His First and Last (Ardent Springs #1) by Terri Osburn Read Free Book Online Page B

hall. “But then the locals might surprise you.”
    “Like they did yesterday?”
    He stopped at the door, turning clear brown eyes her way. “Look at it this way. You got the worst encounter out of the way. And though you didn’t exactly come through smelling like a rose, you proved that you’re still as tough as ever.” With a wink, he added, “You can do this, Lor. And Rosie and I will be there with you. Now get your butt in the shower.”
    Before he took two steps, Lorelei said, “You’re more annoying than you used to be.”
    “Then at least one of us has changed,” he said, ducking his head back in. “Rosie left four cinnamon rolls. I can’t promise there will be any left by the time you get down here, so hurry up.”
    Lorelei hurled a pillow at the empty doorway, but she was laughing as she gathered her clothes for a shower.

    He never should have gone up those stairs. Spencer told himself not to do it, but it was as if his feet had a mind of their own. Though if he were honest, he’d admit his feet were being ordered about by a different organ altogether. He’d been halfway up when she’d screamed, kicking his heart around in his chest and sending him sprinting the rest of the way. Fortunately, she’d been too distracted dealing with the feline to notice him arrive at her door in a panic.
    She’d been beautiful when he’d found her on the bench at the airport. She’d been pretty in a pout at the diner the day before.
    But Lorelei had been the sexiest thing he’d ever seen sitting up in that bed, blonde hair tossed and scattered around her face, blue eyes snapping, and the strap of her blue tank nightie falling off onedelicious shoulder. His body was headed for the bed when his brain jerked the wheel in time to send him to the window seat. Keeping any distance between them was a struggle. Not crawling into bed with her had been the toughest thing he’d done since watching her pull away in a Greyhound a dozen years before.
    His life hadn’t been all that great while she was gone, so that was saying something.
    To his surprise, she’d taken a shower and appeared downstairs in record time. For Lorelei, anyway. Dark denim made her legs look longer, if that were possible, while the blue button-down shirt matched her eyes. The outfit bordered on conservative compared to her usual attire, and he could only assume she’d dressed with their destination in mind.
    After downing one of the cinnamon rolls with the claim that she was saving the other for later, she applied lip gloss while he cleaned up. Spencer worried she wasn’t eating enough, fueled by her extra-thin appearance and her comment from the day before, but he let the subject slide for now. They rode to the church in silence, Spencer too busy picturing Lorelei looking like a sex kitten to keep up a conversation.
    The almost-prim outfit did nothing to block out the sexier image of her sitting in the middle of a rumpled bed.
    “Do I really have to go in there?” Lorelei asked as Spencer put the truck in park in front of the Ardent Springs Baptist fellowship hall.
    He glanced her way to see fear in her eyes. His tough, screw-you-if-you-don’t-like-me Lorelei was really scared.
    “Like I said, you can do this.” He unbuckled his seat belt. “Becky was never going to change, but give the rest of the town a chance.”
    “The question is, will they give me a chance?” she asked, her voice smaller and so unlike the girl he knew.
    Resting his arms on top of the steering wheel, Spencer watched an elderly couple pass through the hall doors. “I guess that depends on which Lorelei walks in there.”
    “If you’re suggesting I put on an act, there are two coaches and countless casting directors in California who would say you’re wasting your breath.”
    “Lorelei, look at me.” He waited for her to turn his way. “Twelve years ago, you were a driven eighteen-year-old desperate to break out of this small town. A town where your mother