Chaste (McCullough Mountain) (10 page)

He
usually enjoyed the nights she popped in. They played well together. Always
shared Olympic gold medalist sex, multiple orgasms, and never required any
excuses in the morning, but tonight his head was elsewhere.

“You
got plans tonight?”

His
gaze pulled from Ashlynn and Josh. “What? Oh. I have some shit I have to stay
late and take care of. How about a rain check?”

What
shit?
His cock
called him a liar and forced a barrage of memories into his head of all the
lovely contortionist things Katie could do.

She
pouted. “Suit yourself. If you get done early, you know my number.”

Tell
her you’ll meet her after closing!

He
nodded. “Next time, love.”

Once
Katie turned to walk away he returned his gaze to the booth at the back. Josh
was standing and offering Ashlynn a hand as she slid out of the seat. Kelly had
the strangest urge to do something, but didn’t have the first bloody clue what.

Jesus,
he was like an incompetent teenager. What the fuck was happening to him? He was
Kelly McCullough for God’s sake!

“See
ya, Kelly,” Josh said as he walked past, his arm around Ashlynn’s shoulders.

Kelly’s
eyes narrowed as Sue snuck behind him and whispered, “Kissy, kissy, kissy.”

“You’re
fired, wench,” he mumbled, his gaze glued to the door as it closed behind the
couple.

Chapter
Three

Ashlynn
awoke with a smile and stretched. The birds were chirping and Kelly McCullough
had said she looked pretty.

She
frowned. Why had he said that? All this time and he waited until she found a
nice guy to date to tell her she was pretty. It was probably because she bought
new girlie clothes, which had been an ordeal and a half. Shopping was not an
activity she enjoyed.

She
played over her date from the night before. Josh had given her flowers. Turning
her head on the crisp pillowcase, she admired the wild blooms from where they
sat in her mother’s vase on the nightstand.

No
one had ever given her flowers before. She never went to dances when she was a
teenager. It was pretty sad that she only had her first date at age
twenty-four, but from what she could tell it went pretty well.

Josh
was nice and easy to talk to. Everything went pretty good until he walked her
out to her father’s truck. She didn’t know how to end a date so she’d wound up
standing there, looking stupid, and fidgeting like a moron. Then he leaned in
and she panicked and started rapidly spouting out words like she had some form
of Tourette’s.

The
date had been fun and beyond flattering. Her belly tightened at the thought of
doing it again, but she was afraid if he kissed her she’d scare him away.
Twenty-four-years-old and never been kissed.

Sighing,
she threw herself back on her pillows and moaned.
You’re pathetic.

Her
mind played a slideshow of every kiss she’d ever seen in person or on
television. Kissing shouldn’t be that difficult. Josh said he wanted to take
her out again and she wanted to be kissed. Really, really,
really
wanted
to be kissed.

Her
gaze flashed to her door—stupid—but she glanced anyway. Slowly, she lifted her
hand and made a fist. Raising it slowly to her face, her lips pressed to the
back of her palm and she made a small smooching sound. Was that it?

Puckering
her lips again, she turned her wrist and smooched some more. When a sudden
honking sound broke the silence she jumped and shoved her hand under the
covers. What the heck was that?

Realizing
she was still alone in what was likely the most pitiable moment of her ignorant
life, she jumped out of bed and grabbed her robe. The horn honked again and
continued to blast.

Who’s
here?

It
was barely past seven in the morning. Running down the steps, she unlocked the
front door as a truck pulled in her long driveway, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Stepping onto the wraparound porch, she shaded her eyes, and squinted.

She
didn’t recognize the truck. Her breath sucked in a sharp gasp. Yes, she did!

Her
mouth opened as a smile broke across her face. It was the beautiful, four door,
pearly truck she’d been admiring the week before. Her dad leaned an elbow out
the window. “Morning, sug. How’d your date go?”

“Where
did you get that?” she shouted as she ran down the porch steps.

“Jenkins
loaned it to me. Go get dressed so we can take it for a test drive.”

She
bounced and ran back into the house.
 
In a minute flat she had her teeth brushed and a tank top and overalls
thrown on over sensible underwear. Bursting back out the front door with her
shoulder bag trailing behind her like a runaway kite, she sprinted to the
pretty truck.

Her
dad slid into the passenger seat as she hit the floorboard and climbed in.
Everything smelled of new car and leather. “This is so cool!”

He
smiled and said, “I thought you’d like this. Fix your mirrors and buckle up so
we can see how she drives.”

She
adjusted the seat and played with all the fancy dials her old truck didn’t
have. “I feel like I’m in a spaceship.”

“Well,
let’s keep her below light speed, sug. Give her a go.”

She
carefully put the truck in reverse and backed out of the drive. “It handles so
smooth. And look. I don’t need to turn the wheel over and over.”

“That’s
the power steering. I gotta say it’s a lot nicer than I thought it would be.
And look at all this room in the backseat. You and your friends could go all
kinds of places and still have room for cargo.”

She
didn’t see the point in mentioning she didn’t have friends, but it was a nice
fantasy. Maybe she’d get a dog.

They
drove all over town and down the back roads that circled the farm. The truck
handled like a dream and she’d decided after ten minutes she was going to buy
it. She didn’t care if Mr. Jenkins wouldn’t budge on the cost. It was well
worth the sticker price.

When
she pulled up at her house about an hour later she turned the key and petted
the dashboard.

“What
do you think, sug?”

She
smiled. “I think I love it.”

