Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 2: Maid to CraveAll I HaveThe Last First DateLight My Fire

by Rebecca M. Avery

  “Oh, dude, you’re so screwed.” Charlie chuckled. “They totally turned the tables on you with this rematch. You’re screwed if you win, because they’ll buy Mia’s pity cabbages. Screwed if you lose, because no one wants a wimpy Naked Farmer.”

  “I am not screwed.”

  “This is a genius move. Man, maybe Mia wants a job. She’s got this marketing thing down.”

  “Contrary to what you and Dad think, farming is it for some people.”

  “Yeah. Some people.”

  Charlie didn’t say it, but there were a lot of descriptors hanging out in that some. Dumb people. Inferior people.

  “Get in the truck,” Dell growled.

  Oblivious to the fact that he was an ass, Charlie hopped in, still staring at the phone. Sounds of the crowd from earlier and Val yelling “go!” filled the truck as Dell maneuvered out of the parking lot.

  “Man, I really had no idea, but Mia is smoking hot. Jeez. Or maybe I’m just attracted to her now because she kicked your ass.”

  Dell used some of his mother’s meditation techniques to keep from wrecking the truck so he could wring Charlie’s neck.

  “Speaking of asses…” Charlie whistled. “Val got the perfect angle of Mia’s.”

  “Would you shut the fuck up?” It was bad enough he noticed Mia’s ass; it was really not okay Charlie did. That made no sense, but he didn’t care. He just wanted Charlie to shut up about everything, not only Mia’s ass. Okay, but mainly about Mia’s ass.

  “What the hell do you care?” Then Charlie huffed out a laugh. “Oh, shit, you got a thing for your mortal enemy farmer? Wait, what are female farmers called? Farmettes?”

  “You’re a prick.”

  Charlie clucked his tongue. “I don’t see you being Mia’s type, bro. You know, even aside from all the trying-to-screw-each-other-over stuff. I think she went to Truman. Brainy.”

  “I’m not fucking dumb.” But he was about to bust his brother’s lip. Or nose. Really, whatever was within reach.

  “Don’t get so bent out of shape. I’m just harassing you, man.”

  Dell swallowed down what he thought of that. He wasn’t above harassing Charlie and he wasn’t the type of the guy who could dish it out but not take it.

  At least he was going to try really hard not to be that guy.

  “Look, bottom line, you might need some advice from me if you want to beat the Pruitts. She keeps out-idea-ing you.”

  “I don’t need your help.” He had a few more tricks up his sleeve. And they didn’t include the farmer’s market, which meant Mia couldn’t flip it around on him.

  He would get the farm and his father’s respect without help from anyone else. He wasn’t the screwup everyone seemed to think he was, and the only way to prove that was to do everything on his own.

  Not his first choice, but at this point it was the only choice.

  Chapter Seven

  Mia slapped her gloves against the back of her jeans. The rain over the past week had been the perfect amount, but it left her dirtier than normal at the end of the day. Mud caked her jeans, boots, shirt, nails, probably even her face at this point.

  She grinned. Nothing better.

  Tomorrow looked to be another great day. After tonight’s predicted storms it was supposed to turn sunny and warmer. Plus there was a battle of the sexes to win tomorrow morning. Or lose. Didn’t really matter, she already had a wave of support on Facebook. Long as people put their money where their Like buttons were, she’d keep her profits where they needed to be.

  Mia hiked up to the dairy barn. Looking the stereotypical farmer in manure-caked overalls and an oily old hat, Dad met her halfway.

  “Calling it quits, Dad.”

  He nodded, moved the chew from one side of his mouth to the other.

  “Daddy,” Mia admonished, wrinkling her nose. Sunday dinner would be a nightmare if her mom found out he was chewing again.

  He patted her shoulder. “Gonna storm.” Then he muttered a “See ya tomorrow, honey.”

  Pretty wordy for Dad, all in all. He returned to his cows and Mia walked backed to her truck, stripping out of the muddy flannel button-up so she wouldn’t totally mess up her driver’s seat. She glanced at the sky. The clouds billowed on the horizon, dark and low. Too much more rain could be a serious problem for her crops.

