No Love Allowed (Dodge Cove Trilogy #1) (11 page)

When she sighed, her shoulders slumped slightly. “I don’t hold on to grudges. I know Caleb meant well. Doesn’t mean it was okay.”

“At least keep the art supplies. He stayed at the art store until closing putting all this together for you.” He lifted the basket as if to prove his point. “As revenge, I say
make him pose for you naked.”

She tapped her cheek, considering, then a wicked smile spread across her face. “I like this idea. I like it a lot.” Remembering her manners, and mentally thanking herself for the
general cleaning she had done the day before, she stepped out of the way. “Come inside. Do you want something to drink?”

“Where do you want this?” he asked as he followed in after her.

“Oh . . .” She did a quick scan of the living room. “The coffee table is fine.” She indicated the squat table she and her mom had found for ten dollars at a flea market.
It was currently cluttered with fashion magazines.

“This is your house?” He set the basket on top of the magazines. The skepticism was unmistakable in his voice.

“Yup,” she said simply.

“It’s so . . . cozy.” Nathan looked around and spotted the carousel painting. “Is this the one from the garden party?”

“Just finished it today.” She stood beside her latest masterpiece.

He bent down for a closer look. “You have an eye for detail. The horses are beautifully done.”

Stuffing her hands in her pockets again, she rocked on the balls of her feel. “It’s still wet so be careful not to get paint on you.”

Taking her advice, he moved away from the painting. An almost awkward silence hung between them. Didi waited, but it didn’t seem like Nathan had any intention of going anywhere.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not here just to bring over the art supplies?” she finally asked.

“Where’s your room?”

“Why do you want to see my room?” A tiny bit of dread fell like a stone in her stomach. The complete seriousness in Nathan’s tone made her nervous.

He crossed his arms and gave her the same assessing glance he had treated her to when they first met. “I guess you can say I’m on an exploratory mission.” He raised a hand.
“Now, before you say anything, I’m here as a friend looking out for your best interest. There are many more events before this summer is over, and Caleb and I had a little talk. . .
.”

“You want to see if I have things to wear for all of them,” she filled in the blank.

“You’re getting it.” He smiled. “I just want to save you from a repeat of last time. I don’t think Caleb would survive. Will you let me help you, Didi? I promise, I
come in peace.” He touched the center of his chest with one hand and raised the other as if he was about to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

All the blood rushed from her face to settle at the pads of her feet. Compared to his twin’s closet, hers might as well be a trash can. “No, thanks. I think I’ll shield you
from my closet. There are just some things you can’t unsee.”

Gasping in horror, he asked, “That bad?”

She nodded once.

Nathan closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. When he looked at her again, he lifted his chin. “I think I can handle it.”

Admiring his bravery, she sighed and gestured for him to follow her.

“It really can’t be that bad, can it?”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

She could almost hear him pause when she led the way into the kitchen and saved him from having to ask by saying, “Yes, my bedroom is beside the kitchen.”

“I wasn’t going to say—” The annoyed glance she gave him from over her shoulder cut him off. “All right, so I was going to say something about it.”

Laughing, she pushed the door open and led him inside. From her bedspread to her walls, Didi’s room was a riot of color. And a complete mess. Never expecting company in there, she hardly
bothered picking up after herself. More magazines littered the floor, opened to the editorial spreads that she liked best. At least she had made the bed that morning.

Nathan stopped at the threshold. It was obvious from his expression that he had wanted to hold in the gasp that had escaped his mouth but was unable to stop himself in time. Poor guy looked pale
for a second before he steeled himself by squaring his shoulders and marched straight for her closet.

“I call it living in ordered chaos,” she teased.

“I like the paint samples on the wall,” he said as he pulled open the doors and assessed the clothing inside.

She dropped to her bed and shrugged, letting him do his thing as he pulled out a white crochet dress she had found at the same flea market the couch came from. “They’re free. Thought
I’d make a collage out of them.” And she had. Creating a sort of gradation from light to dark along one side of the wall. It had taken several trips to the hardware store to complete
it.

