Nerd Gone Wild (Nerds, #3)(12)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

Her body humming with tension and anticipation, she started eating the pie. Then she glanced over to see if Mitchell actually had the nerve to put his hands in the middle of that dessert. Maybe not.

He was watching her, instead. Then she realized exactly how he was watching her, with definite lust in his brown eyes, and her already supercharged libido went into overdrive.

She hadn’t meant to seduce him with this pie-eating deal. Or herself, for that matter. Yet that seemed to be what she’d accomplished. Okay, so maybe the way he was looking at her got her even hotter. So maybe she wanted him to nail her right here and now, on the floor, in the middle of eating blackberry pie.

But then what? She’d be stuck with him. If he was infatuated now, he’d be over the moon if he got lucky tonight. He would rightly assume that she wanted him to stay in Alaska. He’d still be here when Uncle Kurt arrived. He’d be in the way.

So no sex for either of them. It would only cause problems. Once he started eating the pie, she should be safe. Making a grab for her while he had his fingers covered with blackberry juice would require a level of abandon she didn’t think he had, despite the door-bashing incident.

“Dig in,” she said. “Before I end up eating the whole thing by myself. It’s really yummy, Mitchell. You don’t want to miss out.”

* * *

Chapter Nine

Mitch knew exactly what was yummy, and he wasn’t thinking about the blackberry pie. Ally had no clue what a temptation she dangled in front of him as she calmly ate the pie with her fingers. He felt like a long-at-sea pirate sighting his first woman in months. He ached. He drooled. He hardened.

He craved those plump lips that were stained with blackberry juice. He wanted that eager tongue that lapped thick syrup from between her fingers. He wanted that tongue to lap in other, more personal places. His personal places.

He wanted to get closely involved with her mouth and taste the blackberries she was munching with such abandon. Then he would move on, eliminating her bib, her pajama top, and especially her pajama bottoms so that he could sample fruits sweeter than any blackberry ever invented.

For one glorious moment she looked at him as though she’d go for that routine. If that look had stayed in her green eyes another second, he would have shoved the pie plate aside and deployed his eager forces. Unfortunately, her expression had changed, and he could guess what was going on.

Her mind had taken over the controls. Although her body might have been swayed temporarily, due to the circumstances, her mind hadn’t changed its tune. Mitchell J. Carruthers, Jr., anal nerd-boy hired to do boring paperwork for her grandmother, was not the man for Ally Jarrett, Alaskan adventure seeker.

He should be relieved that she’d taken control. He’d been about to lose it, and that would definitely screw up the program. Telling himself that he was, in fact, extremely relieved, he settled for the consolation prize. He dug his fingers into the blackberry pie.

The experience made him think of sex, but in a former whorehouse with a landlady like Betsy and a next-door neighbor like Ally, he didn’t have much choice. He’d naturally associate everything with sex. The place was saturated with it.

“Good, huh?” Ally gouged out another handful of pie. “I’ll bet this will stain our fingernails, so Betsy will know we ate with our hands.”

“Considering the fact that she offered us condoms before she left for the Top Hat, I don’t think blackberries under our fingernails will shock her much.” For the first time he noticed that Ally’s nails weren’t long and artfully polished. They were short and neat, without a trace of polish, not even clear.

Yet her grandmother had indulged in a biweekly manicure until a few days before she died. He remembered that because she’d asked him to make his reports during her scheduled manicure. She’d been a dedicated multitasker.

“What?” She licked her fingers and gazed at him.

“I was just thinking about your grandmother’s manicure sessions.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me. Before you showed up she’d schedule me in there to make use of that time.”

“Yeah? To do what?”

“Probably the same thing you had to do—read her the minutes of one of her endless charity board meetings or else a prospectus on some stock she was considering. Am I right?”

“Pretty much.” He couldn’t tell her that he’d been advising Madeline on security issues inside and outside of the mansion, plus relaying any worries about Ally’s current friends, and most of all, telling Madeline what Kurt Jarrett was up to these days.

“Man, I dreaded those manicure sessions.” Ally held up her hand, the nails facing him. “That’s why I go bare. One sniff of nail polish and I’m comatose with boredom.”

He’d never thought of not wearing nail polish as going bare. Right on schedule, his penis started to dance the tango as Mitch pictured her going bare everywhere, prancing around the room in her bare nails, her bare br**sts, her bare tush. God, he was a sorry case.

“So, are we gonna play poker?”

He thought not. He’d had about all the seductive exposure to Ally that he could stand for one night. “How about we postpone it till tomorrow night?”

She looked disappointed. “There’s always the chance you won’t be here tomorrow night.”

“With the way the storm’s blowing out there, I think there’s an excellent chance I’ll be here tomorrow night.” So she still planned on getting rid of him. He might have to bribe Rudy to put Slewfoot Sue on the disabled list. Without a shuttle to the airport, Mitch would be forced to stick around.

She gazed at him for several long seconds. “Mitchell, I’m afraid I don’t believe you when you tell me that you came up here because of some important papers I have to sign. I think you really do have a thing for me.”

He tried to think of a snappy response and came up empty. He was developing a thing for her, so she wasn’t totally off track. And he couldn’t tell her the real reason he was here, either.

“I’m not upset about that,” she said. “In fact, I’m touched.” Then she gave him an endearingly serious look. “But you have a job to do back in L.A., and I’m starting a new career up here in Alaska, so even if I returned your feelings, which I’m sad to say I don’t, there’s no way we could have a relationship.”

Relationship, maybe not. Hot-and-heavy fling, definitely. He thought of suggesting it, rejected the idea. He’d continue to let her think he was infatuated, though. “I understand.”

