Storm Warning (13 page)

She’d spent more time at The Ridge this summer than she ever had. And the past few times, Hayden had been there right along with her. They talked. It felt…real. Like they were becoming friends. Then he’d pulled that cocky crap on her. She huffed out a breath as she headed to her truck. She was going to drive over in case he didn’t show. She didn’t like to walk back home in the dark.

In fact
, she reassured herself,
it’s probably better if he doesn’t show. Maybe he got the hint today.
She wasn’t at all impressed with the whole spoiled brat persona. Or with the dual personality thing. Her father had done that
—
pretended to be a loving father and devoted husband, then bam. Turned out he’d had a slut on the side.

And he hadn’t even called to say hello or ask about seeing her or anything. Nothing. One apologetic phone call after he’d left and then nothing.

Well, she was done with two-faced liars. Coop had nearly kissed her then called the idea of being attracted to her incestuous. Hayden chatted easily about how funny his grandparents were and then acted like an ass.

Done.
I’m done
, she told herself. She’d just live vicariously through Lynlee’s hot surfer boy stories. A summer romance of her own was out of the question.

Until she pulled up at The Ridge and her headlights caught the silhouette of a tall brooding boy she’d just sworn she was done with.

H
ER
headlights nearly blinded him. Hayden raised a hand to his eyes to shield them from the glare. But as soon as they shut off, he lowered it so he could fully appreciate how gorgeous she was as she got out of the truck.

Never in all his seventeen years had he seen anything like her.

She was bold, sassy, and smart-mouthed as hell. And she didn’t take any shit, not even from him.

His grandfather had warned him about her. But all the warnings in the world wouldn’t have kept him away.

In Summit Bluffs, she’d have been laughed at for her cut-off shorts and flannel, plaid button-up shirt. And those boots. Cami and her friends would have a field day calling EJ a hillbilly ho. But damn if she didn’t make his mouth water. She approached him with a swagger in her hips that made his dick twitch. Tilting her head to the side, she handed him a bag.

“It’s still not a date.”

Pull it together, Prescott
. He nodded, eyeing her toned backside as she lowered the tailgate of her old-as-dirt truck. She hopped up on it and ignored him.

“Permission to come aboard?”

There, that got a tiny smile out of her.

“Permission granted,” she answered with an eye roll.
Even her eye rolls are adorable.
Hayden wanted to slap himself. He never thought of girls as adorable. He never even thought the
word
adorable. Girls were hot. Or sexy. Or do-able. Or none of the above. Period.

But Ella Jane Mason was all of those. Adorable. Intimidating. Sexy.

And one he didn’t want to think about. Innocent.

She practically had virgin stamped on her forehead. And he had a hard rule about virgins. They were a no-fly zone. As in, his fly did not go anywhere near them. Virgins got attached. Virgins expected their first time to
mean
something. If there was one thing he didn’t do, it was meaningful sex.

He’d seen enough of his friends get stalked by psycho freshmen they’d nailed to know he wanted no part of that. He and Cami had a good thing going. They did it when they felt like it. Whenever it was convenient. The few girls he messed around with on the side were just that
—a
few girls who’d made their interest in him obvious. And okay, a few who were older than girls.

His cousin Brett was a junior at OSU, and he’d tagged along to a few frat parties. He’d always been offered what he wanted on a silver platter.

And he’d never felt bad about taking what he wanted.

Until now. Until bright blue eyes regarded him warily. Like she had him all figured out already and she wasn’t amused.

“So you were kind of a dick today,” Ella Jane informed him.

He nearly choked on the bite of sandwich he’d been about to swallow. “And yet, you cooked for me.”

“Um, no. I threw some cold cuts on bread. Which I totally would have inhaled myself if you hadn’t shown up.”

He couldn’t help but smile. Ella Jane Mason didn’t play games. She didn’t beat around the bush or go out of her way to be cute. She didn’t play coy or worry about what anyone would think about her. She told it like it was. He loved that about her. Almost as much as he loved those smooth, tan legs swinging off the tailgate. “Why would you think I wasn’t going to show up?”

She shrugged in response. “I guess I don’t know what to expect from people anymore. Sometimes people say one thing and do another. Or they do one thing and say another.”

He chewed and tried to work out what she was talking about. He had a feeling she was talking about her brother’s buddy. God, he was really hating Joe. Dude came and went, mostly when her brother was in town. But when he came around, Ella Jane stood up and took notice. Even when she was trying to pretend she didn’t, he could tell that she did. They had a history or something. Even if the guy was too chicken to admit it to her brother.

He could almost respect that the guy was putting bros before hos and all that, but Ella Jane was no ho. Not that he himself was going to be giving her big-ass brother the four-one-one on how interested he was in her. Kyle Mason was good and ripped, and he had that I’ll-beat-your-ass-for-breathing look down to an art form. Getting into it with him would probably suck for the other guy. And no girl was worth a busted face.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to be all Whiny McWhinerson about it. Just been a weird summer.”

Hayden grinned as he reached for his water bottle. “Naw, I get it. People are shady.” He took a swig of water and watched her watching him. “But I can promise you this, angel face. If I say I’ll show, then I’ll show. I’m a lot of things, but an outright liar isn’t one of them.”

“Good to know,” she said with a small nod. “I’m kind of over liars at the moment.”

