Wishes by Jude Deveraux Read Free Book Online Page B

Nellie backed away from him even further. She didn’t care for the way he was looking at her. He was making her feel uncomfortable. “I have much too much to do.”
    “Thirty minutes then. Thirty minutes of your time for a lonely stranger in town. Walk with me downtown and introduce me to people.”
    “I don’t know many people,” she said quickly, “and I have to finish my pie. I couldn’t possibly—”
    “An apple pie?”
    “Yes. It’s for dinner. My father loves apple pie. He—”
    “How can you make an apple pie without apples?”
    She looked at him, then at the bowl that had a moment before been filled with apple slices. “Mr. Montgomery!” she said, sounding like a schoolteacher, “you have eaten the entire pie!”
    “An easy thing for a person to do,” he said slowly, watching her.
    Nellie knew instantly that he was referring to her having eaten all of the dessert the night he came to dinner. Blood rushed to her face as she remembered her shame, but then she looked at him. His eyes were twinkling, and that dimple showed in his cheek. He was teasing her.
    Her embarrassment left her, and she smiled at him, that warm smile that transformed her into a beauty. “It seems to be very easy for me,” she said, laughing. “Now what am I going to serve for dinner? We have no more apples.”
    His eyes were dancing. “I guess you’ll have to walk to the store and buy more.”
    “So it seems.”
    “Maybe I should walk along with you, just in case of danger.”
    “Yes, perhaps you should. The streets of Chandler can be quite dangerous. Why, only last year two boys on bicycles ran into each other.”
    “No! That’s horrifying! Who knows when something like that might happen again? I definitely think you need an escort.”
    “I rather think I do, too,” Nellie said softly. Part of her mind was telling her to say no, that she should stay home and finish cooking. She should dismiss this overly familiar man and get on with her work. She was sure it wasn’t at all proper for him to saunter into the kitchen as he’d done. But there was another part of her mind that told her to go. It would be very pleasant to walk with this handsome man and say hello to people. Maybe, just for this one afternoon, she could pretend that she was like other young women and a handsome young man had come to call on her.
    She removed her apron and hung it on a hook by the door. She should probably go upstairs and get a hat, should probably look at herself in a mirror, but she was afraid that if she left him alone he might disappear. She didn’t have Terel’s confidence that even if she kept a man waiting for hours, he’d be there when she showed up.
    She turned to Jace and smiled. “I’m ready.”
    He smiled back. He was very pleased that she didn’t spend an hour or so primping before a mirror before she’d leave the house. It was his experience that women as beautiful as Nellie gave much time and thought to adorning themselves.
    He stepped aside so she could walk in front of him through the door, and he admired the gentle sway of her hips. A bit of hair straggled about her neck, and he had an urge to lift it and kiss her fine skin.
    “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you,” Jace said when he realized Nellie was speaking. He’d opened the gate for her, and they were on the boardwalk.
    “I forgot my basket.” She turned back to the house.
    He couldn’t bear to let her out of his sight, and he was afraid that if she went back to the house he’d never get her out again. “I’ll carry all your purchases.” He couldn’t help himself. He reached out and lifted the little tendril of hair, his fingertips lingering on her neck. Her skin was as fine and as warm as he’d imagined.
    Nellie was startled when he touched her, and then embarrassed. Was her hair such a mess? Of course it was. After dusting, weeding, cooking, and washing, she knew she had to look dreadful.
    “I must—” she began, then she stepped back