Nerd Gone Wild (Nerds, #3)(22)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

“Dave wanted to show Clyde which one I bought, so Serena took it over while Dave and I carried Ernie.”

“I’m sorry I missed that.” She walked down the narrow alleyway between the store and the building next to it, a combination beauty parlor and barbershop.

“Yeah, we made quite a procession. You should really stick around instead of wandering off into the woods by yourself. No telling what will happen next in Porcupine. Maybe you could switch to human interest photography.”

“Nice try. Ain’t gonna happen. But if it makes you feel any better, I should be getting a mentor soon.” She stepped onto the snow-covered sidewalk. Sure enough, the tractor was working about a block down from where she stood.

Mitch came up beside her. “Whoever that is, he doesn’t act drunk.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen anybody plow a road before, drunk or sober.”

“Well, I have, and my money’s on Dave being the operator of that machine. I think it’s safe to cross.” He started toward the Top Hat.

Ally fell into step beside him. “Speaking of money, if you don’t mind my asking, how much did you end up paying for your nude?”

“Let’s put it this way. For a room freshener, it was expensive. For original sculpture, it was a bargain.”

She’d wanted to stay mad at him. She really hated the way he’d interrupted her wolf adventure. But remembering how he’d acted so adorably helpless in the face of Serena’s sales pitch, she lost her grip on her anger. “Did you really think I was about to be attacked by wolves back there?”

“I wasn’t sure. But I didn’t like the way they were looking at you.”

She laughed. “Exactly how should a pack of wolves look at me so that you would approve?”

“Definitely not like that, as if they were considering you as an entree.”

“I’ll bet you read Little Red Riding Hood at an impressionable age.”

“Maybe. I’ve never been crazy about wild animals with big teeth.”

“I have.” She stepped over a furrow of snow that Dave had missed. “And faraway places where most people never go.”

“Because your grandmother wouldn’t let you out of her sight?”

“Partly. But that’s not the main reason.” She stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the Top Hat and paused, turning toward him. “It’s more because of my mom and dad.” The explanation popped out, and why she’d told Mitchell was anybody’s guess. She’d never talked about her parents. Grammy had never been able to, not even after years had passed.

“I’m not sure I understand. I thought you were very young when they… when they…”

“Died? It’s okay, Mitchell. Grammy was sensitive about it, but I’m not. It was a diving accident off the coast of Jamaica. I was three, too little to go on a trip like that. They were searching for sunken treasure. A storm came up, and they couldn’t get back to the boat.”

“That’s terrible.”

Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell people about it. She was afraid they’d look at her the way Mitchell was looking at her, as if she should be pitied. “I don’t think it’s terrible. They died doing what they loved.”

“Yeah, but you missed out on so much.”

“I can’t be sad when I barely remember them. I look at pictures, and it brings up this vague feeling of tenderness, but they don’t seem like real people. More like a movie I’ve seen a long time ago, one I’m sure I liked although I don’t really remember the story.”

Mitchell shook his head. “I can’t imagine. My parents were always there. They’re still there, living in Arlington Heights. A fixture. A huge part of my life, my memories.”

She thought that explained why he was such a conservative guy. “Sometimes I envy people like you, who have that continuity. But even though my parents died when I was very young, it’s okay, because I feel connected in a weird sort of way. I’m like them, Mitchell. I plan to live that kind of life, taking risks, going to exotic places. I’m carrying on the legacy.”

He held her gaze for a long time. “Ally, I have to tell you, sometimes you scare the shit out of me.”

* * *

They’d dressed Mitch’s nude and given her a name worthy of a town called Porcupine. Quillamina Sharp stood on the bar wearing a bar-towel sarong and a tiara made of toothpicks and straws. He should have known that leaving the sculpture at the Top Hat posed certain risks.

The bar was crowded. Glancing around, Mitch was relieved to see Ernie over in a corner with another beer at his elbow. At least the little guy wasn’t out scooping snow and ramming into parked cars along the way, which meant the tractor operator was most definitely Dave.

Mitch and Ally joined Betsy and Serena at a table near the bar. The two women were finishing their sandwiches, along with a beer for Betsy and a glass of wine for Serena.

“So Dave’s out plowing?” Mitch asked Betsy.

She nodded. “After a couple of beers, Ernie calmed right down. Invited Dave to be his guest and plow the entire county if he wanted.”

“That’s amazing.” Ally glanced toward the corner where Ernie sat. “I thought they were going to kill each other.”

Mitch didn’t trust the supposed truce, either, and he wanted to avoid dealing with Ernie again. Too much of that macho stuff and people would start to suspect he had some law-enforcement training.

Besides, he had a ton of other things to worry about, like Ally carrying on her parents’ legacy. “So what happens when he sobers up?” he asked. “Won’t he start raving about his stolen tractor all over again?”

Serena smiled. “Clyde has that covered. As a public service, he’ll supply Ernie with beer until David finishes, which should be before it gets dark. In fact, I think Clyde plans to keep Ernie well oiled into the evening. That gives David plenty of time to return the tractor. Someone will take Ernie home tonight, and when he wakes up in the morning, the tractor will be in the shed right where he expects to find it.”

“Until the next snowstorm and the game starts over,” Mitch said. “I realize I’m an outsider, but I think the town needs to buy its own snowplow.” He glanced up as Clyde appeared at the table, order pad in hand. “Don’t you think the town needs its own plow?”

Clyde grinned. “Nah.”

“But you know this will happen again.”

“Exactly. We gotta have something to see us through the winter besides my tap routines on the bar. We get a lot of entertainment out of betting on whether Ernie’s going to be sober enough to plow the streets and then coming up with a plan if he’s not.”

“Poopsie’s right.” Betsy put a hand on Mitch’s arm. “Sometimes the logical solution isn’t the best solution for Porcupinians. You won’t understand that until you’ve spent a few winters here.”

