“Murphy, please, let me do it,” I yelled, hopping out of my Jeep.
“No, Ben. Go away. I told you to go away.”
“You’re infuriating.”
At that moment, I couldn’t even stand myself. I despised Murphy for what she did to my emotions at Pressman after I carried a torch for her for years. And I was intrigued by this new version of her, yet my heart wouldn’t let go of how the old version had broken my heart.
“Please, go,” she said while trying to maneuver the hanger to open the door. Her hand slipped and the hanger fell.
Before she could get to it, I’d snatched it up. “Murph, move over. Let me get it, so we can both go home and get dry.”
Christ, even my sister calls me to help her with these types of crazy things.
Frustrated, Murphy crossed her arms in front of her, looking formidable.
I forced myself not to look at her tits, but I couldn’t help the smile spreading across my face. The new Murphy was a live wire ... a challenge in all the best ways. And she didn’t know I was independently wealthy (that’s what my advisor told me, anyhow). At least, I didn’t think so. The door to the car popped open, and she rushed in front of me to grab the keys from the ignition.
“Listen,” she said, standing next to the car. “I know you think you know me, but you don’t. Maybe you knew me back then, at school, but I’m different now.”
I’ll say.
“Stop smirking,” she said, looking like she really wanted to stomp her foot.
“Why are you different? What happened? Tell me.”
I stood to meet her eye-to-eye, although at six-foot-three, I had about eight inches on her and still had to dip my head to meet her eyes. With her red hair darkened and curled by the rain, her damp shirt sticking to her skin and her makeup mostly wiped off, she looked gorgeous.
“You want to do this now?” she said, glaring at me. “On the side of a country road with another storm about to roll in?”
“I checked the radar. We’re good.”
“Ugh.” She turned her back on me, taking deep breaths while facing the other way. Then as quickly as she’d turned, she whirled back around.
We were so close I could feel her tiny huffs of breath. I wanted to gather her close in my arms, but I didn’t think that would go over well. And I was still holding that stupid hanger.
“Look,” she said harshly, “I know I wasn’t nice or fair to you at Pressman. I used you to help me, to tutor me, you know that, right? Not just in science, but in life too. Later, when I was sure you liked me and would take me to prom, I used you then too. I wanted to make my jerky ex, Burnett, jealous. It wasn’t a kind thing for me to do. If I’m honest, I saw you as expendable. You should hate me. So, why are you standing here?”
I took one small step forward, and then another. Braving Murphy’s wrath, I brought my hand to her cheek and smoothed a wet ringlet of hair behind her ear before dropping my hand.
“Murph, I’m standing here because you’re you. Every now and then back at school, I’d see something real, get a quick peek at the true you. Inside this debutante who’d been groomed to act like a robot was a real person. A sweet soul. And as long as we’re being honest, I thought of myself as expendable back then too. I should’ve stayed home and graduated from the local high school. Pressman didn’t make me feel good about myself, but you did. I liked helping you.”
“But I used you,” she said, emotion choking her words as I stared into her eyes. She let out a long breath but didn’t move.
“And I used you,” I said softly. “I had no one at Pressman. At least you let me hang around sometimes.”
Blinking hard, she said, “I’m not that way anymore. I’m not a mean girl. At least, I try not to be.”
Although the rain had stopped, mist hung in the air, causing Murphy’s hair to curl and her eyelashes to hold tiny droplets. I wanted to pull her close, but resisted.
“I can tell you’re not, although you never really were a mean girl. I always thought that was more of an act. But really, Murph, what happened to you?”
The last question was a whisper. This Murphy was like an injured animal, cowering in a corner, but if I got too close, her claws would come out.
Not meeting my eyes, she huffed out a breath. “Let’s just move on. We solved the problem, and I need to get inside and change out of these wet clothes, and so do you. We don’t need to catch a cold. By the way, don’t you have patients who need you?”
I took another step closer until we were almost nose to nose. She smelled like huckleberry, maybe her lotion or shampoo, I wasn’t sure which. “I’m going to let you off the hook so you can change, but then we’re going to get some dinner.”
Leaning closer, I pressed a chaste kiss on her mouth. It wasn’t long or sensual, but full of promise on my part, and her eyes widened.