Nathan returned the dress and pulled out another one with a huge picture of a cat on the front. “And where would you wear something like this?”

The shock in his question broke her carefully constructed mask of indifference. She laughed so hard, she almost fell off her bed. She hugged herself and rolled around on the mattress.

“You think this is funny?”

Only the genuine concern behind his annoyance was what made her settle down. “Sorry. Sorry.”

He scowled at her before glancing back and dropping the dress he held with a yelp. “Oh God!” He turned away from her closet completely, his face a scrunched-up mess.

“What?” Didi shot up and grabbed his arms, all humor gone. “You didn’t see a mouse in there, did you?”

“Worse!” He stared into her eyes. “Polyester.”

She dropped her arms to her sides and sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. This was just ridiculous at this point. “I know you’re only trying to help, but I think it’s pretty
clear that I have nothing in there that will pass. I think I have a fifty lying around somewhere. We can go to the thrift store—”

Nathan shook his head, shooting down the idea faster than a sniper. “For the events ahead? A thrift store isn’t going to cut it.”

“Then what?”

“You have to let me shop for you.”

“No.” She backed away. “Absolutely not.”

“Please don’t tell me this is about the money.”

“Of course it is.”

“Honey.” He placed his hands on his hips. “I get it. You don’t take handouts. But you also need to understand that you committed yourself to helping Caleb. Do you want to
let him down?”

That cut her stubbornness in half. “No, of course not.”

Nathan took her hands in his, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Then you need to let me dress you.”

“Nate—”

“Please, Didi. It hurts less if you stop struggling. Trust me.”

“Rich people.” She shook her head in disbelief. A part of her was amused, while the other part knew she would never win so she might as well give in.

Didi led the way into the Greasy Spoon for a late lunch. She kept her hands in her pockets. The shakes had started on the way over. She didn’t want Nathan to see. In her
mind she figured she was killing two birds with one diner. She would have the chili and introduce her companion to her mother. Hopefully meeting Nathan would go a long way with smoothing things
over about the whole summer-with-a-friend thing. Spotting an empty booth, she made a beeline for it and slid onto one of the benches.

“Are you sure about this?” Nathan asked as he slid in after her.

“A little diner food won’t kill you,” she said, satisfied with her form of revenge. “Be thankful I didn’t bring you to McDonald’s.”

He gasped. “I heard about that as well.”

“This must be Caleb.” Her mom smiled when she reached their table.

“Mom.” Didi beamed, passing the menu she was handed to her personal-shopper-turned-lunch-companion. “I wanted to introduce you to Nathan, Caleb’s cousin.”

“Hello, Mrs. Alexander,” Nathan said, sliding out of the booth and taking her mother’s hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. Didi neglected to tell me that you worked
here.”

“I think I know where this is going.” Her mother leaned around Nathan and gave Didi a pointed stare. Didi stuck the tip of her tongue out. “My daughter wants to put me at ease
with the idea of her being your cousin’s date for the summer.”

“Please know that we would never put Diana in harm’s way. I will make sure that Caleb treats her with respect. My cousin is in your daughter’s debt. Thank you for allowing her
to assist him.”

“I’m not allowing anything,” she said. Her eyebrows came together, forming an all-too-familiar crease. Didi thought she had done the wrong thing by bringing Nathan to the diner
until her mother sighed. “My daughter does what she wants. My role as a mother is to worry and be there for her when she needs me. I trust she’s doing the right thing by helping your
cousin. Is he with you today?”

“Caleb is currently at his father’s law firm,” Nathan said smoothly. “He’s a summer intern there. But I could easily give him a call and he can be here in half an
hour.”

She shook her head and plastered on her server smile. “Let’s not take him away from work. I’m sure I’ll meet him when the time comes.” The last part she said to
Didi directly.

“You’ll meet him, Mom.” She crossed her heart. “I promise.”

