Tamara Sneed - At First Touch

“That’s not fair,” she squeaked.

“Not fair,” he repeated, in disbelief. “After your performance in the diner, Dorrie and half the town think you and I are sleeping together. By the end of the day, the entire town will think we’re on the verge of getting married. That’s not fair, Quinn. You know that I’m trying to build a life with Dorrie. She walked out on me in the diner and almost walked out on me entirely.”

“Almost?” Quinn repeated, disappointed.

“Yes, almost. I managed to salvage our growing friendship, no thanks to you. But even though she pretended to believe me, there was doubt in her eyes that was not there before.”

“I see I’m not the only one bitten by the drama bug around here. All I did was act a little friendly, Wyatt.”

“Do you really think that I’ll talk my mother into letting you use the house just because you’re threatening to sabotage my relationship with Dorrie?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” she said flatly. He appeared surprised, as if he didn’t expect her to admit it. She smiled. “You know I can do it, Wyatt. One smile. A well-placed hand or, a kiss even, and Dorrie will never talk to you again.”

“Are you threatening me?” he asked in disbelief.

“Whatever you think of me, I am an actress. An extraordinary actress, actually. I can make anybody believe whatever I want, which means I can make this town—including Dorrie—believe that you and I are having a torrid, no-holds-barred affair and that we’re madly in love,” she said simply. “Without any participation from you. And no one will believe your denials because everyone knows how you’ve followed me around like a puppy ever since Graham and Charlie met.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would. I intend to, actually, unless…well, you know what I want,” she said then lifted her left eyebrow in challenge. When he only stared at her, his face a blank mask, she sighed in frustration. “Come on, Wyatt. Why put me through this? Just give me what I want—the house for the film—and I’ll be out of your hair, and you and Dorrie and continue your inevitable march toward white picket fences and dirty diapers.”

He stepped closer until the heat from his body mingled with hers. She suddenly found herself breathing hard. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and she found herself licking her lips.

“You have gone too far, Quinn. This is war.”

“War?” she croaked. She shook her head confused. “I don’t want—”

“War, Quinn. You want a battle. You have a battle.”

She choked out a nervous laugh. “Be reasonable, Wyatt.”

“I’m done being reasonable with you. You don’t understand reasonable. Here are the rules of engagement. One week. One week for you to try whatever you can to turn Dorrie against me. If you succeed, then you’ll have the mortuary for your film because you’d have done me a favor in showing me that Dorrie is not the woman I thought she was. If, on the other hand, Dorrie ignores all of your underhanded attempts, then you’ll never mention that film or my house again.”

“Wyatt, I’m not—”

“Is it a deal or not?” he demanded, moving even closer.

They stared at each other for a moment. Then his gaze subtly dropped. To her breasts. Even though she wore a sweatshirt at least two sizes too big, she felt vulnerable and dainty. It made her instantly more nervous.

She crossed her arms over her breasts, and Wyatt instantly lifted his gaze to hers. He didn’t smile this time. He just watched her. Waiting.

“You’re really confident in Mission—Find a Wife, aren’t you?”

“I’m confident in Dorrie.”

“I watched you two before I walked into the diner. It looked painful. When you’re the big talker at the table, there definitely is trouble.” Her eyes widened as Wyatt leaned even closer and placed his finger on her lips, effectively silencing her.

“Don’t worry about my relationship with Dorrie,” he said quietly, his eyes boring into hers. “You should be worrying about finding your next movie role. Do we have a deal or not?”

She couldn’t resist the grin that spread across her face. “A Sibley always gets what she wants, Wyatt. You’re in over your head.”

She placed her hand in his to shake on the deal. Wyatt laughed, seeming almost as delighted as she was. And there it was. The two were smiling at each other. Enjoying each other, even, with the threat of mutual destruction.

At the same time, they both realized that they were smiling at each other, alone, in the house, holding hands. His hand was large and warm, slightly callused. And even though Quinn felt weird touching Wyatt, it also felt strangely comfortable, as if she had been holding his hand for most of her life.

Time stopped. His smile faded and a strange expression crossed his face, as if he couldn’t quite believe that she was standing there, near him. His lips parted slightly. Quinn thought that Wyatt leaned toward her. She knew that she leaned toward him.

“We’re home!” came an excited cry from the living room.

Wyatt jumped away from Quinn, and Quinn bumped into the counter once more. Charlie walked into the kitchen, looking cute and impossibly sweet, loaded down with brown grocery bags. She set the bags on the counter and grinned when she saw Quinn. She raced across the kitchen to wrap Quinn in a tight embrace that left Quinn gasping for air.

“You’re still here,” Charlie said, excitedly. “I saw your car out front, and I was so excited. We can go pick a Christmas tree.”

Graham walked into the kitchen and appeared to be on the verge of speaking, then just looked from Quinn to Wyatt. Quinn widened her eyes at Graham, silently begging him not to say anything that would draw Charlie’s attention the strange undercurrents in the kitchen.

“And did you hear that Kendra will be here tomorrow?” Charlie practically jumped up and down as she released Quinn. “I don’t think the three of us have been together for Christmas since…I don’t know when. This is going to be so exciting. I have to start baking cookies and making popcorn for the tree—”

“Calm down, baby. We have a few more days until Christmas. You can torture us with Christmas cheer after you’ve had a chance to relax a little,” Graham said with a gentle smile in Charlie’s direction before he pinned Quinn with a hard look and then turned to Wyatt. “Wyatt, nice to see you. What are you doing here? Helping Quinn prepare for our arrival?”

“Wyatt, what a nice surprise,” Charlie exclaimed, walking across the room to throw her arms around him.

Quinn tried not to feel jealous at the sight of her sister touching Wyatt and Wyatt touching her back. Quinn couldn’t hug Wyatt. Quinn frowned when she caught Graham staring at her with a knowing smirk. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. She had never had a brother before and as brothers went Graham was fine, but he did have the annoying part down.

“It’s nice to see you, too, Charlie,” Wyatt said, smiling. He nodded at Graham then glanced at his watch. “We should all catch up later. I have to…I have to get to something in town. A meeting.”

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