“Great. I’ll start the ball rolling right away. Let everyone in the family know they can stop fixing me up. I’ll always refer to you as Mallory and insist everyone else do, too. Anything else you want out of this deal?”
She chewed on her lower lip for a minute, and pointed to the bag. “More of these cookies.”
On Tuesday night, Liam walked into Sweet Southern Buns and ordered more Death by Chocolate chip cookies and two coffees to go. He paid, turned to go, and nearly ran into Diana Turlock, his cousin Scott’s wife.
“Hey, you! I thought I saw you the other day walking down Main Street but I lost track of you.”
Would have been the day he ducked into Tatas. “Nope, couldn’t be me. I’m hard to miss.”
“It’s your lucky day! Have I got a phone number for you.” Diana fished in her bag. “Hold on. It’s right in here.”
“I’m actually not—”
“Lisa Biondolillo. Just wait a minute. Her family is from Napa and owns a vineyard. Aha! Here it is.” She handed him the piece of paper she’d fished out. “Very nice girl.”
“She sounds great, but I’ve already got a date.”
“Already? What about Lisa?”
“Like I said, I’m already taking someone here in town. So…thanks anyway.”
“Who are you taking?”
“Mallory.”
“Who’s Mallory? I don’t know a Mallory.”
“Yeah, I think you do. But some people call her Baby.”
“Oh, Baby!” Diana’s face flushed a little. “I feel guilty. I didn’t even know her real name.”
“Now you do.” Liam moved towards the bakery’s exit. “Hey, do me a favor and tell everyone?”
“Try and stop me! This is big news.”
Mission accomplished, part one. From what he’d heard about Starlight Hill, the news would spread like wildfire by tomorrow morning. And he’d be able to stop avoiding the Turlock cousins. He grinned and carried the coffees and cookies for the short walk to Break a Leg where he’d heard Mallory gave lessons every Tuesday night to the senior citizens. The twinkling lights down Main Street lit up the September evening. There was a homey and enticing feel to the town of Starlight Hill. He could see why it might be a good place to settle down, should one be looking to settle down, that is. He still wondered what had brought Mallory here, and who, or what, had caused her to stay.
The dance studio was mirrored, a piano sitting in the back corner. He stood outside where, through the wide glass pane, he could clearly see Mallory standing by a pole and talking animatedly to her students. She was dressed like most dancers in a pink leotard, tights, and a black short skirt. Her hair pulled up into a bun. She wrapped one long leg around the pole and slowly slid down.
Liam swallowed his tongue.
She was so incredibly beautiful. And had he mentioned…limber?
The class filled with blue-haired women applauded. Mallory took the hand of one of the women and led her to the dance pole. She then attempted to assist the senior in wrapping one leg around it, which really wasn’t working well from where Liam stood. But hey, points for effort. Mallory then went down the line, helping each senior citizen stretch a leg around the pole.
This was insanity.
Then Liam recognized his Aunt Eileen. He watched, a lump of terror solid in his throat, as his aunt attempted to lift her leg around the pole. He winced, broke out in a sweat, then thunked his forehead against the window pane as his aunt lost her balance and was caught by Mallory. No harm done, it appeared, as Aunt Eileen laughed, and the rest of the crowd joined her. A few more women, a couple of more near-catastrophic injuries, and the class ended.
After a couple of more minutes, the ladies all filed out one by one past Liam. Including Aunt Eileen.
Not awkward at all.
“Liam! Why haven’t you come by to see me yet?”
He set his coffees down and gave her a hug. “Only been here a few days. Are you okay, Aunt Eileen?”
Sue him if he was a little worried here. She appeared to be limping.
“Oh, I’m always a little sore after Baby’s class.” She waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll just go home, ice my hip, and be good as new.”
“Good idea. Do you need me to walk you to your car?” Or perhaps a ride to the ER?
“I’m fine. I’ll get plenty of TLC from Giancarlo when I get home. But what are you doing here?”