  Unfortunately, Mother Nature couldn’t be counted on to keep the crops’ best interests in mind. Mia hopped in the truck, already turning her thoughts to a hot shower and a pot of macaroni and cheese. Weather couldn’t be helped, so worrying over it was a waste of time.

  She pulled the truck onto the highway and noticed a produce stand on the edge of the Pruitt property. Not the Pruitt produce stand Anna manned after school on Mondays and Wednesdays. Mia squinted at the sign, then screeched her truck to a stop on the shoulder.

  She hopped out, read the sign three times before she kicked the stand. “Morning Sun Farms Produce Stand. Mon–Fri 4–5, Sunday 12–3.”

  Mia studied the placement, groaned at the rumbling sky. Dell was a lot of things, but he wasn’t stupid. Though right next to the Pruitt property line, the stand was firmly on county land, and no doubt aboveboard.

  She was going to kill him. Mia hopped back in her truck and broke a few traffic laws to fly across town to the Wainwright farm. She’d picked Anna up a few times from the main house and knew Dell lived in the cabin on the edge of the property.

  A little voice told her to calm down, but the anger only grew.

  Why was he screwing with her? There were other farmers at the market. Of course, she was really the only one in direct competition with him in terms of goods offered.

  That didn’t mean he got to go out of his way to piss her off. Putting his little stand right next to her farm wasn’t necessary. It was petty. And she wasn’t going to take it.

  Mia pulled the truck to a stop in front of Dell’s gate. As she stalked up the charming stone walkway, fat drops of rain began to fall. Mia barely noticed.

  She banged on the door so hard the windows rattled. The wind picked up, thunder accentuating her banging.

  Dell opened the door, his wavy blond hair wet from the shower. And was it any surprise the guy wasn’t wearing a shirt?

  “Are you morally opposed to clothing the top portion of your body?”

  He leaned against the door frame, unfazed. Of course he was unfazed. He’d have to give a shit about anything to be fazed. “Evenin’, honey. Come by to get a peek?”

  She really wanted to give him a nice hard shove, but his bare chest made that idea too intimidating. If only she didn’t have to crane her neck to glare at him. Raindrops pelted her face, just a sprinkle, but enough she couldn’t maintain eye contact without getting a drop to the eye. So she focused on his mouth, definitely not the sexy stubble around it.

  She really had a problem. “You know why I’m here.”

  “Not a clue.”

  “Don’t play dumb.”

  His easy smile faded. “I’m not dumb.”

  “I didn’t say you were dumb. Now put a shirt on and go pack up that stupid stand and get it the hell away from my property.”

  “No.”

  He said it so simply, so matter-of-factly, her jaw actually dropped. “No? Just…no?” Rain was starting to seep into her shirt. It was definitely not warm enough to be standing here in a May rainstorm in a tank top, but she was not backing down.

  “Yeah. Just no. I checked with the county and I can put it there. It’s got decent traffic and I needed another place to sell some of my leftovers.” He smiled again, all straight, white teeth. “Made a hundred bucks today.”

  Mia clenched her hands into fists. “I’ve been picked on enough in my life to know when someone is targeting me. This is crap, Dell. Don’t be a jerk.”

  “I’m not targeting you. It’s not personal.” He shifted in his easy stance against the door frame. He didn’t look quite so cocky now, and at least that was something.

  “Really? You popping
little stands up next to anyone else’s farm?”

  “Just, back off, okay? You’re doing fine. You’re going to get your farm no matter what. I don’t have that luxury. I’m sorry if that means stepping on your toes, but it is what it is.”

  Mia threw her arms in the air. “This is ridiculous. You’re ridiculous. Actually, you’re a bully and a selfish jerk and…” She trailed off, running out of insults. With a grunt, she turned on a heel. Of course the minute her boot hit grass hail began to pelt the ground. Not little pea-sized hail, either. Big, golf ball–size hail.

  Mia shook off the painful slap of ice against skin and kept walking to her truck. Maybe it was stupid, but she wasn’t giving Dell the satisfaction of going back to his place for shelter.

