“Don’t worry, Connor, this is fine.”
But he’d already hurried back out.
“Don’t mess with him, Lani. He’s got a girl, and they’re happy.”
“I beg your pardon?” She turned now, cupping the mug in both hands. “What the hell are you suggesting?”
Noah should have thought a lot more about those words before they left his mouth. The look on her face suggested that the contents of that mug would look good all over him about now.
“You make me sound like some kind of femme fatale.” Her laugh held no humor. “What do you think I’m doing in here with him, Noah? Stripping him naked and covering him in frosting so I can lick it off!”
His eyes nearly crossed at thought of her doing that to him, but he focused on the irate female and realized he’d just made a fool of himself again.
“I’m just saying—”
“What?” She was really pissed off. “Because clearly I dress to lure a man into my web.”
She had a point there. He’d never met a woman who took less care with what she wore.
“Connor is vulnerable—”
“And clearly I’m the kind of woman who preys on men like him?”
“Lani—”
“Why am I surprised a man like you has absolutely no understanding of my character from the time we’ve spent together. We had sex four days ago!” The words were an angry hiss.
He did understand her character, actually. Even though they hadn’t conversed a lot since that night in Brook, Noah knew she was sweet and innocent, and maybe a bit naive, and hadn’t deserved his words, which had sprung completely from jealousy. Noah couldn’t remember the last time he’d been jealous.
“A man like me?” He knew her words weren’t a compliment.
“Practiced, smooth, used to females falling into line and his way of thinking. Dare I add ‘loose’ to that?”
“I wouldn’t,” he growled. “That’s not true.” Noah felt his temper tweak, but he needed to regain control of the conversation while he still could. “I may not have worded things right.”
“You think? Actually, you know what?” She raised a hand. “It doesn’t matter, and this is probably for the best, as now I know what you really think of me, or should I say women in general. I was an itch that needed scratching, after all. I’m leaving once I’ve done helping Mrs. C, and you can find someone else to scratch your itch with, because I’m telling you now, it will never again be me.”
“No.” He tried to grab her as she walked away, but Buster arrived with impeccable timing.
“Hello, fellow bakers.” He strolled in carrying shopping bags. “You come to join spud fest, bud?”
“What?”
“Spuds, you know, potatoes. We’re baking stuff for the festival, and as luck would have it, I lured Lani in here to bake the raffle cake, seeing as we want to actually sell it and that wouldn’t happen if either Connor or I decorated it.”
“No. The Howler is doing fries and wedges for tomorrow. I want to use our usual potato supplies, but Faith wants to use the freakish ones.” He kept his eyes on Lani as he spoke. Her shoulders were hunched.
“Freakish?” Lani’s words came out covered in ice. “Ignorance is something I loathe, Noah. You should do a bit of research before you make sweeping statements.”
“Genetic modification is not normal.”
“Maybe, and maybe not. But you need to do more reading before you discard it completely.”
Noah watched Buster fold his arms out the corner of his eye.
“It’s wrong, end of story.” He was off-balance. He’d insulted Lani, he knew it, just as she did, then she’d insulted him right back. It disturbed him how much he hated the words she’d flung at him. Hated them just as much as she’d hated the way he’d labeled her.
You’re an idiot.Only with her did he seem to constantly suffer from this condition.