Her implication that he would spend more winters here made him shudder. If he believed that, he’d slit his wrists. “I’ll take your word for it, Betsy.”

“You’d be wise to do that,” Clyde said. “Now, what’ll you folks be having?”

Mitch ordered a sandwich after Clyde’s assurance that it contained actual commercial chicken and not some animal that had suffered a highway accident. Ally ordered the special, which Mitch figured could be anything. But that was Ally, ready for adventure.

Anyone who knew his choice of profession would think he had a taste for adventure, too, but they’d be wrong. He had chosen to become a PI and bodyguard not because he wanted adventure, but because he wanted control over the outcome of situations. He wished to hell he had more control over this one.

By the time they were halfway through their lunch, Serena had left to tend her store and Betsy had returned to the lodge. That left Ally and Mitch in a cozy twosome. He started thinking about the condoms he hadn’t bought yet, and whether her mood was softening toward him enough that he needed to find a way to quietly acquire that item.

He noticed she kept glancing at him, and each time her cheeks would get pink, but she didn’t say anything, just kept eating her sandwich.

“What?” he finally asked.

“I was just wondering something.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, you bought the nude while you were over at Serena’s.” She tipped her head toward the bar, where Quillamina was being toasted by a couple of burly guys who kept lifting up her sarong and then collapsing into fits of laughter.

“Yeah, I sure did buy a nude. And now I’d better get her out of here before Dave comes in. I think he’d be insulted that the guys felt compelled to give her an outfit and a name.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You care if he’s insulted? I didn’t think you liked him!”

Mitch sighed. “It’s not like I’m ready to be his best friend or anything, but you should have seen the expression on his face when I bought it. You’d think I’d handed him the moon.”

“Mitchell, you’re quite the softie, you know that?”

“I’m a sucker, is what I am.” But he enjoyed the way she was looking at him, as if she wanted another kiss like the one they’d had back in the snow. And her knee had come to rest against his knee. She didn’t move it. He started getting warm all over.

She fiddled with the toothpick Clyde had stack through the center of her sandwich. “Did you… um… get the other thing?”

Hot damn. His body reacted instantly. Maybe she was changing her mind. And he was still minus what he needed to make something happen. “No, I didn’t. With everyone around here so chummy, I’m not sure how to buy them without the whole town being in on it.”

“But you don’t want to take Betsy up on her offer.”

“No. That’s almost as bad.” But if Ally really wanted to go through with this, he’d go back to Heavenly Provisions. Hell, he’d hitch a ride to Fairbanks to buy them, except that he couldn’t leave her for that long. “Ally, are you rethinking your original decision?” He crossed his fingers under the table.

She sighed. “Mitchell, I have this terrible problem. The more I’m around you, the more I think about hav**g s*x with you.”

“But you don’t want to.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to you.”

He couldn’t stop looking at her lips. “Maybe you should let me be the judge of that.” His heart thumped crazily as he remembered how those lips had felt on his.

“Look, I’m not saying that I’m changing my mind. I think giving in to this would show weakness on my part. But the chemistry between us is really strong.”

“Uh-huh.” He kept his fingers crossed tight.

“We could suddenly snap.”

“Uh-huh.” He was close to the snapping point right now.

“And I was thinking… I’ll bet they have a vending machine in the men’s room.”

“Oh.” He mentally slapped his forehead. This was a bar. A bar in Porcupine, where sex was the favorite winter sport. Of course they would have a vending machine in the men’s room. He should have realized that immediately.

Seeing the gleam in her eyes and knowing that she’d given it enough thought to come up with a solution pumped up his inclination even more. He’d better check out the men’s room while he could still stand without embarrassing himself.

He pushed back his chair. “I’ll go find out,” he said.

“Okay.”

Oh, boy. She was talking his language now. They’d be upstairs at the Loose Moose all night, with only a bathroom between them. He wanted to be ready for the moment she snapped and came knocking at his door. He wished the day would end right now. At least night came early in Alaska in the wintertime. It couldn’t come soon enough for Mitch.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

Alley couldn’t quite believe she’d told Mitchell where to pick up a condom or two. She’d never been so bold in her life. But the longer she hung around Mitchell, the more she thought of cool sheets and hot sex. She didn’t want to be caught in a situation where their hormones went crazy and they had no supplies. Maybe she’d maintain her self-control, but she wasn’t so sure about it.

While she was visualizing what tonight would be like, sleeping only a bathroom away from a man she wanted nak*d, Rudy walked into the Top Hat, all two hundred and eighty pounds of him.

“I was hoping I’d find you here!” He pulled up a chair and sat down. “Seein’ as how Mitchell said he’d help me find Lurleen, I wanted to do something for the both of you.”

Ally couldn’t figure out how the heck Mitchell could help locate Rudy’s ex-girlfriend. He was no private investigator. “That was nice of him.”

“Yeah, it was. Here he comes, now. Hi, there, Mitchell! Say, does anybody ever call you Mitch?”

Mitchell shook Rudy’s outstretched hand before sitting down again. “It’s happened before. Why?”

“I just like Mitch better, is all. No offense, but when you say the whole thing like that, I picture some dorky guy, somebody in government, maybe.”

“Oh, I don’t,” Ally said. She actually did, but she wanted to protect Mitchell’s feelings. People could be very sensitive about their names. “I think of somebody who’s efficient, thorough, resourceful…” She glanced at Mitchell and tried to read from his expression whether he’d scored any condoms. She couldn’t tell.

“Well, sure,” Rudy said. “Efficient, but maybe too efficient, if you know what I mean. Now Mitch, that’s a guy who gets things done, but he’s sorta cool about it. So if it’s all the same to you, I thought I’d go with Mitch.”