  The hail fell harder, growing in size, hard enough to probably leave a few small bruises. As she reached out for her truck door, a softball-size piece of hail smashed through her windshield. Mia jumped back, screeching in the process.

  “Are you nuts?” Dell yelled over the thundering sound of the largest pieces of hail she’d ever seen hitting and bouncing off the ground and her truck. He grabbed her arm and pulled. “What the hell is wrong with you? Hail that size will give you a concussion if it knocks you in the head right.”

  He pushed her under the short overhang of the porch. The thudding of hail was drowned out by the heavy beating of her heart.

  Mia let out a shaky breath, realized her hands were shaking, too. If she’d left the porch five seconds earlier, she’d have taken glass and hail right to the face. She squeezed her eyes shut and took another deep breath.

  “You okay?”

  Mia opened her eyes managed a nod. “Damn it. My poor truck.”

  “Better than your head.”

  Which was true, and kind of nice, really. But she was mad at him. Too bad she couldn’t muster any of that earlier anger. Hail this size wasn’t just wreaking havoc on her truck; her crops would be trampled to hell.

  “The corn. The tomatoes. Everything. God, Dell, this is terrible.”

  “I know.” He pushed both hands through his hair, watched as the hail continued to fall, though blessedly diminishing in size.

  “And the rain.” The hail petered out, but the torrential downpour that followed was going to be just as bad for everything.

  He cursed. “This is the last thing I need.”

  She felt sorry for him. Then she remembered he was screwing her over. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the heart to yell at him about it anymore. If this continued for much longer, neither of them would have anything to sell at their stands or the farmer’s market after tomorrow.

  Dell cleared his throat and looked at the top of the door frame. “Uh, Mia, with the rain and all, your shirt is kinda see-through.”

  Heat stealing up her cheeks, Mia looked down. Yup. Great. Her nipples were showing. She crossed her arms over her chest and prayed this storm was the apocalypse.

  “Come on inside. I’ll give you a sweatshirt to wear and you can wait out the storm. Once it calms down I’ll drive you home and you can figure out what to do about your truck from there.”

  “Why?” Why would he be nice to her after she’d come over, barrels blazing?

  “Because it’s the sensible thing to do.” Then he grumbled something about people thinking he was the dumb one.

  Mia followed him inside. What choice did she have? Her windshield was toast, her whole car probably flooding. She couldn’t drive in this mess and she couldn’t ask anyone to come pick her up in it, either.

  Inside, the cabin was all warm woods and cozy furniture. Dell disappeared into a hallway and she stood dripping by the door. Thunder cracked, causing her to jump. Storms didn’t usually make her nervous but she’d never, ever seen hail like that. Tornados could be right around the corner.

  He reappeared with a stack of clothes, duct tape and trash bags. “Sweatshirt, shorts—which’ll probably be pants on you—and socks. I know they’ll all be too big, but you’ll be dry till it calms down. I’m going to go cover up your windshield.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  “I’m already wet, thanks to you.” He stomped out the door before she could stop him.

  Rude and nice at the same time. How was she supposed to know how to react to that? She looked down at the pile of dry clothes Dell had shoved at her, and realized she was shivering.

  The last thing she wanted to do was put on Dell’s clothes in Dell’s house, but she didn’t really have any other choice.

  She was stuck, and somewhere out there Mother Nature was laughing her fool head off.

  * * *

  Dell grumbled as he secured the trash bags over Mia’s windshield. It was likely already pretty wet inside, and his trash bag tent wouldn’t hold forever, but it gave him an excuse to get away from Mia and her freaking see-through shirt.

  Which hopefully gave him the chance to lose the most embarrassing erection of his life.

  Totally normal. He’d been able to see her breasts for Chrissake. Right through the stupid white tank top and bra plastered to her skin. Her wet, chilled skin.

  Dell barely resisted the urge to hurl the duct tape across the lawn. He was not going to think about Mia that way. Not when this storm was probably ending everything he’d ever worked for as it seeped into his clothes, cascaded down his hair and face.

  He couldn’t make a profit if everything he’d planted was beat to hell by hail or washed away by rain. At this rate, he wouldn’t be surprised if a tornado just took the whole place out.

