The International Kissing Club (52 page)

But then, this was the kind of thinking that had gotten her into so much trouble to begin with. She’d let herself get taken in by him. She’d imagined they were friends. And for a second, when he’d kissed her in that needy, hungry way, she’d imagined more.

But Tanner Colt wasn’t just some aw-shucks, down-on-his-luck cowboy. He was a star football player with more moves than the square dance at the Cotton Festival. Tanner was as deadly to females as the gun that bore his surname.

He may never have intended for Piper to face Internet humiliation, but that didn’t let him off the hook for kissing
her
. And then telling Germaine. And he’d had the gall to call River a douche.

Really, between the two of them, Izzy was pretty sure she had the worst taste in guys. Ever.

“Can you get me the pig or not?” she demanded, so ready for this conversation to be over.

Tanner seemed reluctant. How much had he said Jackson had paid to get the pig? Two hundred bucks. She’d socked away at least that much while working for Tanner’s parents, right? Good-bye, college fund.

“I can pay you the two hundred,” she added as additional enticement. “Just like Jackson.”

God, she hoped those were words she never had to say again.
Just like Jackson
. What a bone-chilling thought.

“It’s not the money.” Tanner shook his head, like he didn’t know how to phrase what he was going to say. “I feel bad enough about what happened last time. So, I don’t want to be a part of it if you’re trying to get back at somebody. You’re better than that anyway, Isabel.”

Shock rocked her back on her heels. “Jesus!” she all but shouted when she got her voice back. “That’s not why I want the pig! I’m not Germaine.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Which we both already know, or my boobs would be pushed up to here”—she jabbed at her chin—“and my panties would be discarded in the back of your truck.” For a second, she wondered if she’d gone too far. Then another shot of resentment spiked through her and she decided she hadn’t gone far enough. “On second thought, I can see why you might be confused, since your tongue has been in both our mouths in the past two weeks.”

Yikes. Who knew all that repressed anger would sound so nasty when it spewed all over someone?

He seemed as shocked by her words as she was. The second they left her mouth, she felt a flush of embarrassment. She should not have brought that up.

Forgetting momentarily that Jackson had driven her, she spun on her heel and headed back down the front path. “Never mind. I’ll find another pig.”

Tanner shot off the porch and caught up with her before she’d taken more than a few steps. He wrapped one hand around her arm and pulled her to a stop. He might as well have tackled her, it was that effective. His hand on her bare skin charged every cell in her body.

She’d always thought of herself as being on the scrawny side, but after spending the fall driving a tractor and wielding a hoe, she’d actually developed a few muscles in her biceps. Yet, Tanner’s hand was still so large his fingers met on the underside of her arm.

“Is that what this is about? This pig has something to do with the fact that I kissed you?”

He didn’t release her arm as he spoke, and it took all her concentration not to look back down at his hand. But, oh, she was totally aware of it there. For the life of her, she couldn’t make herself tear her arm out of his grasp.

“Yes, that’s part of it. Piper’s one of my best friends. And I kissed the guy she’s liked for years. I betrayed her.”

Tanner took one step closer to her. His voice dropped a notch. “But
I
kissed
you
.”

Izzy sucked in a breath at the intensity of his gaze.

“Isabel, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted …” He broke off and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Piper isn’t the one I’ve had a thing for.”

What was he implying?

No! She wasn’t going to let herself get caught up in this sick little fantasy he kept dangling in front of her. She forced herself to yank her arm out of his reach.

“Yeah, I get that.” She’d wanted to sound breezy and cool, but instead, weeks of angst fueled the words. “Germaine is the only girl for you. You’ve made that abundantly clear.”

“Is that what you think? That I’m in love with
Germaine
?”

“We’ve already had this conversation and you’re still with her. Obviously there’s something there.”

“I told you. I was with her because that’s what everyone expected and because you never … Christ, Isabel, do you really think I’ve spent all that time at your house because I liked hanging out with
Linc
?”

“Yes! That’s precisely what I thought!”

“And now?”

“Stop. That.”

“What?” he demanded.

“That. Implying that there’s something between us when there isn’t. You gave me some sort of pity kiss. And then the second Germaine
showed up you dashed over to stick your tongue down her throat like you couldn’t wait to get the taste of me out of your mouth.”

“Jesus, Isabel!” He plowed a hand through his hair. “What was I supposed to do?”

She threw up her hands. “Oh, I don’t know. Not kiss her in front of me? That would have been a great start.”

“A great start to what? You’re the one who said over and over again that we were just friends. That you were only an employee. We’ve known each other for two and a half years, and you’ve blown me off every time I tried to talk to you. You only stay around long enough to insult my last name or my intelligence.”

“Then why did you kiss me?”

He gave her an exasperated look and shoved a hand through his hair. “Because I wanted not to enjoy it. I wanted to find out I’d been wrong since the ninth grade.”

Her breath caught in her chest. “And were you?”

A slow, sexy smile spread across his face. “What do you think?”

She didn’t know what to think. Every single thought had vanished from her brain. In fact, every single molecule of oxygen had also vanished from her lungs. It was like she’d been zapped by aliens. Or maybe she’d suffered a head injury. That was it. Jackson really had brought her to a crack den. She’d been hit over the head, and she was hallucinating. That explanation made far more sense.

Finally, her lungs started functioning well enough for her to speak. Only one thing popped into her head. “Can you get me the pig or not?”

“What?” His voice rose sharply. “A pig? That’s your response? After what I just told you, you want to know about a pig?”

“Tanner, I—” But once again her brain short-circuited. Synapses stopped firing and she just stuttered. “I—” Because it was all too bizarre. “I—” Was she really supposed to believe that Tanner had liked her? For years? And he’d never acted on it … why precisely? Because she made fun of his name? “I …” And how exactly was she supposed to process
all of this in the middle of her current crisis? “I can’t think about that now.”

