Nerd Gone Wild (Nerds, #3)(18)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

“That would be fine, except I’m not good enough to be giving lessons,” she said.

“Oh, I doubt that.” He oozed gallantry.

“No, she’s telling you the truth,” Mitchell said.

“Hey!” She turned to him. “Since when have you seen my pictures?”

He looked like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Uh… okay, I haven’t actually seen your pictures. I was going on what you said, that you still had a lot to learn.”

“Which I do.” She understood that he was grabbing any excuse to get rid of Dave, even if it meant trashing her photography skills, so she kind of forgave him. “Anyway, Dave, I guess you’ll have to accept our gratitude, because there doesn’t seem to be anything else we can do for you.”

“You could come out and take a look at my sculptures sometime.” He directed that comment straight at Ally, not even bothering to include Mitchell in the laser beam of his gaze.

“Thanks,” Mitchell said. “We’ll certainly do that.” He took a deep breath. “Well! If we’re all done here, I’m in favor of heading back inside. How about you, Ally?”

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll lead the way.” Dave climbed effortlessly out of the hole. Then he turned back and held out a hand to help Ally up the snow ramp he’d created.

To refuse his help would have seemed ungracious, and she’d been raised to be gracious. She put her hand in his. He was strong, she’d give him that. He had her up on top of the snow in no time. Then he gave her hand an extra squeeze before releasing it.

Next he held out his hand to Mitchell.

“Got it, thanks.” Mitchell ignored Dave’s outstretched hand and scrambled out by himself. “See you around, Dave. You coming, Ally?”

“Yep, sure am.” So maybe Mitchell’s manners only went so far. Ally hid a smile as Mitchell headed out.

“Ally, hang on a sec,” Dave said.

She saw Mitchell hesitate. She didn’t want to hang back and talk to Dave, but the guy had dug them out of a snowbank, after all. “What’s up?” she said, and watched Mitchell’s shoulders drop. Then he continued on.

He probably thought she was entranced by Dave, when nothing could be further from the truth. Mitchell might be used to playing second fiddle to the likes of Dave. He had no way of knowing that wouldn’t happen this time.

“You mentioned going inside to get warm.” Dave came alongside her, his smile flashing brighter than the snow at their feet.

If he was going to make a pass, she didn’t want to be caught standing still. She started walking. “That’s the plan.”

He fell into step beside her as they navigated the alleyway. Mitchell had reached the street and hopped down to the sidewalk Dave had recently shoveled. Ally moved faster, wanting to catch up. Dave was giving her the heebie-jeebies.

“I was thinking you might as well come on into the Top Hat.” Dave lengthened his strides. “Clyde’s over there getting ready for lunch, and I’m sure we could round up a cup of coffee or hot chocolate for you. I think he has some doughnuts, too.”

“Thanks, but I have a few things I need to do.” She watched Mitchell disappear around the front of the Loose Moose.

“Anything I can help with?”

“No, not really. But I appreciate the offer.” She figured that if she gave him an inch, he’d take about twenty miles.

“All righty, then. If you’re sure there’s nothing I can do to make you feel more welcome in Porcupine.” He sounded slightly baffled because she was resisting his manly charms.

“I feel very welcome.”

“That’s good. That’s very good. So I guess I’ll go visit Ernie and see if he’ll let me use his plow. We won’t even get mail delivery today if the road into town isn’t cleared in the next couple of hours.”

She got the message. Dave was off to do more good deeds and she was supposed to be mightily impressed. “Good luck with that. ‘Bye, now.” She hopped down to the sidewalk.

“See you at the Top Hat tonight!” Dave called after her.

She waved again, not willing to give him a definite answer on that. Dave was not her type. Neither was Mitch, really, so it was very unsettling that she wanted so desperately to get nak*d and jump him.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

Mitch had never resented playing the nerd more than he did right now. He was already at a disadvantage against guys like Dave simply because Dave knew the territory and Mitch didn’t. But add in Mitch’s supposed geekiness, and he was completely outgunned.

