Crystal Green [Aidan Falls 01 Honeytrap (epub)

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.“I should’ve known he’d be there.He and his friends camped out there every summer, so why should it be any different after high school?”She brought the knife down hard in the pepper and sliced.“Rex.If I saw that kid, I’d—”“Not add to the drama.Right?”I’d been going for some levity, but my voice cracked on that last word, and I pressed my lips together.I’d tried my best all day not to think about Rex, but after seeing him, it was like he was fixed into my chest, pinning my heart right in the center so it wouldn’t completely fall out of me.The problem was that I could feel him slipping away, the sharpness of him tearing that heart in half.So screwed up.And the only time today I’d been able to forget him was when Micah Wyatt had been flirting with me, but that pretty much made matters worse, not better.Mom went to work again, finishing with the pepper and scraping it into a container.“Want to know what I think?”“I’m not sure.Do I?”“Always.” She smiled.“I think that you’ll do just fine this summer, as long as you stay away from those barracudas by the lake.You’ve always been extra sensitive, Shelby, and that’s my fault.You grew up under a gossipy microscope in this town, and I was so stubborn about proving a point to them—that I could be the best single mom ever, no matter what they thought—that I subjected you to a life of dealing with the opinions of others.If I’d just moved away to someplace else, you would’ve learned more confidence during your formative years.”“And that would’ve kept me away from Grandpa.Catch-22, Mom.”“Catch-22.Story of my life.”Her smile grew, but it wasn’t real.It was one of those Mom-things she did to make me feel better, and I went over to give her a massive hug.I was taller than her—it’d happened last summer, along with the rest of the changes in my dorky appearance—so I almost felt like a big sister pulling her into my arms.But that image went right down the tubes when Mom patted my back in a maternal way.“You know I’d do anything for you,” she said, cupping my face in her hands.They smelled like green pepper, like home-cooked meals and hard work.I couldn’t resist zinging her.“Anything? Then tell me who my dad is.”She gave me a playful push, and I laughed, knowing that if she could keep that secret for over nineteen years already, I didn’t have much chance of cracking her.Still, my curiosity simmered, even as I smiled at her and we both went to the back to wash our hands.She left as I tugged my apron off its hook, and when I returned to her at the counter, she spoke over a bluegrassy Neko Case tune.“By the way, thanks for dropping off the mower,” she said.“I love having an errand girl around for the summer.”I didn’t feel like talking about my adventure at the fix-it shop, so I made it short, mostly because the less I had to think about Micah, the better.“No prob.I’m sure they’ll be calling with an estimate and a pickup time.”“They already did.And I’ll probably be getting an update when they pick up their takeout order in about twenty minutes.”I deflated.What were the chances my nemesis would be the one fetching food for the boys?Mom narrowed her eyes at me.“They order out all the time.”“Yay.”When she leveled that Mom-is-gonna-find-out-what’s-bugging-you stare on me, I grabbed a container with utensils and checkered cotton napkins in it, going toward the front of the house.Maybe if I rolled the silverware in the napkins and stuffed them in the mason jars fast enough, I could escape to the back again before someone from the shop picked up the order.Nope.Micah came through the door five minutes later, carrying one of the reusable cloth bags Mom encouraged her customers to use.He was minus the uniform this time, wearing jeans and a white T-shirt that clung to his chest so pornographically that I looked away and tried to blend into the brick wall.Frannie greeted him from behind the cash counter, her chubby cheeks flushing.“You’re early for dinner today.”“When you’re hungry, you’re hungry.” Micah rested an elbow on the counter and explicitly watched me with a double meaning in those clear eyes.I glanced away like my napkin rolling was as important as the signing of the Magna Carta or something.The café had cleared out, and when Frannie said she was going in back to check on the order, that left me and the chick magnet all alone.Great, because suddenly, the restaurant felt like a bedroom.The space had gotten intimate, the air thicker, my pulse faster.All because of this player’s strange lady killer voodoo.I knew he was still watching me, and I couldn’t take it anymore.I looked up to find him grinning, like he had a million dirty thoughts running through his mind.My belly flipped, but I stayed cool.“You shouldn’t look at people like that.”“Like what?”Voice, molasses.Eyes, liquid heat.He was good.real good at forcing a conversation out of someone who didn’t want to talk.“Like you’re a perv,” I said.“Ah.I see my reputation precedes me.”If I’d expected him to be insulted by my honesty, he sure wasn’t.Frannie appeared in the kitchen window.“Fifteen more minutes.That okay?”“That’s plenty okay.” Micah nodded at Frannie as she left to help Mom with the last of the order.Then I was all his again.Double yay.He chuckled at my avoidance.“Now that ain’t fair, Shelby.You don’t even know me, but I get the feeling you already don’t like me [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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