“Came to see my date to the Festival.”
“You already have a date? And here I was, ready to give you the phone number of the granddaughter to my dearest friend in the world. I don’t give that number out to just anyone. Her name is Kristie Jae Maynard. Beautiful girl. Who are you taking? I’m sure whoever it is I probably know her.”
“You sure do.” He jutted his chin. “Mallory.”
“Baby?”
“That’s not her name.”
“Well, that’s what we call her.”
“You call your teacher ‘Baby?’ Think about it.”
“It’s done out of love. And deep affection!”
“Maybe you could call her Mallory from now on. As a favor to me.”
Mallory walked out last, locking the door to the studio. She took one look at him, the coffees in his hands, and her eyes widened. Probably hadn’t expected to get started on the fake dating so soon.
“Hey,” Liam said. “Brought you coffee. And cookies.”
She accepted the Styrofoam cup. “Thank you.”
“Baby, my nephew here seems to think you don’t much like being called Baby. You know we do it because we love you, don’t you?”
“I know.” Mallory glanced at the ground. “But you could call me Mallory at least sometimes.”
“If that’s what you want. Why didn’t you just say so? Ok, Liam, when are you two coming over for dinner?”
“Dinner?” Mallory said.
“My nephew owes me a visit. You mind coming along, Ba—Mallory? No, of course you don’t. You know I can cook. Liam? When? I’m an old woman and not getting any younger standing here.”
“Whenever you want me.”
“Okay, let’s do dinner this Friday. I’ll expect you both promptly at seven o’clock.”
Liam honestly felt like saluting her before she hobbled away.
4
Liam turned to Mallory. “Pole dancing.”
“I could have warned you if you’d told me you were showing up.”
“Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.”
“The ladies enjoy it. Half the time they need to ice afterwards. But Mrs. Garcia said it keeps her young.” Mallory took a sip of her coffee and met his eyes. “I studied dance, but pole dancing wasn’t part of my training, either.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“I taught myself. It takes a certain skill set.” She nodded.
Dear God, it certainly did. One he was fairly certain only the teacher had.
“Don’t worry, the ladies mostly stretch. Nothing too crazy. I wouldn’t want them to get hurt. It’s just for fun.”
He caught himself scanning his surroundings again, then reminded himself to stop. “Did you walk over?”
She nodded. “Nights are beautiful this time of the year.” She stared at the package still in his hands. “Do I get those now, or later?”
He handed them over. “I’ll walk with you.”
“There’s no need. No one’s watching.”
“Guess you’re wrong about that.” He took her hand as a couple of women came out of Mama’s Diner across the street and smiled at them both. “Where did you study dance?”
“Texas, where I’m from.”
“Long way from home.”
“I check in with my Mama every day.”
He squeezed her hand. “What brought you here?”
“Is this a fishing expedition?”
“Just trying to get to know my date.”
“Eileen. She’s friends with my mother. Mama used to spend summers here as a child and she always kept in t
ouch with her.”
Her hand was small and cold in his larger one, and she didn’t protest him holding it all the way back. She didn’t live far from the studio, just down Main Street and past Second Street. Unfortunately, after an incredibly short four-minute walk, they stood in front of her Victorian.
“Okay, here I am. Goodnight, Liam. Thanks for the coffee and cookies.”
Without giving it much thought, he reached out to tuck a stray blonde hair that had fallen out of the bun. She flinched, and Liam’s stomach dropped to his boots.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Mallory—” Fuck no. She did not get to feel bad about this.
“You just—it was sudden. I didn’t see that coming. I-I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry.”
“You’re sweet. Except for that day we met. But now, you’ve been nothing but sweet to me, and I don’t know why I—”
“That’s okay. I think I know.”
Her eyes narrowed. “No. You don’t know anything.”
“I know someone hurt you. Do I know him?”
“No! It wasn’t anyone here.” Her cheeks colored, regret flashing in her green eyes. She obviously worried she’d already said too much.
