“Be still a minute, he said, his voice all husky, like hed just gotten out of bed. “Unless you want the blue-haired lady at the door to know what were doing.

She froze. “Youre kidding, right?

“No. It looks like my first grade teacher, Mrs. Vaughn.

“Laverne! she whispered loudly and looked over her shoulder. “Whats she want?

“Maybe a haircut, he said and brushed his thumbs across her nipples.

“Stop that. She turned back and slapped his hands aside. “I cant believe I let this happen to me again. Is she still there?

“Yep.

“Can she see us, do you think? she asked.

“I dont know.

“Whats she doing?

“Staring at me.

“I cant believe this. Just last night my mother bitched me out for my scandalous behavior with you at Henneseys. She shook her head. “Now this. Laverne will tell everyone.

“Probably.

She looked up at him, still standing between her thighs. “Dont you care?

“Exactly what am I supposed to care about? That we were just getting to the fun stuff? That my hand was on your breasts, and your hands were all over my chest, and both of us were having a good time? Damn right I care about that. I wasnt finished. But dont expect me to care that a little old lady looked in the window and watched. Why should I care what people are going to say about that? People have talked about me since the day I was born. I stopped caring a long time ago.

Delaney pushed at his shoulders until he took a step backward. With desire still pulsating along her nerves, she jumped down from the counter and turned around in time to see Mrs. Vaughn totter away in a pink housecoat and support hose. “People in this town already think were sleeping together. And you should care since you stand to lose the property Henry left you.

“Hows that? The last time I checked, at some point during sex, someone gets off. Otherwise its nothing more than a grope.

Delaney groaned and put her head in her hands. “I dont belong here. I hate this town. I hate everything about it. I cant wait to leave. I want my life back.

“Look on the bright side, he said, and she heard the thud of his boot as he made his way toward the back. “When you leave, youll leave a wealthy woman. You sold out for Henrys money, but Im sure youll think its worth it in the end.

She looked up at him. “Youre a hypocrite. You agreed to your part of the will, too.

He walked into her storage room and popped back out a few seconds later. “True, but theres a difference. With his shirt still unbuttoned, he shrugged into his leather jacket. “That particular stipulation is no hardship for me.

“Then why were you trying to take off my sweater?

He bent down and picked up his drill. “Because you let me. Dont take it personally, but you could have been anyone.

His words hit her like a punch in the stomach. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying or screaming or both. “I hate you, she said barely above a whisper, but he heard her.

“Sure you do, wild thing, he said as he wrapped the cord around the drill.

“You should grow up and became an adult, Nick. Grown-up men dont have to grope women just to see if they can. Real men dont look at women as sexual playthings anymore.

He stared at her across the distance that separated them. “If you believe that, then youre the same silly naive girl you always were. He yanked the back door open. “Maybe you should take your own advice, he said, then closed the door behind him.

“Grow up, Nick! she yelled after him. “And ... and ... get a haircut. She didnt know why she added the last part. Perhaps because she wanted to hurt him, which was ridiculous. The man had no feelings. She turned around and stared at her blank appointment book. Her life was going from crap to downright shitty. Two hours, she thought. Shed give the gossip two hours to reach her mother, and then only because it would take Laverne an hour to get to her car.

Angry tears blurred Delaneys vision and her gaze fell to the envelope on top of the cash register. She tore it open. A page fell out with three bold words typed in the center. IM WATCHING YOU, it said. Delaney crumpled the paper and threw it across the salon. Great! That was all she needed. Helen the psycho woman watching her and slipping notes under her door.

Chapter Ten

Nick gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. The insistent throb in his groin urged him to turn his Jeep around and relieve his aching need between Delaneys soft thighs. Impossible, of course. For so many reasons.

If he wanted, he could ring Gail on his cell phone and have her meet him. There were a few others he could call, too, but he didnt want that. He didnt want to have sex with one woman while thinking of another. While wanting another. He wasnt that big a bastard. He wasnt that sick, either.

Instead of calling anyone, he pulled his Jeep to a stop next to the burned remains of Henrys barn. He left the engine running and shifted into neutral. He didnt know why hed come here. Maybe hed come looking for answers in the blackened rubble. Answers he knew hed never find.

I dont belong here. I hate this town. I hate everything about it. I cant wait to leave. I want my life back . Her words still echoed in his head. Still made him want to grab her and shake her.

But she was right. She didnt belong in Truly. From the moment hed looked across Henrys casket and seen her standing there in that green suit and dark sunglasses, shed complicated his life. When shed moved back, shed brought the past with her. All the old complicated bullshit hed never understood.

Nick looked down at the front of his shirt and raised his hands to the buttons. The Jeeps engine and the steady hum of the heater were the only sounds disturbing the late morning air.

I hate you , shed whispered, and he believed her. Earlier, when hed arrived on her doorstep with her new locks, he hadnt purposely set out to make her hate him, but hed done a pretty good job of it. Her hatred was best, and he actually felt a little relieved. No more kissing her and touching her. No more filling his hand with her firm breast, her nipple hard beneath his thumb.

He leaned his head back against the seat and stared at the beige canvas rag top. All she had to do was look at him and he had an urge to mess up her hair. Squeeze her between his hands, and eat the lip gloss off her mouth. Maybe Henry had been right. Maybe hed known what Nick refused to admit, even to himself. He was still drawn most to the things he couldnt have. In the past, once hed gotten those unattainable things, hed easily moved on to the next. But with Delaney, he couldnt. He couldnt have her and he couldnt move on. If it werent for Henrys will, he would have had sex with her already, and he would have forgotten about her by now. She really wasnt the kind of female he liked to spend time with anyway. Her clothes were weird, and she had a mean mouth on her. She wasnt the most beautiful female hed known. In fact, she looked horrible in the morning. Hed seen his share of women who werent looking their best when they first rolled out of the sack, but damn, shed looked downright scary.

Nick raised his head and stared out the windshield. But it didnt seem to matter what shed looked like. Hed wanted her. Hed wanted to kiss her sleepy mouth and soft skin. Hed wanted to take her back to her bed where her sheets were still warm. Hed wanted to strip her naked and bury himself deep within her hot thighs.

Hed wanted to touch her like he had in any one of the thousand fantasies hed had growing up. As he had the night shed jumped in his car. The night hed driven them to Angel Beach. Shed acted like shed wanted him that night, too, but shed left with Henry. Shed left him alone and aching for her. Just one more unfulfilled fantasy.