“Well, then take your seat.” Her mother gestured at the booth. “I’ll give you a moment to read the menu and will be back to take your orders.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Alexander,” Nathan said, which sent Didi into a fit of giggles.

When he sat back down, she said, “You look like you were about to keel over.”

“Please don’t spring a surprise like that on me again,” he admonished, rubbing his forehead. “I like to be prepared when meeting the parents.”

Her giggles turned into full-on laughter. “Now we’re even for backing me into a corner about what to wear for the events.”

ON THE DAY
of the next event, Caleb showed up at Didi’s door with shopping bags in his hands and a delicious frown on
his face. Having tucked away all portraits of him into her art room, she stepped aside and let him in. Could anyone say “Here we go again”?

“You’re not answering any of my texts,” he said, entering the living room and scanning the space.

“Looking for something?” she asked, arms crossed.

“It’s so . . . cozy.”

She sighed, suspecting the word
cozy
was code for something less polite. “Nathan said the same thing.”

He studied the frames on the mantel above the tiny fireplace until his gaze landed on her sunflower painting hanging on the wall. For several minutes, she observed Caleb staring at her work. He
looked ridiculous with those shopping bags still in his hands. He looked polished in jeans, a plaid shirt, and boots, but still ridiculous.

“You painted this?” He faced her and tipped his head toward the framed canvas.

“A couple years back. I was totally obsessed with van Gogh. Still am, actually.”

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘You cannot paint . . . ,’ ” he said.

Flutters like butterfly wings tickled her belly when she finished, “ ‘Then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.’ That’s from my favorite quote of
his.”

“Why aren’t you answering my texts?” He faced her fully, expectation in the seriousness of his gaze. “Did you get the art supplies? Nathan said he’d given them to
you.”

“Thank you for those. And you know I’m totally painting you naked, right? Nathan approves.”

He paled. “Please don’t tell me you’re serious.”

“Oh!” She circled a finger over his face. “Just for that look of horror I’m totally making you do it. And you can’t back down because that is my price for all
this.”

“Didi—”

“Wait here.” She left him in the living room. Let him stew over her evil plans. The guy deserved to squirm. Entering the kitchen, she veered into her room and snatched the phone from
her dresser. When she returned, she found Caleb standing in the exact same spot she had left him. “You actually waited.”

His lips twisted. “You said wait. I do know how to follow orders.”

Not sure if he’d meant it as a joke, she didn’t bother responding. Instead she handed him the phone. “I never got any texts. I forgot to grab the charger.”

Caleb settled the bags on the floor and took the phone from her as his sexy frown returned.

She shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t need one. You can have that back. Anyway, like you said, this is only for the summer. That phone is no better than a paperweight after you leave.
No one’s paying the bill.”

He opened his mouth as if to argue. She waited. Closing his mouth and swallowing, he scratched the back of his head and pocketed the phone. “Fine.”

“You know where I live anyway. It’s not like I’ve got anywhere else to go.” She moved to a pad her mom used for notes hanging on the wall by the front door and scribbled
her home number at the bottom, then tore the piece off. “If you really need to reach me, call the landline.”

Taking the paper as he had the phone, he stared at the digits for a moment, then snorted. “
Landline.
Haven’t heard that word in a while.”

“I’m so not getting into another fight with you about being poor,” she said.

As if he caught her drift, he picked up the shopping bags and handed them to her. “These are from Nathan. He said you agreed to him shopping for you. Today’s event is
themed.”

She gave him a look. Not like she had been given any other choice in the matter. She suspected Nathan had boa constrictor DNA in his blood. Once you were in his clutches, he would never let
go.

“Please don’t fight me on this, Didi.”

“Since you said
please.
”

“Just wear what’s in those bags, and let’s go.”

She would have rolled her eyes at him, but she was too curious about the contents of the bags. Leaving him again in the living room, she hurried back to her room and placed the bags on her bed.
She upended the first one.

A rain of brand-new cosmetics and hair products bounced and scattered on her mattress—everything Nathan had taught her how to use for the garden party. Then she peeked inside the second
bag.