Her expression softened. “It’s better if you go back, Mitchell. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m tougher than you think.” He almost smiled when he said that, but managed to maintain his sincere-but-saddened look.

“Oh, I’m sure you are! I never meant to imply that you were weak. It’s just that having you stay on, when we both know it’s hopeless, would be… well, awkward.”

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Just Fort Knox safe.

“I meant awkward for both of us, Mitchell. It can’t be easy for you, having me near and yet knowing that nothing will ever change.”

He thought plenty had already changed. She’d never entertained thoughts of sex with him before tonight. And he knew good and well she’d entertained them a little while ago.

“I know exactly what you need,” she said.

“Do you?” He couldn’t resist putting a little heat into his gaze.

Sure enough, she blushed. “I mean, other than that. You need to find the right woman for you, and I’m not that woman. You need someone who’s… more like you.”

“In what way?” By getting her to answer that question, he could check out how his nerd disguise was working.

She hesitated, obviously searching for a description that wouldn’t offend him. “You know… someone quiet and methodical.”

He nodded. So far, so good.

She brightened, as if encouraged that he was accepting her description. “You need someone who likes a more structured life, someone who’s happy with a steady routine. I mean, look at me—running off to Alaska, abandoning the life I’ve known for twenty-six years, giving up all the advantages of a big city and the warmth of sunny L.A. so I can freeze my butt in a one-Bronco town like Porcupine. That’s so not you, Mitchell.”

“You’re right about that.”

“See?” She looked triumphant. “We’re all wrong for each other. I’m ready for change and adventure, and you’re… you’re…” She seemed to have run out of sympathetic adjectives to attach to his blah self.

“Boring?” he supplied helpfully.

“No! I don’t mean that. You’re incredibly reliable, and that’s wonderful. The world needs all kinds of people, and you’re great at what you do.”

He certainly hoped so, if that meant he could help her avoid the clutches of a guy like Kurt. “I accept the label of boring,” he said. “Don’t think you have to make me sound like Russell Crowe. I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses. You’re not going to damage my fragile ego.”

She regarded him silently for a few seconds. “That’s good,” she said, a new note in her voice. Was it interest? “That’s very good. Self-confidence is a valuable thing. But I think hanging around here is liable to erode—”

“Look, Ally, you’ve made it clear that you’re not the one for me. I accept that. But this sudden dash to Alaska scared the shit out of me. Before I leave, I have to establish for myself that you’re going to be okay up here.”

“I will be fine up here.” The rebellious light was back in her eyes. “Perfectly fine. These are good people.”

“So far, I agree with you. The ones I’ve met seem like good people. Fixated on sex, but good people. I haven’t met everyone yet.”

A muscle in her jaw worked. “It’s a small town. I’ll bet you could meet them all in an hour. Then off you go.”

“Like I said, I care about you. For my own peace of mind, I need to know that you’re in good hands before I leave.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She stood and used her towel to wipe the blackberry juice from her mouth. “Now you sound like an insurance company commercial. I’ve tried to spare your feelings in gratitude for what you’ve done for Grammy and for me, but the truth is—in case you’ve missed the message—I don’t want you to stay. I don’t care a whole lot about your peace of mind, to be perfectly honest.”

He stood and pulled off his towel so he could wipe his mouth, too. Ultimatums weren’t as effective when you had blackberry juice smeared all over your mouth, and he was about to deliver one. “Tough.”

She stared at him. “Tough? Is that what you just said?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Can I fire you?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe. You’d have to come back to L.A. and talk to the lawyers who drew up the trust.”

She bristled. “And wouldn’t you just love that? You’d get me to abandon my Alaskan adventure and fly back to L.A. so I could be bogged down in legal details trying to get you fired, which I might not even be able to do. Probably can’t do, if I know Grammy. She put some clause in there that requires me to prove you embezzled or something equally drastic. I doubt there’s a provision for me to fire you because you’re a pain in the ass.”

He kept his face free of expression as he gazed at her. Madeline’s instructions had been quite specific in that regard and Ally didn’t have grounds to get rid of him. He’d make sure she never had grounds. And he would do the job Madeline had hired him for, whether Ally liked it or not.

“And here I was starting to think you were an okay guy. But an okay guy would grab a clue and leave. He would not stay and inflict himself on a woman just for his own peace of mind.” She paused, as if gathering more insults to hurl at him. “Haven’t you ever heard that saying, that if you love something, you should let it fly free?”

“I’ve heard it.”

“Well? What do you have to say about that?”

“Once I’ve checked out your fly zone, you can flap around in it all you want. But I’ve been charged with administering your sizable estate. Can you imagine the truckload of paperwork I’d have to deal with if anything happened to you? I hate to even think about it.”

She blew out an indignant breath. “So this isn’t really about your having the hots for me, is it? It’s about simplifying your job! It would be very inconvenient for you if I turned up missing. Is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s what I’m saying.” Maybe a little hostility was healthy. Maybe then she wouldn’t throw any more sexual vibes his way.

She stood with her hands on her hips, legs spread in a belligerent stance. “I’m beginning to get the picture. Before I left, you had everything running like clockwork, just the way your little anal mind likes it, and now I’ve thrown a monkey wrench into your neat little world.”

“That’s one way of describing it.” He wished that he could forget that she was most likely nak*d under that flannel. She might not be feeling sexual desire right now, but he hadn’t completely tamed his woody. He held his towel in supposed nonchalance while he allowed it to dangle protectively in front of that area.

“And you can’t deal with the unexpected, can you, Mitchell?”

“I’d rather not.” In his line of work, the unexpected meant he hadn’t done his homework and had left an opening for the bad guys.

“Well, using your word, that’s tough. Expect the unexpected. And now I’d appreciate it if you’d take your unwelcome presence back to your own room.”