He
smiled and removed the key. They dangled from his work-roughened fingers as he
held his arm out to her. “Then enjoy it. It’s yours. I signed the papers last
night.”

“What?”

“It’s
yours. I bought it for you.”

Her
vision blurred and her throat constricted. “You…bought it? Really?”

“Of
course. I saw the way you were ogling it last week. I knew you wanted it. There’re
a lot of things in this world I’m not equipped to give you, sug, but a truck I
can do.”

“Dad…”
She shook her head, overwhelmed with gratitude. “How much was it? I’ll give you
the money.”

“Don’t
insult me, Ashlynn Rose. The truck’s a gift. Now take it gracefully and give
your old dad a kiss.” He pointed to his cheek.

She
snatched him into her arms and covered his cheek with kisses. “Thank you! Thank
you! Thank you!”

Roy
laughed, a bit watery, and hugged her. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I
love
it!”

He
nodded, pleased. “How about some breakfast? While you’re cookin’ you can tell
me all about your date last night.”

* * * *

After
her father left, she packed up her freshest fruits and carefully loaded the
bushels into the back of the Great White. Yes, she’d named her truck. So what?

When
she reached the market the sun was a hot ball of white in the bleached sky,
heating her exposed shoulders. Climbing into the bed of the Great White she dragged
the last of the bushels to the edge.

“Need
a hand?”

She
stilled, completely aware of her butt sticking high into the air, as she placed
the sexy voice.

Her
breath quickened as she dragged a hand over her cheek, wiping the sweat off her
nose. Once she had herself somewhat together she turned. “Kelly, what are you
doing here?”

“I
needed some…apples.”

Her
mouth quirked and she reached into the bushel at her feet. Her fist closed over
a granny smith and tossed it to him. He caught it without flinching and his
mouth curved in a half smile as he sank his pearly teeth into it with a juicy
snap.

“Mmm.
Sweet,” he said as he bit off a section and chewed.

“You
might want to wash that first. It’s fresh from my gardens.”

He
shrugged. “Nothin’ wrong with dirty.”

Her
motions staggered and her heart raced. Turning, she quickly jumped down from
the truck, and hoisted up the bushel of apples. He grabbed a basket of pears as
if it were a sack of feathers and followed her into the back of the market.

“So
you got a new truck?”

“Yes.”
What was he doing there? Her focus was on the door at the back of the store.
Escape. “You don’t have to do that.” She motioned to the bushel he carried as
she lugged the apples into the storage room, grunting as she hoisted them onto
the table.

“It’s
no problem. The truck’s nice. So how was your date last night?”

She
blinked and averted her eyes, busying herself with the lemon vinegar spray she
made to polish the produce. “It was fine.”

Polishing
the apples one by one, she lined them neatly in cardboard display racks that
would go into the storeroom. Maybe if she pretended there was nothing odd about
his presence she wouldn’t freak out. Part of her was tempted to have a
teenybopper boy band episode and start squealing like a star struck kid, but
she refrained. Polishing apples it was.

“You
like Josh?”

She
shrugged.
Okay, seriously, what is he
doing here?
Annnnnnnd…now her hands were shaking. “He said he worked with
your family,” she deflected, rather than answer his question.

“Yeah.
Has for almost five years now. You gonna go out with him again?”

She
frowned. There were so many weird things about this situation. Namely, Kelly
and her didn’t interact—
ever
. She
continued to polish apples because that was all her mind could sensibly do at
the moment and her fingers were seriously trembling.

Kelly
handed her another apple and his fingers grazed hers, sending a bolt of
unfamiliar heat through her body. Her stomach teetered between the excitement
similar to what one experienced sledding down a steep hill and utter
queasiness.

“So…are
you?” he asked again.

Her
words were trapped in her throat. This was so absurd, sitting next to him,
talking
,
in her storage room while polishing apples. “Um…I don’t know. He said something
about going out again.”

He
grunted and she wasn’t sure what the sound meant. “You know there are plenty of
guys who’d be interested in taking you out if you came out of your shell a
little. Most people don’t know you. You’re quiet, but you don’t need to resort
to online dating.”

She
froze. Bile rose in her stomach and she swore her spleen might have shuddered.
“What…what did you just say?” she wheezed, placing the apple carefully on the
table so she could press her palms into the wooden slab and not rip her hair
out and scream like a cartoon.

“You
need to be a little more confident.”

She
stopped blinking. Mortification hummed like a sharp whistle in her ears. Her
vision zeroed in on the table, focusing on each little divot and knick until
she found a hole she wished she could shrink and hide in. “How did you know
Josh and I met online?”

“He
told us.”

“Us?”

“Yeah.
Me and my brothers, when we were playing cards.”

Her
jaw trembled. Her decision to search for men online wasn’t Josh’s fault, but he
just lost some major points in her mind. Her breath was coming too fast and she
was pretty sure if she let go of the table she’d fall over.

Why?
Why did Kelly
McCullough have to know she resorted to online dating? Could her shame be any
more complete?

“Um…”

He
continued to talk about how she was too shy and how she should wear skirts more
often.

Tears
welled in her eyes and she whispered, “I think you should go.”

His
words cut off. The power of his stare weighed on her like a layer of cement.
“Ashlynn—”

“Please
leave. Customers aren’t allowed back here.”

The
worn wooden surface showed a darkened splotch where a tear had slipped past her
lashes and landed.

“Are
you
crying
?”

Her
throat was so tight it pained her to speak. “I went online because I was
lonely. I don’t expect you to know what that feels like, but there you have
it.”