“So does that mean you’re under me?” He smirked, anticipating the solid arm smack she gave. He had to watch himself with her. Had to play it just right so things stayed light. Last thing he needed was to be spilling his guts about his parents, the pressure, and the crap his dad had him involved in to her. He had to pull back and piss her off so she wouldn’t give him that look she sometimes did. That ‘I will let you kiss me if you do it right now’
look.

“Only in your dreams, City Boy.” She threw a chip at him, which turned into him trying to catch them in his mouth. After they wasted half the bag, he heard the low rumble. Or more, he felt it.

“It’s coming,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her down off the tailgate. “We better hurry.”

She didn’t hesitate. Didn’t ask any questions. Didn’t squeal about getting her hair messed up or her shoes dirty. They ran down the hill, wind chafing their faces as they did. The craziest part? She didn’t let go of his hand.

Hayden Prescott had never thought a girl holding his hand would make his heart race. But it was pounding in his chest when the sound of steel and wood slamming together hammered down on them.

She ran ahead of him, almost a foot too close to the boxcars blowing by them. He didn’t know if it was the vibration of the train flying past or if she was trembling when he pulled her back and into his arms. “Careful. Jesus.” He held her close, watching as she closed her eyes and smiled. Her face held a peaceful bliss he’d never known. “Tell me why you come here. Why you do this.”

“Reminds me that I’m alive,” she breathed out in excitement. “That I won’t always be stuck in the same place, won’t be the same person forever.”

Her words sent his world spinning off its axis in overdrive.

That was exactly the same reason he couldn’t stop edging so close to the line when it came to making a move on her.

B
Y
the time the train disappeared from sight and they made it back up to her truck, he’d regained most of his equilibrium. Sort of.

“Did you walk?”

“Huh?”
She means here, idiot.
“Yeah, yeah I did. My car is in the shop and my grandparents just have the one truck.”

“I can give you a ride home…if you want.”

Typically, this was the part where he acted like an ass, made an inappropriate comment about how he knew she wanted to give him a “ride” all right. But she was still holding his hand. And he just couldn’t bring himself to ruin it yet. So he just said, “Sure. ’Preciate it.”

The tension in the truck cab was so thick it nearly suffocated him. At least she’d finally let go of his hand. Though his palm still felt like he’d grabbed a live wire while soaking wet. He’d actually touched one of the underground lines when he’d dug too close to one at work and it had shocked the shit out of him. Almost literally.

“So, um, thanks for coming tonight.”

He cleared his throat. Again, perfect opening for him to say something dickish. And yet, he didn’t. “Yeah, it was fun. We still on for the Fourth?”

“I’ll be there.” He watched as she shrugged. “Always am.”

“Guess I’ll see you then.”

At that, she laughed. “Hayden, I’ll see you at work on Monday. The Fourth isn’t until Tuesday.”

He shook his head at his own stupidity. This girl did serious damage to his game. As in, he had none around her. The way his name sounded in her mouth made him uneasy. He liked it. Way, way too much.

He’d wanted a lot of things in his life. A new car, the latest cell phone or whatever gadget was better than the ones the other guys had, the hottest girl in the room just because. But he’d never wanted anything as bad as he wanted to kiss that mouth. Her naturally pouty lips practically begged him to. But they were pulling up in his grandparents’ driveway so it was time. Time for him to say something stupid so she wouldn’t go home thinking there was more to this than there actually was.

But when he opened his mouth, all that came out was, “Night, Ella Jane.”

S
UNDAY,
he thought he wouldn’t see her. His grandparents had dragged him to church on the one day he should’ve been able to sleep in. But it turned out to be worth it.

As he stepped out of the small, white building with his grandma on his arm, Ella Jane Mason slowed to a stop and turned his way.

“Mornin’, City Boy,” she drawled with a wink that made his knees go weak. “You come to repent for using the Lord’s name in vain?”

He took in her short, flowery dress and the fact that she even wore her cowgirl boots to church, and the images assaulting his mind gave him a whole other list of things to ask forgiveness for.

“Hayden Tanner Prescott, have you been using foul language around my sweet little EJ?” his grandma asked as she tightened her grip on his arm.

He grinned, considering telling his grandmother
her EJ
was neither sweet nor little. And if he got his way, which he typically did, she’d be
his EJ
by the end of the summer. “No, ma’am. I have no idea what she’s referring to.” He winked at Ella Jane and jerked his chin up slightly as Joe Dirt appeared beside her.

“Hope the Good Lord doesn’t strike you down for lyin’,” Ella Jane said quietly to him.

Joe ignored his greeting but gave a curt nod to his grandma. “Come on, Ellie May. Mama’s makin’ your favorite lunch. She’s expectin’ us.”

Hayden cut his eyes coolly to Brantley Cooper. So Joe wanted to play this game? Tough. He’d seen the way he wussed out on her and made her cry.
Missed your shot, buddy. Hate that for ya.

He opened his mouth to invite her to have lunch with him and his grandparents instead, but his grandma beat him to it. “EJ, I see you have lunch plans already. Won’t you join us for dinner tonight? Hayden and his grandfather are firing up the grill. And I’ll make that caramel apple pie you love so much.”

Hayden raised a brow and waited for her response. Joe Dirt was breathing a little more heavily, but what could he do? They were at church, and no one argued with his grandma. Not even him.