All-American Girl by Justine Dell Read Free Book Online Page B

her pain-in-the-ass attitude was just focused on him. If Sam felt bad for being mean to his sister, surely she would feel bad for doing the same to him?
    He only needed six strides to close the distance between them. She flattened herself against a booth when he moved in front of her. “I heard you in the back room. Were you upset when you came in here? Or was it something Candice said?”
    She stayed silent.
    “You know, Sam, I don’t quite understand this vibe you’re giving off. There’s a strange Jekyll and Hyde thing going on here. First I saw how sweet you were with your grandmother, and now with Candice— after you realized what a pain you were being, I mean. Then there’s what I heard you said to the hospital staff.”
    Her mouth dropped open. “I didn’t mean—”
    “Doesn’t matter.” Lance inched closer. He’d learned his lesson from the night before at the hospital and positioned his legs between hers, allowing her no room to kick him. “What’s bothering me is that, no matter your mood, you always seem ready to snap my head off my shoulders, and I’m not comfortable with that. If you want, we could talk about it.”
    “Back off, Lance. I don’t need any lessons from you, thank you very much.” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
    He wondered briefly if she would hit him, but then he thought better. She had a temper, but the anxious look in her eyes gave her away. She was angry, but she looked like prey as well—nervous and afraid. Guilt for boxing her in stuck in his gut. It would take a while to crack through her shell. He stepped to the side. She shifted quickly, lost her balance, and fell back into the booth seat. He suppressed the urge to laugh at the adorable look of surprise that crossed her face.
    He leaned over her. “Looks like you got your way.”
    “Funny. Real funny.”
    He reached a hand down to help pull her up. “Hey, you’re the one who can’t stand me being so close to you.”
    “Don’t flatter yourself,” she said dryly, pushing his hand out of the way and using the tabletop to stand back up. “Now if you don’t mind, I was just leaving.”
    Lance leaned forward. He let his eyes skim over her face, but he stifled the urge to touch her. “I don’t care if you’re less than pleasant to me, although at some point, we’re going to have to work that out. But please don’t be rude to Candice. My sister and you were best friends—she’s just trying to be nice. Although I’m glad you realized your mistake before stomping out the door, next time try simple words…like thank you.”
    Candice interrupted them. “Umm…Samantha,” she said carefully, “why don’t you stop by for breakfast tomorrow? You should be well-rested, and we could talk then.”
    Lance stepped away from her, and she huffed out a breath, inching farther away from him. It hurt him to see her struggling like this, like she didn’t know what to say or do.
    Samantha looked at Candice. “I’m sorry. Sometimes my mood gets the best of me. I’ll stop by tomorrow before going to Gram’s shop.” Then she turned on her heel and hurried out of the diner.
    When the door closed behind her, Lance looked at his sister, who had a confused expression on her face. “She needs someone to talk to, Candice.”
    “I can see that. What happened to her?”
    “I don’t know.” The provoked man inside of him wanted to shake that disgusted look right off Samantha’s face and make her swallow all those sarcastic remarks. The other part of him, the part that had stirred from silence since being in her presence, wanted to cradle her in his arms and kiss her until she melted against him and all her problems floated away. “But I do know people don’t get like that unless they’ve had a bad run of things.”
    “I know.” Candice dropped into an empty seat.
    “She’s got that wild look in her eyes, and I’m afraid if she doesn’t get it together, she won’t be able to help her grandmother like