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And then he gave Ha
KNOCK YOURSELF OUT, Ha
She couldn’t waste any time focusing on some ill-tempered male. Besides, Archer was proving to be very adept with card tricks. “Teach me that thing you did with moving the jacks around and pulling out a queen,” she said to him. “It’s a really smooth move.”
“Only if you’ll teach me how you know which card I pulled from the deck. I can’t figure out how you’re doing it,” Archer said admiringly. “It’s like you’ve got an extra eye or something.”
Ha
THREE HOURS DOWN the road, Ranger had to admit his plan had totally backfired. He might as well be a professional limo driver for all the attention Ha
And then, to make the whole thing more a
It was all so disgustingly happy Ranger could only be grateful for the impending darkness. Then they’d have to quit their gaming, he thought with a mental rub of his palms.
But no. Archer pulled out a flashlight, aimed it at the roof of the truck as he jammed it into the seat to steady it, and they went on giggling like children keeping secrets from their elders.
Cissy closed her magazine and looked at him with a smile. “We sure do appreciate you taking us this far. I thought for sure we were out of a ride back there at the weigh station.”
He didn’t want to be reminded of his bad behavior. “Naw,” he said reluctantly. “I just hope you two have thought your new employment out fully. Mason would get all over me if I let either of you get hurt.”
“We’re not your responsibility, Ranger.”
“Not technically, I know. But we feel that all of you gals who helped us through the big storm are pretty much our sisters now.”
“I wasn’t there,” she reminded him.
“No, but Ha
She didn’t say anything to that.
“In a brotherly sort of way, of course,” he hastened to explain. “We care about you like a little sister.”
It seemed to him that Cissy looked hopeful for a second. Then her impossibly large aquamarine eyes dimmed as she shook her head and re-opened her magazine.
“You sure have a lot of magazines in your bag,” he pointed out.
“I’m taking up cooking.” She smiled at his raised brow. “What? Didn’t you think a girl like me would want to cook?”
He frowned. “What do you mean, a girl like you?”
She shrugged.
“Oh, you mean, a gorgeous girl like you!” he said, his tone saying, I just got it. “The kind who’s so nice guys are always fighting to take her out!”
The most grateful smile he’d ever seen on a woman’s face lit Cissy’s eyes. “You’re okay, Ranger,” she said softly. “If I can help you in any way with your mission, let me know.”
“My mission?”
She barely moved her silvery brows to indicate the back seat, where neither Archer nor his partner in gaming was paying them any mind. “My little gamine friend,” she said softly.
Oh, no. They were not going there. He might have discovered that Cissy had a lot of smarts underneath that sexy platinum hair, but she wasn’t going to start reading his mind. He wasn’t that easy. “She’s not my mission. I’m joining the military to do my duty by my country.”
She smiled.
“If they’ll take me,” he amended. “I am a bit older than they like.”
“Hey, tough guy,” Cissy said, closing her magazine to look at him. “Maybe I should swap seats with her.”
“I like you right beside me. Don’t even think about it. She’ll just give me a heart attack, I’m sure. Death by arguing or something. Worse, she might insist on driving my truck, and then I’ll have to show my really ornery bachelor side.”
“As if she hasn’t seen that already. And survived it. Who would have known?”
“Exactly,” he said with a nod. “Hey, not exactly!”
Cissy laughed.
“How did you two get together anyway? I don’t remember the two salons having many cross-street friendships.”
“I didn’t want to live Marvella’s way anymore. I went to Delilah’s to ask for a job. I met Ha
“Ha
“It wasn’t pretty,” Cissy told him. “That cute little face all scrunched up and ru
“She was crying over a man?” Ranger asked incredulously. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, positively. She spilled the whole story about him. Boy, he really broke her heart.”
“What a butthead,” Ranger said hotly. “She deserves better than someone who’s careless with her feelings!”
Cissy pulled a file out of her bag and began filing her nails. “I know. That’s precisely what I told her. That’s when she said she was going to Mississippi, and I said I could use a change of scenery, and presto-chango, here we are. Kind of fu
“Yeah. All except the crying part.” It really bothered him that some boob had made Ha
Giggles ripped from the back seat, and Ha
But whatever was going on back there, his twin and that sweet tenderhearted pullet were having one yahoo of a good time.
“Archer!” Ha
It was a full-blown ticklefest in the back seat, and from the sound of it, Ha
In the front seat, Cissy glanced at him without ceasing her filing. “Let me know if I can help you. When you decide to make your move, that is.”
“There’s going to be no move,” Ranger said from between gritted teeth. “At least, not from me.”
Cissy nodded. “Fear of failure?”
“No.” He glared at her. “Fear of the Curse of the Broken Body Parts.”
“Which is?”
“My brother Frisco fell for A
“You look fine to me so far. One piece, nothing missing. Nothing except a little spine, maybe. Just maybe. A small piece that could be mildly fractured and waiting for repair.”
“Not a durn thing wrong with my spine, thanks.”
“It’s pretty obvious you feel something for her, Ranger,” Cissy said softly.
“I feel protective. I feel brotherly. But nothing romantic, I assure you.”
“Okay. But let me make certain I understand this. You’ll know when love hits you by the amount of pain you suffer? Emotional masochism visited on the body in physical form?”