Between Hope & the Highway (27 page)

Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.

Robert Green Ingersoll

Chapter 44

Bentley

“That was a great picture you sent me last night.”

I twirled around to see Rawson approaching the wash bay where Liz was grooming Friday Night Gin. I ducked, trying to act like I wasn’t eavesdropping as I oiled Lizzie’s saddle.

“Ha ha,” she said.

“No joke. I love your hair all down like that.”

I smirked as Lizzie blushed. My brother loved to tease her.

“Want to grab dinner in town with me tonight? I can hook up the trailer and pick up that load of hay you need while we’re out.”

“Tempting,” she murmured. “But I already told some friends I’d play volleyball with them.”

“Oh.” His dejected tone surprised me…and Lizzie.

“I guess you could come if you want.”

Rawson’s smile reappeared. “I want.”

A noise from behind made us jump. Chance dropped Lizzie’s binder, scattering papers. As he bungled about to retrieve them, Lizzie said, “Would you like to come too, Chance?”

I blew out a long breath as Lizzie once again acted nicer than she should. Rawson seemed to agree, judging by his disgruntled expression. I applied a non-detergent leather conditioner to the saddle as I watched the drama play out.

“I’d love to. Thanks, Liz.” Chance handed her the messed-up binder with a goofy grin.

“We’ll need to leave here around six. Which one of you wants to drive?”

“I will,” they both said in unison.

Lizzie headed to her office. “You can fight over the honor.”

After she disappeared, Rawson clapped a hand on Chance’s shoulder. “What are you doing? I’m paying you to stay with Damon at the old homestead in the evenings.”

“He’ll be all right for a couple hours. I really want to hang out with Liz.”

“Chance, man, you know I appreciate all you’ve done to help me out, but I’m asking you as a friend to back off. Liz asked me first, and if you come along, you’ll be a third wheel. Catch my drift?”

A light finally went on in Chance’s thick skull. “Oh? Ohhh! You…ohhhh! Sorry, Roz. I didn’t know you and Liz were…” He raised a brow.

“We’ve been keeping it on the down-low since we work together, so I’d appreciate you keeping it quiet.”

Chance hit his forehead. “No wonder she’s been so aloof. All this time I thought I was doing something wrong, but she already liked you. Whew! Sorry, man. I didn’t know I was pushing in on your territory.”

Rawson slapped his back. “No harm done, but keep your distance now that you know.”

“Don’t worry.” He chuckled as he walked away. “It makes so much sense now.”

I wiped a dry cloth over the metal fittings to remove any residual cleaner. “When did this magic mojo happen?”

Rawson shrugged. “It hasn’t yet, kid. But Chance doesn’t need to know that. Let’s just say I have high hopes for the future.”

So did I.

Chapter 45

Rawson

Seven people crowded onto each side of the volleyball court in the old church gym. Lizzie and I had been split up as soon as we arrived, which irritated me. She hadn’t mentioned this was a church social for singles. Dinner alone would have been way more enjoyable than this circus fest.

A heavy-set girl with straight brown hair prepared to serve on Lizzie’s team. “Two to one,” she shouted.

Lizzie faced me across the net, distracting me in her tight leggings. I noticed other guys eyeing her as well, watching as she bent and bounced on her feet. This game had brought out a competitive edge in her I hadn’t known existed. It’d definitely ignited a jealous streak in me.

As the ball shot over the net, I dived, knowing Mandy or Sandy or whatever her name was wouldn’t budge from her spot. Bumping the ball into the air, I scooted out of the way so Steve could set it to Landon, who fist-bumped the ball over the net. Lizzie set up, and her team sent it back. We volleyed back and forth until Steve set me up for a kill.

Anxious to display my skills, I jumped and spiked the ball with all my pent up power…right into Lizzie’s nose. The ball hit with such force that she staggered and fell to one knee as blood spurted.

Heads turned from Liz to me as I released a curse worthy of the dumbest cow. Ignoring gaping mouths, I ran under the net and shoved her teammate, Aaron, aside.

“Get your hands off her,” I muttered.

Lizzie threw her head back and squeezed the bridge of her nose.

“You okay?” I helped her to her feet and led her out of the gym.

She kind of cried-laughed. “I’m fine.”

As I guided her to a restroom, a crowd of tittering girls followed.

“I think I’ll call you Smash instead of Stash,” Lizzie teased.

I chuckled and pushed the door open to the ladies room.

“You can’t come in here.” She planted her feet.

“You’re hurt and I need to fix you.” Pushing inside, I heard the volume of tittering rise behind us. I turned to glare at the silly girls. “Somebody get some ice.”

My command was met by huffing, but the door closed. Lifting Liz onto the sink, I started wetting paper towels.

“Hold this against your nose.” I dabbed at her poor cheek that already showed signs of swelling. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I went all caveman on you like that. If I muck stalls for the next week, will you forgive me?”

“Hmmm? Maybe.”

Mandy or Sandy stuck her head in and held out an icepack.

“Thanks.” When she kept staring, I said, “You can go now.”

She scowled and ducked out the door.

“Hold this.” I tenderly placed the plastic baggie against the side of Liz’s nose.

“Thanks.”

“It’s the least I can do since I walloped you. Sorry again.” I felt like such a jerk.

“Stop apologizing. I’d be offended if you had treated me like a wussy girl out on the court. And besides, it was a perfect spike.”

I grinned. “It was, wasn’t it?”

She laughed.

I studied the light sprinkling of freckles on her nose and cheeks. Like everything about her, they were adorable. Gold flecks warmed her brown eyes…and me too. Why had it taken so long to notice her?