Figuring he’d pressed her enough for tonight, he understood when it was time to back off with the questions.
“Mallory, I’m going to touch you now.”
He reached to slowly and gently trace the curve of her face. He wanted to kiss her, wanted his mouth on her full pink lips. But he knew much better than to push this. Whatever had happened, no matter how long ago, she was still raw inside.
Her dog, who had obviously heard them by now, was yipping and yarking loud enough to wake the dead.
She turned to the door. “I need to go inside. Sugar needs me.”
“Good night,” Liam said. “I’ll see you Friday.”
*
Mallory shut her front door and pressed her back against it.
“Yip! Yark!” Sugar danced around Mallory’s feet, alternately prancing and sniffing.
Dangerous. Just as she’d suspected. Liam Turlock was dangerous to her state of mind and to her plan to stay off men. She’d been two seconds away from asking him inside. She’d wanted to feel more of him, more of that warm body connected to the strong, callused hand that had held hers. Which meant her plan was already nearly off the rails.
Mallory bent down to pick up Sugar and cuddle her. She responded with a puppy sigh and licked Mallory’s nose. “I know, I know. You’re nice to me, too.”
But what did it say about her history with men that in only two meetings Liam had been better to her than any of her old boyfriends combined? He’d brought her cookies. Twice. And coffee. Walked her back to her house holding her hand, and not even tried for a simple kiss. Then he’d made a sudden move, and surprised her.
When he’d touched her face so gently, warning her this time, his gaze was full of heat. Not a playful one like the day in the store. She felt it too, a slow burn between them, simmering and pulsating below the surface. A deep pull that radiated from her belly and went south. This is exactly how she’d gotten into trouble so many times before. Hoping, expecting that a man would see there was far more to her. No one ever had, and so she’d grown to accept it and settle for scraps.
Which had been a mistake. One of the benefits of living in Starlight Hill was witnessing strong relationships up close and personal. Genevieve and Wallace Turlock. Diana and Scott Turlock. Brooke and Billy Turlock. Sophia and Riley. Kailey and Joe Hannigan. Fallon and Jack Cooper. Ivey and Jeff Garner. Eileen and Giancarlo. Mandy and Ty. The list went on and on. Encouraging to witness healthy love all around her. It happened to other women. Why not her?
Ironically, while Mallory’s best friend back home had been thought of as everybody’s friend and wanted someone to notice her sexy, it had been the opposite for Mallory. She’d been hired to be the sexy at Tatas and More but longed to be someone’s friend. She’d ached for someone to see her for more than a perky pair of tits but then offered Stan a private lingerie show.
Not surprising since she’d been looking for love in all the wrong places for most of her life. Settling for a relationship wherever she could find it because she didn’t know how to be alone. But she’d finally changed all that. She was twenty-five years old and she was going to get this right for once. If nothing else, maybe she could use these two weeks with Liam to practice a healthy relationship. They were fake dating, might as well do it right. Because Liam Turlock, he of the dark hair, espresso brown eyes and hot body, was a good guy.
And for someone who’d never been with a good guy for longer than a few minutes, he seemed like a good place to begin.
The next day, Mallory was working behind the register at the Tatas, thinking about rearranging the window display, when she heard loud banging outside. She stepped into the late summer sky, bright and warm, and a quick glance down the street at the Sweet Southern Buns bakery solved the mystery.
Liam and Wallace Turlock were working on the storefront’s roof. It looked like they were replacing some of the wood shingles with newer ones. It didn’t surprise her to see Liam helping Wallace, since his wife Genevieve owned the bakery. Wallace was Billy’s older brother, so Liam had probably been roped into helping him out.
Not that he seemed to mind as he crouched on the roof with ease. He wore a backwards baseball cap, a gray t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his corded forearms, a pair of blue jeans and a tool belt hanging low on his hips. In other words, he was sex on a stick, right in front of Mallory. Teasing her. Reminding her of who she was at her core. She loved men. Big men. Strong men. The old Mallory would unbutton the top two buttons of her dress and stride right over to plaster her body to his the minute he climbed off the roof and put his hammer down.