“You’re blowing me off
again
?”

“I didn’t know I’d ever blown you off in the first place!” she admitted. Was she so stupid about guys that Tanner freakin’ Colt had been pursuing her—for the past two and a half years—and she hadn’t even noticed? Was it possible that after years of being Invisabel Isabel, there’d been someone who’d seen her all along? And she hadn’t seen him? Could she really be that stupid?

Of course, given her history with River, then, yeah, she just might be that stupid when it came to guys. Tanner had taught her how to drive a tractor, after all. Hadn’t she told Mei exactly what it meant when a guy tried to teach you something?

“I can’t even think about this right now,” she repeated, partly to convince herself. “It changes nothing. Piper’s pissed with me because I kissed you and because she thinks I’m BFFs with Germaine. I have to fix that first.”

Izzy’s heart shrunk for a second as she considered the possibility that this thing with Tanner—whatever it was—might not be an open-ended offer. Once she’d repaired her friendship with Piper, he might have changed his mind.

But she couldn’t let that matter. “Piper’s one of my best friends,” Izzy continued. “I have to put her first. It’s what she would do.”

As she said it, she realized she was right.

Piper was fiercely loyal. She would never—not in a gazillion years—have betrayed Izzy the way Izzy had betrayed her. Not for all the guys in the world. Not for all the guys and all the shoes in the world. And all the lip gloss, too.

And suddenly, Izzy understood why Piper had been so hurt.

She looked up at Tanner—into those gorgeous blue eyes Piper had raved about so many times—and instead of saying any of the things she wanted to say, she asked, “So can you get me the pig or not?”

He studied her for a second. Then he nodded, his expression exasperated but resigned. “I’ll get you the pig.”

Friday afternoon, everything was in place. The assembly was in full swing. Mei was in the front row with Cassidy, Mei’s parents’ digital video recorder was charged and ready to go. Piper was in the audience, doing her best ostrich impression. Ms. Vogel was out onstage, discussing Internet safety in tones as serious as her perky voice would allow.

But there was no pig.

Tanner hadn’t shown up.

Izzy was pigless. Anxiety knotted her stomach. Where was he? He’d sworn he’d get her some swine. What was wrong with him?

Then she saw Tanner, making his way through the ropes and pulleys for the stage curtains. But he was still pigless.

She hurried to him and whispered, “What happened? You were supposed to bring me a pig.”

She was afraid Vogel might be wrapping it up before she’d have a chance to get out there. It was the third time she’d mentioned her office hours.

Then Tanner smiled at Izzy and she forgot to listen to Vogel. “Where have you been? I was about five seconds away from making a cardboard snout out of a toilet paper roll, taping it to Jackson Grosbeck’s face, and dragging his ugly ass onstage.”

Tanner smiled at her, gazing into her eyes for a second before saying, “Then thank God I got here in time. I’m not letting you kiss anyone else.” Before she could process that, he swung his backpack over his shoulder and held it out to her. “I told you I’d come through.”

The backpack was heavier than she’d have thought it would be. And it squirmed. And then oinked.

She unzipped a corner and out poked a tiny pink snout, no bigger than a Twinkie. The snout snuffled and wiggled until the hole was big
enough for the piglet to look through. It was possibly the cutest thing she’d ever seen. Unfortunately.

Still, you had to work with what you had.

Before she could march out onto the stage, Tanner stopped her. “Isabel.”

He didn’t even touch her, but something in his voice made her insides tingle with warmth. She stopped and turned back toward him. “Yeah?”

“Before you go out there,” he began, and despite herself, she stepped closer. “You said you needed to take care of this first”—his voice dropped lower—“but I need you to know, I broke up with Germaine. The same day we kissed, I ended it. I never should have been with her in the first place. Not when I felt this way about you.”

Izzy’s mouth was suddenly dry. She couldn’t talk. Couldn’t even breathe. All she could do was just stare at him, mouth slightly agape, simultaneously wishing that this moment could stretch on forever and that she could rewind it and play it over and over again in her mind.

He raised his eyebrows, clearly waiting for a response from her. After an endless second, he grinned as if enjoying her stunned silence. Then he reached out his hand and gently nudged her jaw to close her mouth.

Finally, she said, “You broke up with Germaine?” She swallowed past her suddenly dry mouth. “Because of how you feel about
me
?”

Tanner’s lips twisted into a smile. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you say that the other day?”

He ducked his head, his expression suddenly sheepish. “I think I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm on your part.”

“I—” The backpack gave a wiggle in her arms. She glanced out toward the stage. “I need—”

“I know. You need to get out there. Just know that I’ll be here when you’re done.”

Suddenly, the assembly could wait. Not forever, but surely long enough for one kiss.

She rose up on her toes and pulled Tanner’s mouth down to hers. His hand slipped into her hair to cradle her head as his lips moved slowly over hers. The feel of that kiss was everything she’d ever wanted. Sweeter and more poignant than their first kiss had been, because this wasn’t about points or the IKC. Because this wasn’t getting over River or being noticed. Because this was only about him and her and the sweet possibility of a thousand more kisses to come. And because this time, there was nothing between them. Nothing except …

The backpack gave a sharp squirm.

Nothing except the pig.

Tanner pulled back, smiling. Trailing his fingers down her arm to her hand, he gave it a little squeeze. “Go get ’em, Isabel.”

Before she could talk herself into ditching the pig and just spending the rest of the day kissing Tanner, she charged out onstage, the pig in the backpack banging against her hips as she dashed for the microphone.