All Shook Up by Susan Andersen Read Free Book Online Page B

relieved when J.D. said, “I’ll get out of your way and let you get to your dessert,” and started for shore.
    But Uncle Ben put out a restraining hand when the younger man started to walk past. “Don’t run off, son. You’re invited, too.”
    Dru could have groaned aloud. She racked her brain but couldn’t come up with a single snappy remark that would discourage J.D. without making herself look like an inhospitable bitch.
    “Yeah, J.D.,” Tate chimed in. “You can’t miss Grandma Soph’s crème brûlée. It’s the best!”
    J.D. still looked as if he planned to refuse. Dru prayed for it, tried for all she was worth to access some telekinetic powers to influence him in that direction. Then he glanced her way, and she just knew that her feelings must be on her face, for he suddenly flashed those white teeth at her in a feral grin, shrugged, and said, “Sure. Why not?”
    Damn. Damn, damn, damn! She bared her own teeth back at him and insisted he precede her when he stood aside as they filed off the dock. She’d put up with his company because she had no other choice and because, her recent behavior to the contrary, she really was an adult. Double-dyed damned, though, if she’d allow him to walk behind her while she trailed puddles of water and swished her big old butt in his face as they climbed the trail up to Ben and Sophie’s house.
    There were simply some places where a woman had to draw the line or seriously question her own intelligence.
    On the other hand, having him go first meant she had to watch his tush flex as he climbed the short trail ahead of her. God, life was unfair sometimes. It wasn’t bad enough that his mind was small and tight—his butt had to be, too? Even all covered up, it didn’t take a genius to see it was one of those hard-as-concretenumbers with the sucked-in cheeks. She’d kill to have one half so nice.
    Aunt Sophie met them at the door. “Oh, thank goodness you were available. Hello, darling,” she said to Tate, catching a flying peck on the lips before he raced past her, headed for the back of the house and the television set. “Come in, come in! J.D.! I’m so glad you’re here to help us eat the crème brûlée I made. I told Ben if I had to eat it all by myself he was a dead man.”
    “Why?” J.D. asked. “Did he hold a gun to your head and force you to make it?”
    Ben choked and Dru simply gaped at J.D., stunned. They’d all grown accustomed to tiptoeing around Sophie lately to avoid setting her off. Not that there was any predicting what would do so; the things one might suppose would anger her often didn’t faze her in the least, while the most innocuous remarks could send her into the red zone.
    But Sophie merely laughed. “I didn’t say it was rational, dear. My uncertain temper these days is the uncharming by-product of my rampaging hormones. Or perhaps that’s failing hormones; I’ve never gotten it quite straight. In any case, killing Ben is something we want to avoid at all costs. I’m rather fond of the man, so thank you for coming.”
    Then she turned to Dru. “Drucilla, you’re covered in goose bumps. Go put on something warm.”
    “ Drucilla ?” J.D. said incredulously. “Someone actually named you Drucilla?”
    Dru’s hands hit the towel tied low around her hips. “Oh, like J.D. is the name for the millennium,” shesnapped back. “What does it stand for, anyway—juvenile delinquent?” She raked her gaze over him in a head-to-toe once-over. “From what I’ve heard, that would certainly be appropriate.”
    “Drucilla!” Sophie stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown fangs.
    The appalled wonder in her aunt’s voice recalled Dru to her manners, and to the fact that she and J.D. weren’t the only ones in the room—something she’d momentarily forgotten. She blinked. And just when the heck had they gravitated so close to each other? Suddenly aware of the heat radiating off his large body, she took a giant step back.
    “I