She gave him the address, then turned to look out the window, afraid that she’d say something she might regret later, although the possibility seemed remote. The next few hours passed by in the same manner, but she was able to enjoy the good cheer of the season as she passed out the baskets between trading jabs with Ryan.
“Okay, that’s the last of the business offices,” she said, flipping the page on the clipboard. “Now we just have the fraternities and sororities left to go.”
“What’s the first address?” he asked. “Do we get one?”
“I didn’t bother with addresses, I know where all of these go,” she said, pointing to the list. “Hattie donated your basket to the children’s hospital, she said she’s been doing that every year, something about you boys getting enough sweets already.”
“That’s not fair, we don’t get that many sweets,” he said, a pouty look on his face. “She could have asked us first.”
“Are you really throwing a fit over a basket of goodies that ended up with sick children?” she asked, shaking her head. “You’re a bigger baby than I thought you were.”
“I’m not a baby, I just like sweets,” he tried defending himself, then sighed. “I guess that did sound selfish.”
“You think?” she asked, then sighed. “Let’s just get going, I don’t want to be at this all night. Pick a sorority house and we’ll start there.”
Ryan put the van in gear without another word, and she wondered how much longer she could put up with him or if discovering what she’d seen that night was worth the hassle. But she’d made a commitment to Hattie and really wanted to help get the new business launched, so she was stuck for a few more weeks. She’d have to find a way to put up with him.
For the next hour, they rode in silence, exchanging words only when absolutely necessary. It was a relief when she looked at the list and saw that they only had one basket left to deliver. Letting out a sigh of relief, she flipped through the pages again to make sure they hadn’t missed anyone since there were still a couple of baskets in the back.
“We must have brought too many,” she said, looking up and out the window. “Where are you going? We still have to go to the Kappa house; they’re the last ones on the list.”
“We’re not going there,” Ryan said, turning the van in the other direction. “Hattie will have to find someone else to deliver theirs.”
“We have to, they’re in the contract, we have to deliver their basket,” she said, shaking her head, then saw the stubborn look on Ryan’s face. “Fine, let’s go back to the house. I’ll drop it off on the way home.”
Ryan stopped the van in the middle of the road and turned to look over at her, “No one is going to the Kappa house, not you, not me. Those guys are dangerous; they can’t be trusted.”
“Have you lost your mind?” she asked, looking around, wincing when she saw traffic backing up behind them. “We’re sitting in the middle of the road! You’re more dangerous than the Kappas could ever be.”
Ryan put the van back into gear and started driving again, a scowl on his face. “I mean it, Paula, I don’t want you going over there,” he finally said. “They’ll survive without that basket of cookies.”
“What if Dean Proctor finds out they didn’t get it?” she asked, not about to take orders from him. “Hattie could get in a lot of trouble. I’m not going to let that happen just because you have a problem with them. I don’t even know them, and I’m just going to knock on the door and hand the basket over. You’re making a big deal out of nothing again, but don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
This time, Ryan pulled over to the side of the road. “You’re not going to listen to me, are you?” he asked, a frown on his face. “You’re going to go over there no matter what I say.”
“Yep, I am. I’m trying to help Hattie out here, not hurt her. I’ll be perfectly safe, I’m not even going inside,” she repeated. “I’ll just drop the basket off and be on my way. I don’t understand what the problem is.”
“And hopefully you never will,” he said, then sighed and pulled away from the curb. “We’ll take the stupid basket over there, but I’m coming to the door with you.”
She studied him for a second. “Fine, but I swear you’re creating problems just to be difficult,” she said, giving him a dirty look. “I have other things to do today, you know, Christmas shopping and stuff. I’d like to get this done before midnight.”
CHAPTER 9
***RYAN***
Ryan followed Paula up the front walk to the door of the Kappa House, gritting his teeth the entire way, sure that they weren’t going to get a very warm reception. “Let me do the talking,” he said, when they were almost to the door. “I know how to handle these guys.”
Paula stopped and turned to look at him. “How about you let me do the talking,” she said. “These guys don’t hate me like they hate you.”
He shook his head. “That’s not happening, I don’t trust them,” he said, but she was already ringing the bell. “Hey, hold on a second…”
The door opened before he could finish his sentence, revealing the last person he expected to see, and he just stood there staring, his mouth hanging open, a sinking feeling settling over him. Before he could stop her, Paula stepped in front of him and held out the basket of cookies, completely unaware of how dangerous the man standing in front of her was. Feeling like he was quickly losing control of the situation, he cleared his throat and tried to step in front of Paula again.
“Merry Christmas from Dean Proctor,” she sang, then stood there grinning as she waited for a response.
“Now isn’t this nice, a basket of cookies and a Sigma from the Dean for the holidays,” Alex said, taking the basket of cookies. “I’ll have to send him a thank-you note.”
“Hello, Alex,” he said, gritting his teeth. “What happened to Princeton? Did they get tired of your lying and cheating? Did they finally see the real you and kick you out?”
