Page 10 of Big Deal Sweetheart

Looking at his empty plate, she was seriously amazed to see that he had eaten his entire order. She looked up to find his gaze on her, their eyes meeting. His dark blue holding her as if she was a prisoner. Goodness, she needed to find a different analogy.

“I burn a lot of calories in the gym even on vacation.” He nodded at his plate.

“Err, no judgement from me,” she muttered.

“Oh yeah, he can eat like a horse and never seems to get fat. My mom used to complain because she said she could look at chocolate and her hips gained weight.” Delilah snorted a laugh, then an uncomfortable silence descended.

“I will be paying for these for the next week, which reminds me I best go pay for me and my Nana’s pancakes. Thank you both for inviting me to dinner. If I’d have gone home, it would’ve been another casserole made by one of Nana’s friends. Love them ladies to bits, but they’re all about no salt, and I love salt.” Nova winked at Delilah, standing up while she was speaking.

Keifer stood as well. “I’ll take care of your dinner.”

She gave him a smile, dismissing his offer with a little wave of her right hand. “Heavens no. But thank you for the offer. You two enjoy the rest of your evening. Delilah, it was a delight seeing you this afternoon. Remember what I told you about caring for your color. Mr. Sparks, thank you for your understanding, and well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your time here in Sweetheart.”

At the counter, she paid for not only her and her Nana’s meal, but Keifer and Delilah’s too, making sure to leave a nice tip. Heck, it was the least she could do since she’d cut and colored his underage daughter’s hair without permission. “Not my fault,” she muttered under her breath.

Bag in hand, she left without looking backward even though she really wanted to. Heck, she really wanted to get one more glimpse of Keifer and because of that, she hurried down the sidewalk, fighting against the wind. It was cold in New York, but damn, she was sure the cold there compared to Colorado, was totally different. Or maybe it was that she wasn’t really out in the elements when she was in New York, or maybe it was that she was hurrying down the street at night alone, and darn it, that was new.

“Nova, hold up.”

The deep voice from behind her would’ve scared the crap out of her if she’d been anywhere else. A shiver of something she refused to name, sent warmth through her. Slowing her steps, she waited for Keifer to catch up to her before turning. “Hey,” she said, her breath creating a fog between them.

“Why did you pay for our meal?” he growled.

Her shoulders tensed, thinking he’d come after her for a reason other than to yell at her. Good god, this man and his barking was seriously starting to make her think she had something wrong with her. Just like...nope, she refused to think about other assholes. One was enough. “I paid because I wanted to.”

“You didn’t have to do that. I offered to pay for yours. In fact, we invited you to dinner, which means I should’ve paid for yours by all intents and purposes.”

She wanted to laugh but knew his type and didn’t . “Well, next time you can buy,” she offered.

Keifer looked away, their breaths creating fog around them. “Look, I brought my daughter here so she could meet my wife’s family. We aren’t here long. In fact, we’re leave the day after tomorrow. I’m not here for any sort of—entanglement. And you, Nova, are all kinds of entanglements. I think it’s best we part ways now and forget about paybacks.”

It wasn’t as if she didn’t know they were only passing through, most people who came to Sweetheart, Colorado were, but for him to assume she wanted more pissed her off. What the hell did he think she was going to do?

“For your information, Mr. Sparks, I’m not looking for an entanglement either. And for your information, I’m not planning on sticking around Sweetheart for the rest of my life either, so please, stop making assumptions about me. Now, if that was all you had to say, I’d like to get home before me and the pancakes for my Nana become icicles.” She gave an exaggerated shiver for affect. He didn’t need to know that she was leaving next week once her Nana was back on her feet.

“That’s good. I’ll see...goodbye, Nova.” Keifer looked her up and down, then turned back toward the way he came.

Nova was tempted to watch him go, but that would be weak, and she wasn’t that girl anymore. Her time of watching a man walk in and out of her life as if she wasn’t worth more was long gone. Being the girl, whose only worth was staying in the kitchen, cooking up meals, and waiting around for the man of the house to show you attention wasn’t her, not anymore. Hell, she was never that girl even when she tried to be. She’d tried too, all for the ring he’d promised. Her heart was the equity, while he’d promised to love her if she could just do this and be more like that. Being picture perfect nearly drove her insane, while he was anything but perfect, showering other women with the things he’d promised her. Instead, she left, found her own way, and found she was worth more. Thanks to her family and their support, she realized she didn’t need to be a wife and mother to be important. For two years, she’d forgotten that. She’d almost given up being a stylist to the stars, even when she’d already had one foot in the door. It took her four more years to build her business back to where it was now. She would never let a man, any man, bring her back to where she’d been.

The quaint little home her Nana owned was on the edge of town, had been completely redone, but still held the rustic charm that was very much her Nana. At the door, she stomped off the snow from her boots, noticing the light was on in the living room. Her Nana always kept the porch light on for her, but tonight it was off. Alarm slithered down her spine thinking something had happened to the older woman.

“Nana,” she called out as she entered the house, uncaring she was trailing wet snow onto the hardwood floors. “Nana,” she yelled again.

“Child, what’s the matter?”

Nova dropped her arm, the bag with the now cold food nearly forgotten. “Why didn’t you leave the light on for me?”

“Oh shoot, I must’ve forgotten. Alice told me I need to get one of those thermal ones.” Her Nana slowly came hobbling in with the help of the cane.

“You mean solar powered?” Nova hurried over to help the older woman, only to stop at the narrowed-eyed-stare.

“Nova Leigh, you stop right there and take those wet boots off.” Her Nana raised the cane as if she was fending off a lion, making Nova snort.

“You go get off your feet while I clean up my mess and get your food warmed up. What would you like to drink?” she asked, her heart still pounding.

She listened with half an ear while she cleaned up the wet floor, then headed into the kitchen to warm up a plate pancakes and the syrup. Although there were little squares of butter in the bag, Nova smeared the kind her Nana preferred on the cakes, then carried them along with a tray, into the living room. Although the house was small, it was open and inviting. “Here you go.”

“You’re a good girl, Nova. Now, tell me all about your date.”

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