Storm Warning (16 page)

“W
HAT’D
you do to her?” Hayden felt his temper flare as Ella Jane blew past him with tears in her eyes.

“What the hell are you talking about? And since when is she any of
your
business?” Joe Dirt eyed him from head to toe and back up again, sizing him up. Hayden stepped down off the porch, unwilling and unable to back down.

“I’m talking about how every time you come around she ends up in tears. You got a real way with the ladies, Joe.”

“Name’s Cooper, not Joe.”

“I know. I just don’t give a shit.”

Both boys stood there, toe to toe, shoulders squared, gazes even. It was Cooper who broke the intense silence.

“Maybe you should be a little more worried about your job as the Masons’ Bitch Boy and less about what’s going on between me and Ellie May.”

Hayden smirked. “Last I checked, her name was Ella Jane and there wasn’t much of anything going on between the two of you. Unless you count you wussing out in front of her brother. Which I am counting on. Very much.”

Coop responded through gritted teeth. “You don’t know a damn thing about her.”

“I know she’s had enough of your bullshit. You probably remind her of her sorry-ass dad, unable to man up when it really matters. Pardon me if I don’t ask for your advice where she’s concerned. You’re two for two far as I can tell.” Hayden sighed. In his head, he’d already won. All Joe Dirt did was upset her. And if good old Joe was all this worked up by him, this threatened, then what more proof did he need?

“You lay a hand on her and I swear to God I’ll—”

“You’ll what, farm boy? Go cry to daddy? What’s he going to do about it? My granddad owns your whole family.” Joe was resorting to idle threats. Victory was his.

Cooper’s eyes widened. Hayden rolled his. Speaking of the old devil, his grandfather had just arrived to pick him up from work.
Perfect timing, Pops.

“Kyle Mason will tear you apart with his bare hands.”

Yeah, Hayden knew that was a possibility. But he could hold his own when that obstacle presented itself. Taking a deep breath, he started to walk past Coop then turned back at the last second. “That’s the difference between you and me, Joe. I don’t decide how I feel about her based on what anyone else may or may not do. And when I get a shot at what I want, I don’t let it pass me by.” Just because he was still riled a little by Coop’s bowing up on him, Hayden took a parting shot. “Well, that, and I don’t go begging for handouts either.”

“W
HAT
was that all about?” his grandpa asked when he climbed in the cab of the truck. “You and the Cooper boy having a disagreement?”

“Naw. Just a friendly discussion.” Truth was, Hayden wasn’t proud of the last words he’d said. Not that he’d take them back. Joe was a thorn in his side and he wanted to rip it out and crush it to dust. But something was nagging at the back of his mind. He knew if Ella Jane had heard him say that, she would’ve been disgusted by him. Jesus. He actually cared what a girl thought about him. What the hell was the world coming to?

“Oh yeah? What about?” His grandpa cut his sharp gaze from the back window to him.

“Nothing, Pops. Guy stuff.”

“I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, Pretty Boy. Guy stuff my old ass. I’d bet my life savings that was about girl stuff.”

Hayden couldn’t help but laugh. “You still got it, Old Timer. I don’t know. I guess Joe Dirt back there is jealous because Ella Jane pays more attention to me than him. Who can blame her?”

“Damn straight I still got it.” His grandpa’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as he continued. “You listen to me, Hayden Tanner. The Coopers are good people. They’re hardworking and they know the meaning of family, of loyalty. More than I can say for your folks half the time, and one of them’s my own blood. And I like you, son. I do. But I’d give two of you for one Brantley Cooper any day.”

Hayden felt like he’d been slapped across the face. The high he was on from telling Joe off evaporated instantly. He swallowed his wounded pride, but it didn’t go down easily. “Wow, Pops. That’s nice to hear.”

“Just shootin’ straight. Now, you stop worrying about which one of you is getting more grins from little EJ Mason and buckle your ass down and work? Then I might change my position. We clear?”

“Yes sir,” Hayden choked out.

“C
OME
on, Belle. We aren’t on house arrest. Or wait…are you?” He smirked at the girl sitting with her feet in the pool. He wasn’t even supposed to be here tonight. Not for work anyways.

“Maybe I am. What’s the matter?” Cami lifted her chin in defiance. “Bored of me already?”

Kyle rolled his eyes and stepped over to her. Crouching down, he stared into her warm gaze. “Never.” He kissed her softly on the mouth while pulling her hand to his. “It’s the Fourth. I finally have a four-day weekend. And I want to show you something. Something special.” Brushing his lips across her knuckles, he gave her his best pleading puppy-dog face. “Please? If anyone deserves special, it’s you.”

“You and your lines. One day they’re going to stop working on me,” she informed him. Leaning a few inches out of reach of his mouth, she took a second to check out what he was wearing. Khaki shorts and a blue button-down. With his sleeves rolled up the way they were, she could see just enough of his forearms to make her want to feel his arms around her. It was a lot different from what she usually saw him in. She didn’t think it was possible for him to be any more appealing to her and yet…Kyle Mason in nice clothes was pretty hot.

“Is today that day?” he asked, jutting out his bottom lip.

Cami had to think for a second to remember what he was asking about. “No, probably not,” she answered, taking his hand as he helped her to stand up. “So where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise. You’ll like it. Promise.”

Her stomach twisted with worry. Where in the world did he want to go? The thought of possibly seeing any one of the dozens of people she’d bragged about going to St. Tropez to made her feel sick.

“Don’t make that face. It’s a date, Cami. It’s the Fourth of July. This is what couples do.” Kyle knocked his forehead gently against hers.

