wasn’t how I was wired.
“Then why the hell do you care so much?” Leave it family to never pull any punches.
But it was a fair question and I didn’t have an acceptable answer. “Because I don’t like that she’s treating me like I’m a bad guy.” I couldn’t stop thinking about the look she sent me last night before she shut the door in my face, it was equal parts disgust and disappointment, the same look my mother sometimes graced me with. It stuck with me long after the chicken dinner and two, okay three beers, were gone.
Preston smiled and clapped me on the back, a sympathetic, commiserative smile on his face. “You poor, poor bastard.”
I shook of his hand because I didn’t want his sympathy. “Whatever you’re thinking, quit it right now.”
Ry barked out a laugh and stepped up beside me, handing me the items that needed to go into the shared fridge. “No offense dude, but you are the bad guy here. Did she ask you for anything at all?”
That night all she’d asked for was more. “No,” I sighed because she hadn’t.
“So why did you leave? Were you worried she might start planning your wedding?” I glared at Ry’s affable smile and he only smiled bigger.
“Nope.”
“See? Bad guy. You got what you wanted, she’s not talking to you. Be okay with that.”
I knew he was right, dammit, but I didn’t like it. “I’m not okay with it.”
“Too bad,” Jase said, his voice had lost all humor and his tone was serious. Gravely serious. “Either make it up to her or leave her alone. Bo likes Mikki and she’ll gut you for screwing with her and there won’t be a damn thing I can do about it.” The tone and his smile said he would probably sit back with a beer and popcorn and enjoy the show. “It’s also okay if you like Mikki too.”
“I don’t,” I growled and I knew my mistake right away. The denial came too quick and Jase was there, ready to pounce.
“You do,” he insisted in that tone he used to boss around people when they were in shock or too upset to answer. “And that’s all right. There’s nothing wrong with liking a girl,” he said, an amused smile slowly spreading across his face, “it’s the natural way of things, big brother. It happens to all of us.”
“You forgot about dear old dad?” Jase was younger than me so he didn’t remember how Mom fell apart when she finally got sick of his cheating ways and kicked him to the curb. “Married six times and cheated on every last one of them, probably getting ready to walk number seven down the aisle.”
“That’s him, not you. Please don’t tell me you’re too stupid to realize this?” He must have mistaken my silence for stupidity, because Jase went on, his tone exasperated as hell. “He is his own man the same way you are and I am. Sure, we’ve got the same DNA but I’m not like that.” His tone was proud and it was hard to miss the stars in his eyes because he was so clearly thinking about Bo. “Just because you got his red hair doesn’t mean shit, Nate. You’ve got Mom’s green eyes and I don’t imagine you’ll put up with a cheating woman for too many damn years. Will you?”
“No,” I conceded. “When did you start making sense?”
He shrugged. “Bo requires it. She has a very low tolerance for nonsense and bull.” We both laughed at the truth of that statement. “You seem to be full up on both right now.”
“I can still take you, kid.”
“You wish,” Jase said casually but he did take a cautious step back. “Maybe you’re bored with a different woman warming your bed or her bed, having nothing serious other than your job. Maybe you don’t’ want to be the sad old dude at the club trying to hit on twenty year olds who see you as their grandpa.”
I reached out and punched his arm, hard, for that statement. “I’m not old, asshole.”
“Not yet, but to the girls and women at the clubs, at Black Thumb, you will be. Soon.” He shrugged at my silence and walked away, satisfied he said what he had to say.
Hell, was I bored with my life? No. I did what I wanted when I wanted to and I didn’t have to answer to one damn person to do it. My life was my own and that’s exactly what I always wanted it to be.
“Ah hell.” Even I didn’t believe that.
Mikki
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this nonsense.” I glared at Bo while I sucked in heaving breaths of the freshest air I’d ever inhaled. The scenery was gorgeous, without a doubt, but the bugs were vicious. “What happened to good old fashioned indoor fun?”
