Best Dating Rules, Tamie Dearen [literature books to read txt] 📗

onions and peppers where they were blackened and adhering to the bottom of the pan.

“I’ll eat the burnt ones—I like them with a little char. Sorry I distracted you. Can I help?”

“Sure. Can you stir the beans while I get the fajita meat sliced? And then can you get out the sour cream and pico de gallo and serving spoons.”

“This is so great. Mexican food makes me feel like I’m home in Texas.”

“Do you miss it a lot?” His brows furrowed.

“Yes. I love Mexican food,” she teased.

“Yes, but do you miss Texas a lot?”

“I miss the grass and the trees and the wide open spaces. And strangely enough, I miss driving. I used to get a lot of thinking done while I was driving. Commuting on the subway somehow doesn’t lend itself to deep contemplation.”

“Solving the world’s problems?”

“Yes, and listening to TED talks.”

“What about the weather?”

“Well, the summers are much nicer here. We had temps in the upper nineties and over a hundred for most of June, July and August. But, we only had a bit of snow. I’m afraid I’m going to be in for a shock when winter gets here.”

“We need to get you some good warm clothes. I’ll take you shopping in the fall.”

“I hate shopping.”

“How could I forget? But somebody has to take care of you.”

Emily warmed inside. That didn’t sound like a guy who was ready to move on to another girl. Maybe he loved her after all. Maybe tonight he’d tell her so. If he said the words, she was ready to say them back.

Abruptly the kitchen door opened and they were inundated with Spencer’s sisters, complete with talking, yelling, and laughter. Marshall family dinner had begun.

Spencer was so distracted he could hardly eat. Why had she worn that outfit to the family dinner? She looked good—too good. He had a hard enough time controlling himself around her, without seeing those amazing legs in that short skirt. And when she sat down next to him, he noticed that it inched up a little further. She caught him checking her out and smiled. That’s when he realized the truth. She was teasing him, on purpose. First she’d told him they couldn’t kiss, and then she’d worn this super short skirt, simply to test him. Well, two could play at that game.

He returned her smile. And on pretense of adjusting his napkin, he slipped his left hand under the shield of the tablecloth to rest on the soft smooth skin of her thigh. His fingers traced tiny circles on her skin with the lightest of touches. He was pleased to see her struggling to keep her eyes open, breathing shallowly. She clamped her hand over his to hold his fingers still. He maintained a neutral expression, forking a bite of black beans into his mouth. She pushed his hand away, attempting to cross her legs, but bumped her knee on the table.

“Ow!” she cried.

“What did you do to her?” asked Grace.

“It wasn’t him. I tried to cross my legs, but these heels make my legs too tall to cross them under the table.”

“I love your shoes,” said Olivia. “Actually, I love the whole outfit.”

“Don’t we wear the same size shoes and skirt? You could borrow them any time.”

“No!” He must have spoken a bit too loudly, because his entire family was staring at him. “I don’t... I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Grace grinned, “He means he doesn’t want his sister looking that hot. Right, Spencer?”

“She’s too young,” he objected.

“Give me a break, Spencer. I’m twenty-one.” Olivia turned back to Emily. “I’ve got a super cute skirt and shoes that match. We can trade sometime.”

“That’s a great idea,” said Hannah.

“Hannah likes to steal my clothes,” explained Olivia.

“Not steal—borrow.”

“Except, I have to go digging through your drawers and closet to get my things back.”

“Claire’s worse than I am,” defended Hannah.

Grace told Emily, “At least I’m safe from the marauders.”

“That’s not really true,” said Olivia. “Since her clothes don’t fit, we all steal her jewelry.”

Spencer was relieved the attention had been drawn away from him. He eased his hand back onto Emily’s leg and resumed his ministrations to her soft skin. When she failed in her attempts to remove his hand, she stood up swiftly, forcing him to withdraw.

“I’ll get dessert.” Emily ripped him to shreds with her eyes. His gaze followed her all the way to the counter and back. When she bent over to throw away her napkin, he almost choked. He quickly grabbed his water and gulped it down

“Grace, don’t you have papers to grade?” he asked.

“Oh, no. I got it all done Friday night, when I was here at the house. Don’t you remember, Spencer?”

He glared at Grace, trying to imagine his revenge. But she held all the cards right now, and she knew it.

He kept his hands to himself during dessert, rehearsing his speech in his mind. If only he knew for sure Emily felt the same way about him, it wouldn’t be so intimidating.

When the family had attacked and eliminated all traces of the Ginger Crinkle cookies Emily had brought, Spencer began to clear the table.

Grace grabbed the plates from his fingers. “We’ll get the dishes. Why don’t you and Emily go sit on the porch so you can talk?” She ushered them outside and the door clicked shut behind them. Spencer resisted the urge to check to see if she’d locked it as well.

“It seems they don’t want us inside. Shall we sit?” He eased onto the glider and patted the space beside him.

Emily sat down cautiously, tugging her skirt to cover as much of her legs as possible.

“I really like this skirt.” As Spencer moved his hand toward her exposed thigh, she locked fingers with him. He chuckled. “Oh, so it’s look but don’t touch? That’s fine, I’ll be good… for now.”

“I’m beginning to wish I’d worn something that covered a bit more.”

“Seriously, I’ll behave.” He opened his mouth to speak, choked, coughed, and cleared his throat a few times.