  Dell shook his head. This was farming. He knew that. You could do a lot to control things, but you could never truly control Mother Nature. He just wished she’d picked a different year to screw with him.

  Dell stomped through the puddles on the lawn, wrenched off his boots, then left them on the porch.

  When he stepped back inside, Mia was sitting on his couch in his oversized clothes, legs curled under her, watching out the front window. Worry creased her forehead and something in the moment had a weird weight banding around his lungs.

  She turned to look at him. Not just worry on her face, but sadness. Yeah, he knew the feeling. One thing about Mother Nature, she didn’t pick and choose who she screwed over.

  “I’m gonna go dry off,” he said, needing to escape before he was tempted to feel as sorry for her as he felt for himself. He shed the wet clothes, tossing them into the bathtub.

  He pulled on dry boxers, an old Mizzou sweatshirt, a faded pair of jeans, dry socks. Then sat on the edge of the bathtub for a second. Something about being alone in his house with Mia while the world practically washed away around them seemed like a really bad idea.

  Especially when he was already feeling like he was screwed. He tended to make bad decisions when he felt that way.

  Dell laughed at himself. Right, Mia would totally go along with any bad decisions. He shook his head and pushed off the bathtub. The storm couldn’t last much longer. He hoped. And then he’d drop her off and she wouldn’t be his problem anymore.

  He walked out to the living room. Mia was still curled up on his couch, but she had a phone to her ear. “I’m fine, Mom. No. No. Fine. Yes. Well, I’m not alone.” Mia glanced at him. “Mom, please, just go…lie down or something. Everything is fine. I promise. Just have Dad get me Bob’s number and—” She paused again, rubbing her tongue back and forth across her bottom lip.

  Sweet Jesus. Dell stood awkwardly in the middle of his living room and stared hard out the window. Rain continued to pelt in sheets. It was enough of a distraction. Instead of lust all he felt was dread and depression.

  “Mom… Mom… Mom. I have to go, okay? I’m fine. You’re fine. Everyone is fine. Just relax. I’ll be by tomorrow. Bye.”

  Dell took a breath, hoping it was safe to look at her again. Her cheeks were a little pink and her shoulders were practically at her ears.

  “Mom’s kind of, well, anxious.” She toyed with her phone. “Um, Dad will have someone over to replace the wind
shield tomorrow, then we’ll get the truck out of your hair.”

  “Okay,” Dell replied lamely. He needed to sit, but the only other place to sit not covered in seed catalogs and ads for farming supply stores was on the other end of the couch Mia was currently sitting on.

  In his clothes. Hair wet, cheeks pink, worrying her tongue over her bottom lip again. Shit. Dell eased as far onto the edge of the couch as he could, wrapped an arm around the back and focused on the rain pelting the ground outside the front window.

  His yard already resembled a lake. Double shit. “Still going.” The sinking feeling burrowed deeper. “It’s all going to be gone.”

  “I know. I know.” Her sigh was shaky. “What on earth are we going to do?”

  She looked way too close to tears for comfort. “House rules. No crying.”

  “I’m not crying.” She said it with a little sniff.

  He gave her credit. She was close, but the tears never appeared on her cheeks.

  “Well, there goes my life. I always figured it’d be my dad screwing me over. Didn’t account for the damn weather to beat him to it.”

  In his peripheral vision he could see her studying him. Serious green eyes watching his face as if looking for some tell he was lying.

  “You really that bad off with your dad?”

  Dell laughed a little bitterly. “Depends on your definition of ‘bad off.’” He stared at the rain beating away everything he’d worked for. “We don’t understand each other, I guess. He thinks this place is some burden he’s saving me from and I think…” What the hell was he doing whining to Mia about his problems?

  “You think what?”

  He frowned over at her. The look on her face was something he couldn’t quite read. She seemed…empathetic, which was something entirely foreign to him. “I think this place is in my bones and I don’t want to lose it.”

  Her mouth softened into a smile. “That’s kind of poetic.”

  He scoffed. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Without better profits this year, there will be no next year. This will be subdivisions or strip malls.”

  She blinked a few times. “I’m sorry, Dell. That sucks.”