Missy Tippens - The Guy Next Door

“Sure. I’ll see if I can arrange some other donation pickups for Sunday afternoon since we’ll already be out.”

Oh, goodness. She thought of all the hours she, Grace and Joan had spent together on this project over the years. “We need to meet soon to approve the quarter-page newspaper ad, and to try to land some radio spots. Also we have to set up the fellowship hall. We’ll have quite a few late evenings.”

“No problem.” He smiled, then, distracted by his food, he took a big bite of his sandwich.

As they finished their lunch, she told him a little something about each of the donors, and about the Colorado ski trip that had been donated, their big-ticket item. By the time he walked her back inside the hospital, they had a basic game plan.

With the notebook in one hand and the other shoved in his pocket, Luke studied her. “I know how hard you work, Darcy. You give a hundred percent to everything you do. I’ll try my best to make the auction work easier on you, to keep it from eating away all your free time.”

He looked so serious. So earnest. From flirty charmer to sweet, caring best friend in the span of a lunch break. Both equally appealing, neither safe for her heart.

But Food4Kids needed her. Needed them as a team.

For the kids, and against her instinct for self-preservation, she would spend time with her friend. She could do this. “Thanks, Luke. I look forward to working with you.”

Chapter Three

Fifteen minutes to closing time. Darcy glanced around Glitzy Glenda’s, empty of customers, hoping to make it an early night. Maybe a few minutes to read that novel that sat untouched, gathering dust on her nightstand?

She folded one last scarf and placed it neatly on top of the stack, enjoying the sense of accomplishment that came with tidying up. Saturday nights could sometimes be a nightmare, but an older crowd had hit earlier than usual. Though she enjoyed working with preteens and young teenagers, they tended to travel in packs, tearing through the place like a tornado, leaving a swath of destruction in their wake. Something Darcy couldn’t relate to at all.

She’d never had a pack of girlfriends in high school. Never enjoyed shopping for jewelry, purses and hair accessories. She’d been tomboyish, a late bloomer who’d spent all her spare time with Luke, fearing he’d see her differently if she suddenly showed up wearing dangly earrings and eyeliner.

Certain he’d never think her as pretty as Chloe.

Shaking off old memories, she headed toward the cash register. One last quick walk around the shop and—

The entrance chime sounded. A group of giggling girls set upon tables of jewelry, and Darcy’s hope for an early evening quickly fizzled. “May I help you girls?”

One, a redhead with pretty hazel eyes set off by the perfect application of makeup, fastened a double strand of faux pink pearls around her neck and admired it in a mirror. “We’re just looking.”

Two of her friends, squealing at fifty decibels, darted to a table of wristlets.

“Oh, look,” screeched one. “The exact shade of green as my new Keds!”

“Buy it. Have you got your mom’s debit card on you?”

“Yeah.”

“Ashley, wait. Come look at this one first,” called a girl from the other side of the store.

Meanwhile, two others stacked bracelets up the arms of a third friend.

There appeared to be a half-dozen of them dressed in stylish clothes, their hair about the same length and all flat ironed. At some point that evening, they’d eaten at a nearby restaurant because several of them had to-go cups they’d set down and quickly forgotten.

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh as the image of that novel beside her bed faded into oblivion.

A crash sounded in the back. “Uh-oh,” said one of the girls.

Crashes followed by uh-oh’s were never a good thing.

Darcy rushed to the back and found a rack of earrings turned over and gold and silver hoops scattered across the floor.

“I’m so sorry.” The girl’s mortified expression sent her friends into a fit of laughter.

“Don’t worry about it,” Darcy said.

While the three girls meandered to the next table, chattering and playing around as if nothing had happened, Darcy scooped up packs of earrings. The chime sounded again as someone else entered. Great.

“I’ll be right there,” she called.

The last of the earrings had landed under the display case. She got on her hands and knees and, with a grunt, made one last-ditch effort to reach them.

“Need some help?”

Luke. And she heard the grin in his voice.

“Luke Jordan, if you were a real gentleman, you’d already be down here helping me.”

“You’re right. My apologies.” He chuckled as he knelt down beside her and reached underneath the display, his breath tickling her neck as he angled his head out of the way.

She bolted to her feet. “A pack of…uh…earrings. Do you feel it?” She touched her neck. How many times had they wrestled around or goofed off without her ever once thinking about the feel of his breath against her skin?

And now—

“Is this what you’re looking for?” He stood and handed her the earrings.

“Yes. Thank you.” The fact he could set her on edge made her angry. At herself. And, though unfair, at him.

She tugged her shirt back where it belonged. Straightened the collar. “I need to check on my customers.”

“Go ahead. I’ll wait at the cash register.”

She caught up with the six girls near the front and tried to feign calmness she didn’t feel at the moment. “Are y’all ready to check out?”

“I think so.” The redhead still wore the necklace.

“So you decided to go with the pink pearls? They look great on you.”

