Page 14 of Dirty Secret

Just as I was about to eat my feelings one more time, the doorbell rang.

Dusting the crumbs off my shirt, hoping I didn't look as pathetic as I felt, I made my way to the front door. Through the peephole I saw the man himself. He had to have an extra sense to know when people were talking about him.

I swung the door wide. "Felipe, how nice of you to drop by."

"I figured you were in dire need of help." He pushed past, making his way to the kitchen.

I hadn't completely closed the door before I heard him yell back, "My God, Heidi, snickerdoodles! I figured it was bad, but not snickerdoodle bad."

I shuffled toward the kitchen, unsure of what "cure" Felipe would offer to help what ails me. His arms wrapped around me before I made it back to my cookie stool. He was warm, and it was comforting that he always knew what I needed.

"There, there, little-one-with-no-game." He rocked me back and forth like a baby.

His not-so-subtle comment irritated me. I pushed away from him and sat my sorry ass on the stool. My fingers reached for a cookie. The cookie wouldn't snark me. I heaved it into my mouth and savored the sweetness before denying Felipe's saltiness. "I've got game."

Felipe reached over the counter to pick up a napkin, handing it to me. "Your face is covered in crumbs."

I snatched it out of his hand, wiping away my remorse. He arched one eyebrow and pointed to my forehead. I scowled but rubbed there too.

Staring at the paper napkin, speckled with sugar and cinnamon, it was time to admit defeat. "How did you know?"

"Heidi, I've seen you around men you were interested in since James Nelson's party in tenth grade. Your flirting technique has barely improved since. Heck, ripping your jeans sneaking out probably improved your chances, but then you had to bring the cookies."

"One," I held up a finger, "everyone ate them, and two, I'm the one who got invited to James' party, so it's not like he didn't like me."

I had to defend my teenage honor. Flirting may not be my strong suit, but at least some guys found me attractive.

"But what teenager shows up to an underage drinking party with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies?"

"The plate was empty within minutes of our arrival."

"Everyone thought you baked pot into them, Heidi! They were pissed when they found out the cookies were just cookies," he said before reaching for one of my snickerdoodles.

I raised my eyebrow at him.

"What?" He shrugged. "I never said your cookies weren't good. They just aren't seductive. This isn't the eighteen hundreds." Felipe nibbled the cookie.

"Fine. Maybe I do need help. But I think he likes that sort of thing."

"What sort of thing?"

"A woman with a nineteenth-century frame of mind." I sighed remembering my boring yet surprisingly hot fantasy about Max. "You know what happens when I get nervous . . ."

Felipe grabbed my upper arms after he raced to my side, tilting his hip onto the stool. "Heidi, no. How bad did your ramblings get? Please tell me you didn't discuss child labor laws of the early twentieth-century again."

Nibbling on my bottom lip, I stared at his pale blue polo shirt, refusing to gaze up into a face of pity. "I think it would have been better if that subject had come up. Like I said, I believe he likes a woman with the personality of a robot. He didn't find any of my jokes funny."

"Because they aren't."

My head shot up to find concern etched in his features. "Anyway, he asked me to leave when we went up to my bedroom to work on the master bathroom. I could tell he was growing tired of me helping."

"And that tool set we picked out, did it come in handy?"

I heard the hope woven into his words and knew he wouldn't like what I had to say. "Yes, but he didn't like it when I tried to have a conversation with him. He gave me a lot of short answers. Like he wanted to be polite because I was paying him, but he didn't want to talk with me."

"And?" He knew I was holding back the worst part.

"And . . . when I brought up porn, he stared at me like I was a space alien about to melt his brain."

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