Childish though it was, he wanted to put on his snug black T-shirt, his black leather jacket, his black chaps, and his motorcycle boots. Then he wanted to ride into town on his Harley as Mitch Carruthers, PI/bodyguard, and see how Chain-saw Dave liked them apples. But that wasn’t happening, so his mood was not good as he walked in the front door of the Loose Moose.

Betsy was behind the registration counter getting money out of an antique cash register, most likely in preparation for her proposed shopping trip. She glanced up and grinned. “Fell through, did you?”

“Yeah, we both fell through, but Dave the wonder boy got us out.” Mitch unzipped the parka Betsy had loaned him. “This coat worked great, though. Thank you.”

“Keep it. My closets are stuffed with all the clothes my husbands left behind. I wish they’d left some money in the pockets, too, but no such luck. That coat doesn’t fit me and it would swim on Clyde, so you might as well have it.”

Mitch hung the parka on one of the many hooks by the front door. “That’s a generous offer, but I won’t need a heavy coat like that once I leave here, so it would be a waste to give it to me.” He sat down on the bench under the row of hooks and started taking off his boots.

“And how soon would you be thinking of heading out?”

He looked over at her. “That depends.”

“On Ally?”

He blew out a breath, not wanting to take that line of questioning any further. “What do you know about this guy Dave?”

“Why, are you jealous?”

“Of course I’m not jealous. I just wondered if his overgrown Boy Scout act is for real.”

Betsy smiled. “Yep, you’re jealous. Is Ally with him right now?”

“I most certainly am not jealous, and yeah, she is. I’m asking about him only out of concern for Ally. I’d hate to have some operator like Dave take advantage of her, that’s all.”

“You think he’s an operator?” Betsy gazed at Mitch with great interest.

“Don’t you? I mean, the perfect beard, the tinted contacts, the ponytail, the whole chain-saw-artist thing he’s got going on, I think he’s looking to marry well.”

Betsy laughed. “You could be right about that.”

“So why did you give him such a glowing report when you mentioned him to Ally? What if that turned her into a sitting duck for this opportunist?”

Propping an elbow on the registration desk, Betsy rested her chin in her hand as she studied Mitchell. “You really like her a lot, don’t you?”

“It’s not a matter of liking her. I want to make sure she’s okay.”

“Oh, I think your feelings go way beyond making sure she’s okay, but you’re not admitting to anything, so I won’t push. I got what I wanted out of my advertising campaign when you started worrying that he might be competition. I didn’t want you getting complacent, and I can see that worked out beautifully.”

He stared at her. “What?”

“Don’t look so offended. You have to understand that the winters are long and boring around here. When you and Ally showed up, I decided to have a little fun messing with you.”

“That’s outrageous, Betsy. You can’t play with people’s emotions to keep from being bored!”

“Oh, please. It’s for your own good.”

“It’s not—”

“And in case you haven’t figured it out, I am outrageous. Alaska tends to attract eccentric people. And if you’re not eccentric when you arrive, you get that way sooner or later.”

“So you admit that you’re trying to play Cupid for me and Ally?”

She shrugged. “Why not?”

He could think of several reasons having to do with Ally’s fortune and his lack of a fortune, but he wasn’t about to share all that with Betsy. “Because we’re completely incompatible.”

“I don’t see that. And look at you. You’re all upset because she might be interested in another man.”

“Because he could take her to the cleaners!”

“Ah.” Betsy flapped her hand in the air. “I wouldn’t worry about Ally. She won’t be sucked in by Dave’s routine any more than you were.”

“I’m not so sure. I—”

The front door opened, and Ally walked in. Alone. She looked happy to see him, which was a good sign. “Hi, Mitchell.”

“Hi, Ally.” He was ridiculously happy to see her. He was even more glad to see her without Dave.

She unzipped her parka, and he remembered how he’d almost done that for her back in the snow. Just looking at her taking off that coat made his mouth water. Too bad she respected him so damned much.

