Rocky Mountain Mornings (Roberts of Silver Springs Book 1) Page 11

  Spike cleared his throat, and avoided looking directly at her. Finally, he sighed. “Let’s just say he really earned his name.”

  “Huh?”

  He grimaced. “He bolted, Amy.”

  She’d figured out that much. “What did he say? Tell me the truth. I can take it.”

  She could, too. After she spent the last six years building up her Teflon surface, nothing Dick Johnson had said about her could scratch it. Spike shifted awkwardly, but he finally answered.

  “Said he didn’t want to date anyone who couldn’t climb a wall.”

  Amy couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing, and that eased the tension in her better than anything else could have. Except possibly snuggling up to Spike. He sat two feet away, but her body yearned to skooch closer.

  Knock it off!

  Her body wouldn’t listen. It just kept buzzing and tingling in a way she’d almost forgotten. It had been a very long time since a man had touched her, and as much as she was afraid to admit it, she missed it. She was just grateful that man had been Spike and not Dick.

  “Anything else?”

  “He, um…” He grimaced again, but spit it out. “He said he wouldn’t have asked you out if he’d known you had a kid. Sorry.”

  She rolled her eyes, relieved. “Don’t be. He’s not worth getting upset over. I’m just impressed he didn’t ghost me.”

  Spike blinked a few times, clearly confused. “Ghost?”

  “How is it possible you don’t know what ghosting is? It’s when you go on a date that seems to have gone well, then you never hear from the guy again, and he won’t respond to calls or texts. He just vanishes, like a ghost. That’s ghosting.”

  Spike’s eyes grew wide, and a flush of guilt rose up his handsome face. He may not have known the term, but it was pretty obvious he was all too familiar with the despicable practice. Amy pretended not to notice, but decided to stick the knife in a little deeper, just to see his reaction.

  “Only selfish losers ghost. Real men treat women with respect.”

  For some crazy reason, she wanted to kiss away the little crease that formed between his eyebrows. Maybe it was time to take pity on the man.

  “You don’t remember me, do you?”

  “Um…we’ve met?”

  She smiled at his confusion. If she could peek into his brain, she suspected she’d find him wondering if he’d ghosted her at some point.

  “We went to high school together. I was a sophomore when you were a senior. Amy Sanderson.”

  He looked at her with fresh eyes, as if seeing her for the first time. It sent tingles up and down her spine, and she struggled not to let her self-consciousness show. Maybe he wouldn’t remember. Her dark brown locks were much longer now, and motherhood had changed her body more than she’d anticipated. Where she’d once had flat planes and straight lines, curves had taken their place. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her new body — in fact, she’d never felt more like a woman — but it might throw him off.

  Then he smiled.

  And she nearly fainted.

  “Right, I think I remember you now. Your hair was shorter then, wasn’t it?”

  He remembered!

  “It was. Yours hasn’t changed.”

  All the girls in school had swooned over Spike Roberts’ sun-kissed brown hair and tanned skin. He participated in every sport the school offered, plus some they didn’t. He spent every spare moment snowboarding, playing basketball, or scrambling up mountains. And he had the body to prove it. Tall and muscular, but not in a bodybuilder way. Of course, he’d never looked twice at her, preferring girls his own age. A lot of them.

  “Wow! I know Silver Springs is a small town and all, but how weird is this? Did you just move back to town or something?”

  “Nope, never left. You did, for college, but I’ve never been farther than the town limit. Well, Denver a couple times, but that’s it.”

  “How have we never bumped into each other before? I’ve been back for a few years now.”

  She smiled. “I don’t think we run in the same circles. Besides, you probably don’t hang out much at playgrounds or your dad’s real estate office after hours.”

  “Huh?” he asked again.

  “I spend my days either at playgrounds with my son or at one of my two jobs. Well…one. No, two.”

  “Is it two or one?” he laughed.

  “It was two, then it was one, and now it’s two again.” Why was she telling him all this? She had no idea, but his openness really drew her out. “I have a small office cleaning business, and your dad is one of my clients. I also worked part-time at a travel agency as a receptionist, but they just closed their doors. I have two glorious days off in a row before I start work at Mo’s Diner on the other side of town. My mom works there, and got me a job until I can find something better.”

  “Waitress?”

  Why had she brought this up at all? Now she had to tell him the humiliating truth.

  “Dishwasher.”

  “Oh, man, I hated being a dishwasher!”

  “You were a dishwasher?” She couldn’t help laughing. “No way, your family practically owns this town!”

  “They didn’t own anything in Arizona. My dad paid for school costs, but said I needed to get a job if I wanted any money for extracurricular activities. Said it would build character.”

  “Did it?”

  “You tell me.” He grinned and winked at her, sending a thrill all the way to the tips of her toes.

  Was Spike Robertson actually flirting with her? With her? She blushed at the thought, giddy and a little horrified at the same time. She was pretty sure he didn’t know all the sordid details of her past or he wouldn’t be flirting. Maybe that was okay. Maybe she deserved to have one of the cutest guys in Silver Springs show her a little positive attention for once.

  “You turned out okay,” she conceded.

  He raised an eyebrow, and leaned in close to her. “Just okay?”

  A hint of his natural scent surrounded her like a warm blanket she could snuggle in all day. It reminded her of vanilla with a touch of cinnamon. Like something she’d smelled before, but couldn’t quite…

  Amy snorted a laugh, her hand flying to her mouth, totally mortified. “I’m sorry, I just thought… Never mind.”

  “No, tell me.” He grinned as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Why would he? He was Spike Roberts.

  “It’s just… Good grief, this is stupid. Please don’t make me say it!”

  “If you don’t tell me, I’ll drag you back up the wall.”

  “Not that!” she mock-screamed, and waved her hands in defeat. “Okay, okay. You smell like…eggnog.”

  She loved the depth of his laugh, as if it rumbled up from the center of the earth. The skin around his eyes crinkled, and his perfect white teeth gleamed in the small office’s stark fluorescent light. Her heart thudded like thunder, and she wondered if he could hear it. If only Spike had asked her out instead of Dick…

  Uh oh. That kind of thinking could only lead to heartache. Spike Roberts had been a world-class player since high school, and so had all of his buddies. Guys like them didn’t settle down, at least not with girls like her. She’d learned that from painful experience. Whatever was going on here needed to be nipped in the bud. She had more important things to consider than her battered ego. Ethan deserved a father figure who would stick around, and not give in to his own childish desires to play.

  Leaping to her feet, she moved quickly to the door before he — or his toffee-colored gaze — could change her mind.

  “Thanks for helping me today, Spike, but I’d better get home,” she said, her voice quavering even more than after she came down from the wall. “Bye!”

  He barely had time to look up in surprise before she was out the door, and headed for her car. Once inside the old beater, with the heater actually working for once, she sighed in relief.

  “That was close,” she muttered, her breath fogging in the
chilly March air.

  Not nearly close enough, a little voice in her head disagreed.

  To purchase this book by Cassie Hayes, available now in preorder and live on 3/10/17, click here.