Page 21 of Faking it with the Bad Boy Bikers

Dana dropped my bag of food on the counter and brought me back to reality. I sat up straighter and forced myself to stay on my own stool, in my own space.

“Get on home, Nellie. I have a feeling Waylan turns into a monster if she gets too hungry.” He pulled out his wallet and dropped several bills on the counter. “I think you got your point across with Mills.”

My mouth dropped. He knew I’d been trying to flirt? Had all of that just been an act? Not wanting to look like an idiot, I snapped my mouth closed and swallowed the surprising ache that formed a lump in my throat. “I think we did… Okay, bye!”

I grabbed the food and booked it out of there. I didn’t realize I was jogging until I was in front of Ms. Vivian’s front door and so out of breath my chest heaved and I popped a button on my old flannel. I bent over and pretended to look for the button but I had my hands on my knees as I sucked in oxygen.

The door was yanked open and Waylan came out with a ferocious sounding roar. “I’m so hungry I could eat Ms. Vivian’s plastic gingerbread figurines!”

And I was back. I wasn’t a woman who flirted until things almost got out of hand. I was Waylen’s Mom.

CHAPTER 17

Nellie

Nothing as intense happened the rest of that week but I did openly flirt, or try to, when I was in town and spotted my neighbors. If I saw one of my brothers, or men I clocked as their ranch hands by the Hellstone logo on their t-shirts, I lingered by Woodrow, Seth, or Henry, and touched them more than I ever would’ve normally. I always left the interactions feeling awkward and embarrassed because I really couldn’t flirt and sometimes the guys just smirked down at me.

Seth was the worst. The times I’d been caught around Seth when it was show time, I’d nearly died of humiliation. He didn’t go all warm and soft the way Henry and Woodrow did. He watched me with those cold blue eyes, assessing and reading me like an open book. An open children’s book, at that. He just watched me while I giggled like a demented doll and petted his muscles. It was awful.

I only kept it up because I could tell I was pissing Mills off. Vera had even called to tell me that Mills called her and ranted for half an hour about the women in our family. Well. I also kept it up because when the guysdidflirt back, it was exhilarating. It was like stepping into the sunshine after a very long and gray winter.

I was like an addict seeking out one more time in the sun. That was why I couldn’t help myself, even if I wasn’t sure my brothers were around to notice. Even with Seth.

It was only after four other times of feeling like an idiot in front of Seth that I finally got a different response from him. I caught him coming out of the Sheriff’s station, distracted by the phone in his hand. If I was being honest, I’d admit I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of my brothers. Ihadseen Stephanie Holcomb spot Seth from across the street and hike her tits up to her chin. Ifelt an unwelcome wave of jealousy as she’d started to walk over but I didn’t fight it.

I closed the distance between Seth and myself just a few seconds before Stephanie and reached up to lightly tug on his beard. “Hey.”

It wasn’t my fault. Yes, I was acting like a lunatic but Stephanie Holcomb had stolen my boyfriend in the fourth grade and I’d never forgotten it.

Seth grunted, his eyes hard until he noticed Stephanie. Then those ice blue eyes melted and his mouth softened as he wrapped his arm around my waist. “Hey. I was just coming to find you.”

I felt as proud as a peacock under that warm gaze. “Oh? Aren’t I lucky?”

Stephanie cleared her throat. “Seth! Hi! How are you doing? Are y’all still looking for a secretary for the station?”

I tilted my head as I studied her. I was pretty sure I’d heard she was a dental hygienist.

“No.” Seth looked down at me and the smoldering look he gave me sent my heart racing. His eyes moved from mine down to my mouth and decadently slipped lower to take in my cleavage. The t-shirt I wore had long ago been ripped and it hung off one shoulder, exposing a few inches of my boobs. He licked his lips and tightened his arm around me, seemingly content to just stare at me in silence.

I’d melted. My brain was useless as I let him hold me, not saying a thing back to him. I couldn’t stop watching him watch me. I wanted to yank off my shirt so he could see the rest of me and I could feel that hot gaze everywhere.

“Nellie. I’d heard you were back. What rock did you crawl out from under, girl?” Stephanie was still there.

I flinched at the reminder and looked at her. “What?”

She let out a cute laugh and lightly brushed her hand over Seth’s arm.Shecould flirt. She had that touch thing down. “Nellie always was a little…spacey? Head in the clouds?”

Seth shocked the hell out of me by gripping the back of my head with his other hand and tugging me into his chest. He held my face there, big hand plastered around my head, and made a low noise at the back of his throat. “Don’t do that. Don’t insult her.”

My arms hung limply at my side as Seth protected me like I was a toddler. At least with my face buried in his chest, I could inhale his warm scent.

“Oh, no! I didn’t mean it like that. I would never!” Stephanie floundered so badly I almost felt bad for her. Almost. “I have to run to the store before I go home. I’ll see you around, Seth.”

The seconds ticked by and Seth still held me tight. It was getting hard to breathe, though, so I gently gripped his sides and pushed myself away. He let me move back a few inches but that was it. I had enough room to tilt my head back so I could see his face. “Seth?”

He looked down at me and his mouth was pressed so tight that the scar across his lips was white. “She was mean to you. For no reason. She’s not even family. It’s not okay when your brothers do it, but at least there’s history there.”

I smiled. “Technically, there’s history with Stephanie, too. She stole my boyfriend in the fourth grade.”

---