She fingered them, looking around at her friends for confirmation. “I do like them.”

“They’re too classy for you,” said one of her supposed friends with a sneer before turning to the brunette nearby and laughing.

The girl looked stricken as she removed the necklace. “But they’re kind of expensive.”

“Come on, let’s get out of here and see if the yogurt place is still open,” said the mean one. She was the obvious leader, because everyone followed without questioning her order.

They also left without purchasing anything. Instead, they all set their items on a table near the door before quickly exiting to catch up with their boss.

Darcy growled as she rolled down the metal gate that closed off the shop from the mall.

“Tough night?” Luke asked.

“A little slower than usual, but that last group was typical. I’m afraid I’m not good at sales with the younger crowd.” She nodded to the discarded items. “They were going to buy those, but the pack leader declared it was time to go.”

“Next time, tell her to back off.”

Darcy laughed. “I’m sure that would go over really well. I’d probably get reported to my boss by a credit-card-­toting teen.”

His eyes sparkled with mischief, as if he’d love to see the event. “Yeah, but you might make the sale.”

The main problem was that all these girly things were new to her, something she’d always been too embarrassed to admit she loved and longed to wear. “You know me. This feminine stuff is a steep learning curve.”

He looked her up and down with an intensity that made her squirm.

“You look plenty feminine to me. A natural beauty. You don’t need all this sparkly—” he gestured around the shop “—paraphernalia.”

Stunned, Darcy looked into his eyes. He’d always complimented her on being smart, but never had he praised her looks or femininity. Even that afternoon at Grace’s, he hadn’t said she was pretty.

“Accept the compliment, say, ‘Thank you,’” he teased, his smile softening.

Flames crept up her neck. “I need to clean up this mess.” The pink pearl necklace clacked as she jerked it up and hung it on the display.

“Fine. Ignore me.”

“I’m not ignoring you.” Darcy snatched up the neon green wristlet the girl had left behind and headed to the table of spring clearance items. “I don’t tend to trust compliments from a man who’s said those words to half the female population.”

He followed, laying a hand on her arm to still her movements. “I wasn’t giving you some cheap, recycled line. I spoke the truth, a truth you need to take to heart.”

What Darcy needed to take to heart at the moment was the fact she had to be careful around him, especially when he was being kind and supportive.

Being a good friend.

Darcy was strong and capable. Why go all weak-kneed just because he said she’s a natural beauty? “I accept your compliment.”

Luke smiled, a victorious smile. “Good. While we’re having this heart-to-heart, let me add that I hate seeing you killing yourself working two jobs when you don’t need to, and then volunteering at the church on top of it.”

Picking up the last of the discarded items, Darcy headed to the other side of the store. “You’ve already stated your opinion. And as I’ve already told you, I need to pay off my college debt to prepare to live on my own.”

“Your mom is worried about you, and so am I.”

“Did my mom send you?”

“It was my idea to come tonight.”

But he hadn’t denied her mother’s involvement.

Whether or not she had sent him, Luke hadn’t come by because he wanted to spend time with her. “Ah, I see. You dropped by to make sure I don’t get robbed making the deposit.”

“Your mom mentioned you carry cash to the bank each time you close.”

Darcy shook her head. “I appreciate you caring, but I’m perfectly safe. The night deposit drop box is located inside the front entrance of the mall, so I don’t even leave the premises with money.”

He ran a hand through his hair, causing a curl to drop across his forehead. “And you refuse to call mall security to escort you?”

“I walk with employees from several other stores.” When the timing works out.

“All of you sitting ducks, targets for someone armed and possibly desperate.”

Frustrated that he didn’t seem to be listening to her, she marched to the front of the store and raised the gated door. “You can either trust my judgment, or you can leave.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Then don’t show up when it suits you and start butting into my business. You’re not my keeper.”

Color streaked across his cheekbones, a sure sign he was majorly frustrated. His jaw sawed back and forth. “No, I’m not. I’m your friend. Your best friend. And that should count for something.”

Of course, he had to go and play the best friend card. They rarely did, only in dire circumstances. Darcy had pulled it once when he was dating a girl who ended up in juvie. He’d used it when she’d been sixteen and made plans to attend a party where there would be drinking, and another time when an overly charming lead singer of a band had asked her out in college.

He must be truly worried about her safety.

Begrudgingly, she reclosed the gate. “Wait here.”

Once again, his victory smile flashed, but at least he had the decency not to verbally gloat.

“I won’t be long closing out the cash register since we hardly sold anything.” She sighed. “If I can’t make the sale when these hoards of kids show up on the weekends, I’m afraid my boss will fire me.”

“And that would be a bad thing because…?”

His sarcastic grin made her smile, too. “Oh, hush.”

Leaving him to guard the place, she batched out the credit card machine, counted the cash and checks and filled out the deposit slip. She tucked the deposit in a lockable bank bag and then placed the cash register drawer, holding a set amount of money for the morning shift, in the safe.