“Why don’t we make like a tree and get out of here.”

As she giggled, a dimple formed in her right cheek. I yearned to kiss that delectable dent and work my way over to those lips she liked to bite. Guiding her by the arm, we escaped through the back door and worked our way around the building.

As we approached my truck, I said, “You were the prettiest girl here by far tonight.”

Her nose had stopped bleeding, so she did one of her wussy girl hits on my arm. “Shut up.”

I backed her up against the passenger door, trapping her between my arms. “Now, baby, that’s not what you say when a man pays you a compliment.”

She tried to push me back, but I stepped closer. “What do you say, Lizzie? Two little words.”

“Trina was.”

I shook my head. “Not even close. All us guys were focused on one beauty tonight. You.”

“You’re such a liar.”

“One thing you should know about me by now is I don’t give out phony compliments. If I say you’re pretty, I damn well mean it.” I moved my hands to her shoulders, causing her to draw in a sharp breath.

“Let’s try again. You put every other girl here to shame with your beauty and kick-butt volleyball skills.” As she scoffed, I pressed my body into hers. “What do you say?” I whispered.

“Ah…uh…thank you?” she squeaked. “Although you’re—”

I silenced her with a finger. “No
althoughs
or
buts
, Tutti.”

A smile hesitantly appeared.

“Your smile is stunning.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’m going to pretend your eye roll is sign language for
Thank you
.”

The trembling in her body transferred into my limbs. Talk about snap, crackle, and pop. We had enough for a dazzling firework show. As she chewed her lip, I swallowed and licked mine, feeling weak from expectation. I wanted her. No, I needed her. She suddenly seemed essential to my very existence.

Our noses brushed and short puffs of her minty breath tickled my mouth as her chest rose and fell against mine. I could practically taste bliss as my lips sought hers.

“Rawson!”

Lizzie jumped when she heard the obnoxiously loud voice, inadvertently bumping into me. “Agh!” She clutched her nose.

I pivoted to find Trina standing a few feet away on the sidewalk. “Oh,” she said in a breathy voice as she glanced at Lizzie. “I didn’t see you there. Is your nose still bleeding?”

“What is it?” I snapped.

She gave me one of her overly bright smiles. “I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to invite you to dinner this Sunday. I don’t work and thought—”

“Sorry, Tina.” I purposely mispronounced her name, hoping she’d get a clue. “Liz is my girl.”

Lizzie’s eyes widened as I grabbed her hand.

“Oh.” The pushy broad didn’t sound happy. “Well, she can come too.”

“I must respectfully decline. But Aaron seemed to dig you,” I lied. He’d been paying full attention to Liz, which made me not feel bad for throwing him to this shark. “Maybe you should invite him.”

Her smile mutated into a grimace. “You think?”

I squeezed Lizzie’s hand. “Couldn’t hurt.”

She sneered at Liz. “Your nose looks awful. It’s probably going to bruise and—”

“We’re leaving.” I turned my back on Sharktopus to open Lizzie’s door.

When I climbed into my seat, Liz gave me a narrow-eyed scowl. As I pulled out of the parking lot, her stare-glare intensified.

“What?” I finally bit.

“I can’t believe you used me again to get away from a woman.”

“I wasn’t using you. I merely staked my claim and posted my ‘in a relationship’ status.”

“In a relationship status with who?”

“You and me, sweetheart. We have that snap, crackle, and pop I’ve been talking about.”

“We do not.” She sounded genuinely aghast.

“How can you say that after what happened back there?”

“You mean when you smacked me in the nose with the ball?”

“No. When we almost kissed.”

She folded her arms. “We did not almost kiss.”

“If Tyrannosaurus Trina hadn’t interrupted, we would have. Don’t deny it. And I can assure you it would’ve set off more than snap, crackle, and pop…because we have that without even trying. It would have been sizzle, pop, kaboom!”

She laughed. “You never stop, do you, Kermit?”

The lackadaisical way she blew me off made me frown. Did she think I was joking?

I kept quiet until we reached the junction to Benny’s Hollow. Veering off the gravel road, I pulled into a grove of trees and parked. Liz opened her eyes and perked up from her nap.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re going to have a DTR talk.”

“How do you even know what that is?”

“I’ve dated enough girls in my life to know the lingo. Defining-the-relationship is vital to you women.”

“We don’t have a relationship. Now get going. I have to muck stalls in the morning.”

“No,
I
have to muck stalls in the morning, remember? I owe you for slaughtering your cute, dainty nose.”

She subconsciously touched her face. “You don’t have to do my chores.”

“I want to.” I scooted into the middle so our thighs touched.

“Uh, you’re crowding me,” she said in a husky whisper.

“I know.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you. And obviously you like me back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She could hardly whisper.

“I’m dead serious.”

She hugged her door.

“Yesterday when I listed all the qualities in my dream girl, it hit me that I’d just described you.”

“I’m not your dream girl. Not even close.”

“You couldn’t be more perfect if you tried.” I reached up to caress her cheek. “We get along great; you’re beautiful, but not stuck on yourself.”

“Ha!” She pushed my hand down. “You need to get your eyes checked if you think I’m beautiful. More like Attila the Hun.”

“I don’t need my eyes checked—I have better than 20/20 vision—but maybe you need glasses, because you’re the only one not seeing yourself clearly. Every guy on the court tonight was watching you. Do you think that’s because they thought you were plain and ugly?”

“They probably thought I looked like a dork with my bloody nose.”