Ally hung up her coat beside his, and in the process of reaching for the hook, she came close to touching his cheek with her breast. She came close enough to give him the shakes. He could smell something flowery—it could be perfume, deodorant, powder, or Ally’s own skin. He wanted to smell it some more, whatever it was. He wanted to bury his nose against her sweater and nuzzle around until he reached something interesting.

Then she turned and sat down next to him on the bench to take off her boots. “You know, Betsy, I’m not so sure about Dave.”

Mitch hated to hear the guy’s name coming out of her mouth, but the context in which she’d used it sounded promising. He breathed in more Scent-o-Ally and waited to find out what bothered her about good old Dave.

“What about him?” Betsy asked.

“He’s kind of obvious, don’t you think? It’s like he’s created this persona for himself because he thinks that will get him somewhere.”

Yeah, like in your bed. But Mitch was delighted to hear that she hadn’t been swept off her feet by that toothy grin and fake blue eyes. The guy probably had caps on those teeth.

“Well, we all want to get somewhere,” Betsy said.

“I know.” Ally tucked her boots under the bench and stood. “I want to get somewhere in wildlife photography. But I’m not invested in trying to look like a photographer, just so you’ll think I’m the real deal.”

Mitch was exceedingly happy to hear that her evaluation of Dave was the same as his.

“Well, poor Dave.” Betsy shook her head sadly. “He’s one of those guys who can’t figure out what to be when he grows up. Before he moved to Porcupine to wait tables and sculpt with a chain-saw, he tried to kick-start a franchise selling mooseburgers. He called it McMoose’s.”

“Let me guess,” Ally said. “It didn’t work.”

“Nope. He put up one restaurant down in Anchorage, shaped it like an igloo, and dressed his help in fake fur, which was miserable in the summer, when most of the tourists show up. It didn’t catch on.”

Mitch figured he was safe to ask a question. “Are his sculptures any good?”

Betsy hesitated. “I’m no judge of art.”

“But you know what you like,” Mitch prompted, remembering her red room.

“Yes, I do know that, and generally I like my nudes to look a little more real. Maybe he’s trying for something symbolic, but when the boobs don’t match, I—”

“Wait a minute,” Ally said. “I assumed this chain-saw art was stuff like bears and eagles, maybe even a totem pole or two. Are you saying his sculptures are nudes?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Male and female?” Ally asked.

“He tried to do both at first, but he kept accidentally looping off a significant body part on the guys, so he gave that up and just does women now. Supposedly the model is Serena, who runs the general store. But I’m pretty sure Serena’s boobs match. In summer she goes braless, and so I’d be able to tell if they didn’t.”

Mitch glanced at Ally. “No wonder he wanted you to come over to his place and look at his sculptures.”

“You don’t have to go out to his place to see them,” Betsy said. “Serena has several for sale at Heavenly Provisions.” She came around from behind the registration desk. “I’m heading over there, if either of you want to come with me.”

“I’m curious, now,” Ally said. “I’ll go. But first I want to get my backpack.”

“Yeah, I’ll go, too.” Mitch figured sometime during the shopping expedition he might be able to slip the tiny transmitter into her backpack. He also had an errand to run over at the store. He’d hate being caught unprepared if Ally had a change of heart. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to stock up.

He could be subtle when it was required. While Ally and Betsy were looking at the chain-saw nudes, he’d have a chance to pick up the item he needed, just in case Ally lost a little bit of respect for him and climbed into his bed.

A few minutes later the three of them trudged up and over two-foot drifts to get to the store across the street. No traffic moved along the main drag. The pickups and SUVs that had been parked there the night before were shapeless lumps under a blanket of snow. A few people were out navigating the drifts just like Mitch, Ally, and Betsy.

Mitch had put his glasses on again because he had no excuse not to wear them. They were going to the store, after all, and he was supposed to need them to see details. But they felt uncomfortably cold sitting on the bridge of his nose.