Page 14 of Drawn To You (Paloma's Edge 1)

“Yes.” She shrugged. “And his nickname was Porkchop, but he’s not chubby anymore. Pierce calls me Noodles. No one else does. I go by Beth.”

“Duly noted, Beth.”

She bobbed her head. “And Pierce invited you to stay here for the summer?”

“Both he and Mr. Pruitt did. I was gonna do some construction and rent a room for the summer. I had my finals early and I’ve been here for a month and some days.”

I studied her and she averted her gaze. The flush on her neck worked its way up to her face.

I helped her clean up and my eyes were fixated when she caught her lower lip in her teeth. The thought of skimming my fingers on her arms crossed my mind. And then I heard footsteps.

Chapter 4

Bethany

“Bethany, is that you?”

“Yes,” I replied, unsure who it was until Aunt Deborah came into view in an appropriately lightweight suit and sunglasses that made her look glamorous. Her pale blond hair was cut into a chic bob, a sophisticated style change from the luxurious long hair she’d had years ago.

Chase moved out of the way and gave us some space.

“Hi, Aunt Deborah.”

“Bethany!” She appeared to shake her head in disbelief. Dropping her shopping bags, she came toward me and embraced me firmly. I wounded my arms around her.

Someone dropped something from behind us and Aunt Deborah turned around, clutching her chest. “Cassie, you scared the living daylights out of me.”

“Sorry, Mother,” Cassidy said. She strode towards me and gave me an air kiss on each side of my face.

Aunt Deborah rolled her eyes and tilted her head to Chase. “We appreciate you getting Bethany for us. You’ve been a lifesaver.”

“You’re very welcome, Mrs. Pruitt.”

“Yes, you’re always so helpful,” Cassidy chimed in. “And it doesn’t go unnoticed.” She flicked her gaze to me again. “How’ve you been, Beth?”

“Let me help you with those bags, Mrs. Pruitt,” Nancy said as she came out of nowh

ere, and quickly walked past everyone to retrieve the shopping bags.

“Mine are over there.” Cassidy lifted her chin where tons of her shopping bags were in the distance. I forgot about them when I saw her. She was as beautiful as I thought she’d be. Her eyes were a much lighter shade of blue than Aunt Deborah’s. Like Mariska, she could also be a model. She was tall and lithe, but she didn’t have a guitar shape like Mariska.

“Have you lost your mind?” Aunt Deborah scoffed. “Cassidy Angus Pruitt, get your ass over there and get your bags yourself, or I’ll return the purchases tomorrow.”

Groaning, Cassidy moved away from me and went to her bags. I began helping her but Aunt Deborah took my arms in hers and I walked in time with her toward the steps. I quickly looked over my shoulder. Chase took most of those huge bags from Nancy like they weighed nothing. Petulantly, Cassidy carried her own shopping bags.

***

Aunt Deborah was more excited than Nancy had been to see how I’d like the guestroom that they decorated for me. My name was written in script over the pillowcases and there was a board above my bed with my name written in script in light shades of brown and pink as well. There were two humungous stuffed teddy bears on each side of the king-size bed. Aunt Deborah had two phones ringing at once when she excused herself and said that she’d return.

God, I was just like Cindy. Once a hot guy gave me some attention, I lost all my sense. He had acted like he wanted to hang out. And now I felt unsure of myself. I really liked how Chase had been treating me so far, and how I felt around him. I didn’t see him even look at Cassidy once, and while I wasn’t homely, by no means did I compare to Cassidy. And maybe Chase was perfectly cool with being friends with an ordinary girl. With me. I hadn’t had sex in a while. I guess my hormones needed to learn that I was the boss.

“Uh oh.” Aunt Deborah slowly closed the door. I didn’t hear her come into my room. “Thinking about your mother?” She had a sympathetic expression on her face.

“I was,” I admitted, but I wasn’t thinking about Cindy in the way that she thought I was.

Aunt Deborah sat on the chair by the wide desk directly across from the door. “You didn’t see her before she left Franklin Parks?” she asked gently, but I still heard some judgment in her voice.

“I didn’t.”

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