Bo stopped about ten feet ahead of me and turned with a glare that told me exactly what she thought of my indoor fun. “You mean like shopping and spa days?” The disgust dripping from her voice was obvious and comical.
“For starters, yeah. But there are also museums and restaurants, wine tastings, movies and concerts. Those are all wonderful things to do and they have the benefit of taking place indoors. Where the bugs don’t live.” Sweat was starting to gather in nooks and crannies I didn’t know existed and I swear the bugs grew bigger the closer we came to Bo’s house.
“Don’t be a baby, we’re almost done.” She was growing impatient with my whining but dang, this kind of walking just for fun really wasn’t my thing.
“I’m not being a baby, Bo. Some of us didn’t grow up traipsing through the outdoors like this and I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re not exactly in the same shape.” Where she was lean and toned, muscles visible with every move she made, I was curvy, what some might call lush or voluptuous. Or as my mama liked to say, a little bit plump.
“You’re doing fine, physically, Mikki. Just open your mind and enjoy the beauty of nature.”
I sighed because it was beautiful. Breathtaking actually with all the thick lush greenery and the vibrant pops of color found in the occasional cluster of flowers. “Fine. But then we eat, right? Because I was promised food.” It was the only way I’d agreed to risk life and limb climbing a giant hill with no paved streets or paths.
Bo nodded and reached back for my hand as we came to a spot with a three foot drop off. “Yes, food. Jase and Nate are getting the food going right now, I imagine.” Her words came out easy and casual, as well they should because I hadn’t told her or anyone else about what happened with Nate.
“What is Nate doing here?” I focused on landing on my feet while steadfastly ignoring the strange look Bo sent my way.
She blinked a few times before focusing in on my face. “He’s Jase’s brother, kind of comes along with the territory. Why do you have a problem with Nate?”
“I don’t,” I insisted quickly, probably too quickly if her expression was any indication so I settled on a half-truth. “He’s just kind of a jerk, that’s all. But I’m just here for the food, so no big deal.”
“And the company,” she added sarcastically.
“And the company, of course,” I added with a smile she couldn’t see because she was moving forward, always moving forward. My breaths started to come out choppy as the last part of the path became a death trap and my lack of physical fitness became even more obvious. “Are you trying to kill me the same way you tried to kill Jase?” Everyone in town knew about that infamous hike.
She shrugged. “Th
at was payback, this is me being nice. You don’t know the difference?” Playfulness sounded in her voice and I shook my head.
I had nothing to say to that and I needed every breath I could suck in to make it back to what Bo called her cabin but was really more like a mansion with high ceilings and lots of windows, letting in a rainbow of colors enhanced by the burning sun. Her place was beautiful and rustic and homey. And I couldn’t stay. “What time is dinner?”
She gave me another funny look. “Whenever the boys finish cooking, why?”
“Because I was thinking I’d go home to shower and change, and then I’ll come back.” It was a lie and we both knew it.
She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. “There are like three showers in this house. Use one and get your butt back down here in thirty minutes. Or less.” Her tone said it would be best if I made it back before the thirty minutes were over.
I could have argued or simply left, but Bo had become my closest friend in Tulip and that would be rude. Plus she could totally take me and we both knew I couldn’t outrun her. “Fine.”
She flashed an evil smile. “You’re both adults so one little meal should be no problem. Right?”
Yeah, it was easy for her to say because she didn’t know the whole truth, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. Or him. So I gave another shrug and made my way upstairs to the guest room all the way in the back, as far away from the rest of them as I could get until I was calm and cool. Un-botherable. The best thing about this whole situation was the big blue and silver tiled bathroom with the waterfall shower.
I took as much time as I could, letting the hot spray sooth muscles that had already started to ache, before wrapping an oversized towel around my body and going back into the bedroom, where Nate stood inside the door wearing a knowing smirk that I wanted to both kiss and smack off his rugged, handsome face. “Nate. What are you doing in here?” And why the heck was I standing here with no clothes, no hair products and not a stitch of makeup on my face?
Mastering Her Curves: A Curvy Girl Romance Page 3