Not a good move. Problem being, New Mallory had nothing. Zero. Zip. Was she supposed to just stand here and watch him get all hot and sweaty and do nothing about it? What would a good girl do? What would someone with a lot more to offer than sex do? What would Sophia do? Mallory walked back into the store, and fished behind the register for her phone. She dialed Sophia, who answered on the second ring.
“Hey, Baby! How’s it going?”
Mallory winced. Some people would still call her “Baby” and she liked Sophia enough to let her. “Good, everything’s fine here at the store. No worries. No more private lingerie shows. I swear.”
“I’m not worried.”
Good old Sophia. They talked for a few minutes about the baby she and Riley were expecting. They already had a son, Adam, who was two. Sophia was dying for a girl this time, but the ultrasound showed nothing.
“Hey, I have a question. A kind of a girlfriend-to-girlfriend question,” Mallory said.
“Okay, shoot!”
“So…um, think back to before you were married to Riley. When you were just starting to date. What if you saw him across the street, working, getting all hot and sweaty? Would you do something?”
“Geez, I don’t know. When I met Riley, he came at me like a Tomahawk missile. We dated for six weeks before he asked me to marry him.”
“Okay, then what if he hadn’t approached you, and if you saw him across the street working, pounding nails. Wearing a tool belt. With his muscles rippling. I mean…what would you do?”
“Hoo boy. I see what you’re saying. This is the middle of the day? With other people around?“
“Yes, Sophia! I’m not talking about sex. I want you to tell me something nice I could do for a guy I know. Something completely non-sexual.”
“Ah, gotcha. Who is this guy?”
“Never mind.” She cleared her throat. “He’s just a friend, and I need a friend. But he’s also…well, very sexy. And I’m having a hard time thinking straight around him. But I want to think while I’m around him. I want to do good things.”
“That’s wonderful, honey. But a word of warning? If you feel that way n
ow, it’s not going to be so simple. Even if all you do is bring him a cold lemonade from Mama’s Diner, the next thing you know—”
“That’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that? Thank you, thank you, Sophia!”
“But—”
“Talk to you later!”
Mallory hung up and, since the store was empty, she flipped the sign to the one with the large two-hand clock, moved the long hand to fifteen minutes later, and locked up the store. Slinging her purse over her shoulder, Mallory hightailed it to Mama’s Diner. She pulled an ice-cold bottled lemonade from the display then hurried over to the ordering counter.
“Ramon, I need a sandwich, quick!”
“Whoa! Hold on, girl, where’s the fire? What kind do you want? We have a new menu. Made it myself. First, there’s the Turkey Wagon.” He threw up one finger, counting. “Next, the Roast Beef Rollercoaster. You want a ride you’ll never forget? I recommend it. Next—”
“Just give me any sandwich, for the love of god!”
“It’s not that simple.” He stared at her, arms crossed. “And by the way, you do know these sandwiches all have carbs in them?”
She’d given up carbs for one week. One week from hell and no one in town would ever let her forget it.
“It’s not for me. Give me the roast beef and make it quick. I need to get back to the store.”
Ramon finally fixed the sandwich, she paid for it and the lemonade, and rushed back to the bakery.
But Liam was gone.
5
“Wallace, you don’t have to feed me. I’m serious. I’ll just go grab something,” Liam said.
He’d offered to help Wallace out as a favor, and it beat lying around Billy’s house all day. Already bored out of his mind, he’d been looking for something to do. And he enjoyed pounding nails more than anyone else in his extended family. Wallace, whether he realized it or not, had simply given him something to do. Something besides stare at the four walls at night while he thought about the rest of his life. He liked to keep busy. Wallace had insisted on paying him, said he refused to let him help otherwise, so Liam had reluctantly agreed.
THE STARLIGHT HILL COMPLETE COLLECTION: 1-8 Page 129