And there it was. The first pressure statement. Past experience had taught Adele that the best she could hope for was to cut her losses here and try for a quick escape.
“I’ll think about it,” she said noncommittally, grateful when that seemed to do the trick.
“Wonderful. Dessert will be at seven sharp, just like always.”
Adele wanted to stress that she hadn’t agreed, but Mrs. Jensen was a wily woman who knew how to keep someone over a barrel. Before Adele could open her mouth to say it wasn’t a done deal, Mrs. Jensen had quickly walked away, engaging in a conversation with Dolly.
Adele sighed and then started for the exit. She glanced at her watch. She’d been in the boutique twenty minutes and Porter was probably waiting for her. She was just reaching for the door when she spotted him standing beside his truck.
He wasn’t alone.
Adele stepped to the side, peering out the front shop window so that Porter wouldn’t catch sight of her as she saw Betsi Brooks reaching out to rest her hand on his forearm.
There was no denying from their body language that Betsi was in full flirtation mode. What Adele couldn’t tell was if Betsi was one of Porter’s previous hookups or if she was working on getting her turn in the sexy cowboy’s bed.
Both options had Adele seeing red.
Betsi was a year older than Adele, and she’d basically made Adele’s life a living hell every single day of high school, until mercifully, Betsi graduated. Betsi had constantly teased Adele for her big ass and boobs, her red hair, her fashion sense, her lack of boyfriends, and for being a geek. Apparently anyone with a GPA over 3.0 was a nerd and a teacher’s pet in Betsi’s book and not worth knowing. Adele’s greatest year in high school had been her senior year after Betsi had graduated and Adele didn’t have to deal with the other girl’s taunts on a daily basis.
Porter was nodding at something Betsi was saying, though Adele didn’t think he looked like he was into the conversation.
Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part.
Did Adele have blinders on when it came to Porter, refusing to see anything she didn’t want to see?
When Betsi shifted even closer, so close her breasts brushed against Porter’s arm, Adele lost her temper. For too many years, Betsi had gone out of her way to make Adele feel like a second-class citizen, like she was a loser, someone not worthy of respect.
But Adele wasn’t that insecure little sixteen-year-old anymore, and she refused to let Betsi try to steal the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Adele stepped out of the shop and stormed over to the truck. Porter saw her coming, his eyes widening briefly—God only knew what expression he saw on her face—but Betsi hadn’t noticed her yet.
Not until Adele sidled right up next to Porter, linking her arm through his while subtly inserting herself between him and Betsi.
She didn’t even spare Betsi a glance as she looked at him. “Hey, Porter. Get everything you needed from the hardware store?”
Porter studied her face, the damn man too astute for her to ever hide how she was feeling. He gave her a crooked grin that proved he knew she was suffering from a bad case of jealousy.
“Yep, darlin’. I sure did. Find what you were looking for at Dolly’s?”
Adele nodded as she lifted the bag she was carrying, then she glanced in Betsi’s direction. “Oh, hi, Betsi. I didn’t see you there,” she lied.
Betsi’s gaze traveled from Adele’s face to her possessive grasp on Porter’s arm.
And then, true to form, Betsi’s eyes lit up with glee, and she gave Adele a smug smile that proved Betsi didn’t view her as a threat. If anything, all Adele had done was issue a challenge, one Betsi wouldn’t be able to pass up.
“Are you two spending the day together?” Betsi asked, as if that was the most preposterous thing she’d ever heard, while shifting ever so slightly closer to Porter’s opposite side in an attempt to regain some ground. It felt like the two of them were gearing up for a tug-of-war with Porter serving as the rope.
“We are,” Adele said, not bothering to shield the hostility in her tone.
“Shopping for Coop and your sister together?” Betsi asked, as if that was the only way she could make sense of Porter voluntarily spending time with her.
“On a date,” Adele clarified, forcing a carefree grin as she glanced up at Porter, plastering herself right to his side.
Porter gave her a wink as he wrapped his arm around her, but otherwise he remained silent. The asshole was enjoying this way too much and not about to give up his front row seat to the cat fight.
“A date?” Betsi giggled, as if Adele had told her a joke. “I thought you were dating Nick. He seems more your type, doesn’t he?”
While Nick hadn’t been the right guy for her, Adele was perfectly aware that Betsi meant her comment to be an insult—not only of her but of Nick as well.
“Things with Nick didn’t work out,” Adele said, hating herself for letting Betsi bait her like this but unwilling to back down. “And then this guy came along and swept me off my feet.”
Porter, bless him, chuckled and kissed her on the top of the head. “Couldn’t run the risk of some other guy stealing you away from me.”
If Adele wasn’t already halfway to head over heels for Porter, that comment alone would have sealed the deal for her.
“You’re on a date or dating?” Betsi asked, her expression less smug and more aghast.
“Addie’s my girlfriend,” Porter said, though he was looking at Adele, not Betsi. “You ready to head back to my place, darlin’?”
“Addie?” Betsi murmured.
Adele nodded at Porter. “I’m ready. I’m looking forward to that hot cocoa…in bed…that you promised me.” Ordinarily Adele would never say anything so inappropriate, but, well, dammit, opportunities to get even with high school bullies didn’t come along every day. “It was nice seeing you again, Betsi,” Adele lied, savoring the look of outright astonishment on Betsi’s face.
“See you around, Betsi,” Porter said dismissively.
“Yeah. Um. See ya.” With nothing else to say, Betsi walked away from them, clearly trying to wrap her head around what had just happened.
“Damn, Addie. I had no idea you had a jealous streak a mile wide.”
She narrowed her eyes at his obvious delight. “I’m not jealous.”
Porter laughed. “Darlin’, if you’d been looking my direction when you stormed out of that shop, guns blazing like that, I would have ducked behind my truck.”
She playfully swatted him on the arm, and then she put her hands on her hips. “She was awfully familiar with you.”
Porter shook his head, though his grin didn’t fade. “Addie, I realize there seems to be a lot of gossip that makes it sound like I’ve slept with every single lady in Maris between the ages of twenty-two and fifty, but I can assure you, I haven’t. What’s more…there’s not enough bourbon in the world that would make me invite Betsi Brooks to my bed. That woman rubs me all kinds of wrong between the fake blonde hair, fake tits, and fake laugh.”
Adele stretched up on tiptoe and placed a kiss on Porter’s cheek. “Best answer ever.”