“I can think of something else couples do,” she said softly in her best seductress voice. Letting her hands drop to Kyle’s waist, she let her intense stare bore into his.

“You’re something else, you know that?” He grinned and shook his head. Before she could answer, he kissed her on the mouth. The kind of kiss she was beginning to think only he was capable of. The kind that tingled its way from her lips to her toes.

“You keep doing that and I’m going to show you
something else,
” she purred against his mouth.

“Come on, Belle. Your chariot awaits,” he said as he pulled her away from the pool and toward his black new-ish looking truck.

Reluctantly, and with a silent prayer that no one who thought she was thirty-five hundred miles away from Summit Bluffs saw her, Cami allowed him to lead her out of the safety of her backyard.

“W
OW.
Pinkberry. And we’re going through the drive-thru. You must really like me,” she deadpanned as Kyle drove slowly toward the giant order screen.

He turned and gave her his trademark grin. The one she dreamt about when he was away at camp. “I can’t help it that your lame-ass town doesn’t have a regular ice cream place. But this isn’t the date. This is pre-gaming.”

“Pre-gaming?”

Kyle nodded. “Yep. You know, warming up before the real thing.”

Cami tilted her head to the side. “Warming up with frozen yogurt?”

“Geez, Belle. Give a man a break, will you? If you’re disappointed at the end of the night, I’ll—”

“I doubt I could ever be disappointed. Not with you, anyways,” she admitted so he’d stop torturing himself trying to think of a way to make her happy. She’d pretty much spent her whole life being disappointed by people. Her parents let her down like they were trying to gold medal in it. Hayden was so self-involved that he never paid attention to a word she said unless she was naked—and even then he seemed like he was on a schedule and had to be somewhere else. Even Sophie was destined to walk away sooner or later. But Kyle Mason was different. He seemed to know what she needed before she even did. It actually was pretty nice to finally get out of the house.

“Good,” Kyle breathed out from beside her. “Because the last thing I ever want to do is disappoint you, Belle. It’d be off with my head if I did, right?”

She couldn’t help but giggle. “Something like that.”

“What flavor?” he asked, glancing at the glowing menu next to his window. “Looks like they have a whopping five to choose from. Baskin Robbins it ain’t.”

“Yeah. But this is much better for my figure.”

Kyle stopped to let his eyes roam from her face all the way down to her bare legs. Thank God for sundresses. She nearly melted from the heat in his appreciative gaze. “I’m a big fan of your figure. But I definitely wouldn’t have any complaints about there being a whole lot more of you.”

“Oh more lines,” she said, putting her hand to her forehead and pretending to swoon. “If you keep using them up on me, you’ll run out soon.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Nope. Never. And you’d miss them if I did.”

Shaking her head at his crazy self, she leaned over to glance at her menu options and got a whiff of his cologne. Clean, sweet, and sharp all at once. She fought the urge to inhale as hard as she could.
Don’t be a weirdo, Cami.
“Um, coconut is fine.” Settling back to her side, she enjoyed his lingering scent as he ordered hers and a chocolate banana protein shake for himself.

She twirled a strand of her hair as he paid at the window. “Here you go, Belle,” he said, handing her a cup and a spoon. Just as she turned toward him to take it, she heard a voice that had her blood running colder than the frozen yogurt.

“Oh my god,” a girl’s voice squealed. “Like seriously? Um, you work at a yogurt shop and wear a stupid paper hat. Puh-leeze. I mean, let’s get real.” The over-exaggerated drama queen’s voice grated on Cami’s nerves as it made its way through the open windows.

“That was freaking hilarious. He totally thought you were serious. You are such a biotch, Raquel.”

The three girls walking out of the yogurt shop and in front of the truck broke into a fit of wild laughter.

“Oh shit,” Cami mumbled under her breath. She wanted to hide. To turn invisible instantly or something. If any one of them, Raquel or either of her two stupid minions—Trista and Jen, who were a year younger than them—turned even a quarter of the way to their right, they would see her. Right there in Summit Bluffs. Not in St. Tropez like she’d just been discussing with Raquel on the phone a few hours ago. A cold sweat broke over her skin and she couldn’t swallow.

“Friends of yours?” Kyle asked from beside her, but she could barely hear over the ringing getting louder in her ears.

This was bad. This was ruin-her-life, get-nicknamed-the-girl-who-goes-on-a-fake-vacay, have-to-admit-to-Raquel-that-she’d-lied bad. Raquel was the kind of girl who fed off the pain and misfortune of others. Like a succubus. And that was putting it politely.

The girls took their sweet time crossing the parking lot so Kyle couldn’t drive forward. A horn honked from behind them and Cami didn’t think, she just reacted. Letting the cup of yogurt fall from her hand, she ducked down to retrieve it before it even hit the floormat.

“Oops. Clumsy me. Um, no. Just a girl from school who drives me nuts. If she sees me, she’ll want to know where we’re going and then she’ll invite herself. You know the type.”

“Here, I got it, babe,” Kyle said, reaching down with a handful of napkins to clean up the tiny smidge of yogurt that had actually fallen on his interior. “It’s not a big deal. It needs a good detail anyways.”

“Okay, it’s just…I don’t want it to stain or anything.” She knew she sounded like a complete idiot, and the fact that she was still ducking down made matters worse. “Um, are they gone?”

Kyle cleared his throat. “Yeah, they’re getting into a red convertible.”

Shit. So they were in Raquel’s car. And if the top was down, which she had no doubt it would be, they’d be
right there
.