Read Online Lean on Me (The Mackay Sisters) by Angela Verdenius - Free Book Online Page B

friend grin widely before
disappearing back into the kitchen.
    Lori turned back to Matt.  “Thanks
for the roast.  I will eat it, I promise.”
    “You don’t have to eat it tonight,
it’ll keep.”
    Oh God, did he think she would
actually eat two dinners?  Mortified, she stammered, “I-I wouldn’t eat it
tonight, not as well.  I’m not that hungry.”  That sounded even worse.  “I
mean, I don’t eat two dinners normally.  I mean ever.  I don’t eat two dinners
ever.  I-” Her words were stopped by one long finger laying gently against her
lips.
    Matt smiled slightly.  “I know.”
    And then it happened.  She opened
her mouth to say something and the tip of her tongue brushed against his
finger.  He jerked it back as though she’d scalded him, his eyes suddenly dark,
searching, seeming to pierce through and into her, baring her dirty little
secrets to his scrutiny
    Mortified - an emotion that was
fast becoming the norm around him - Lori jerked back, stammering, “Thanks for
the food.  I-I have to go.  Goodbye!”  She almost slammed the door shut.
    Oh God.  She slumped against the
door, bringing her free hand up to slap against her forehead.  What had she
done?  How could she have been so stupid ?  She’d licked his finger, she
hadn’t meant to, but it had just happened and - stupid stupid stupid !
    “Keep banging your forehead like
that and you’ll have a headache,” Tracey informed her.
    Lifting her head, Lori saw her
friend watching her with a touch of concern.  “I’m fine.”
    “Of course you are, because
smacking yourself around is the very definition of ‘fine’.”
    “Just a thought.”
    “So bad you had to smack it?”  A
little gleam entered her eyes.  “Care to share?”
    “It’s a boring thought.”  Lori
straightened.  “Matt brought me tea.”
    “Ah, the gallant knight rides to
the rescue once more.”
    Lori’s eyes narrowed.  “What do
you mean ‘once more’?”
    “Shirley, who lives behind you,
saw you fall in the backyard but before she could come and help, Matt was over
that fence and lifting you up in his arms-”
    Lori gave an inelegant snort.
    “And brought you inside,” Tracey
continued, unperturbed.
    “And Shirley told you this?”
    “No, she told Mrs Hubble, who told
Old Man Parker, who told me.”
    “Great.”  With a sigh, Lori limped
down the hallway.
    Entering the kitchen, she saw
Tracey going out the back door with Minx beside her.  Minx looked back at Lori,
who limped over to the back door and leaned against it, watching as her friend
took Minx out into the garden.
    “Honestly, “said Tracey, “this cat
rules your life.”
    “Glad you don’t let her do the
same to you,” Lori replied dryly.
    “Cats should have a place and she
knows her’s around me.  By the way, I brought extra chicken because I know she likes
it.”  At Lori’s grin, she added defensively, “It stops her hassling us while
we’re eating and watching a passion-strewn movie.”
    “’Course it does.”
    Once back inside, Tracey divided
up the chicken and salad while Lori cut the extra piece up for Minx, then they
went to the lounge, Tracy carrying both plates and ensuring that Lori was
settled before returning to the kitchen for the cold drinks.
    Once seated beside each other on
the sofa, Tracey put the DVD on pause before it had even started properly.  “By
the way, hope you didn’t have other plans for tonight.”
    “Nope.”  Lori shook her head.
    “Not with…” Tracey winked. 
“Matt?”
    “Matt?  No, of course not.”
    “You’re blushing.”
    “Do you want that DVD shoved where
the sun don’t shine?”
    “Not particularly.”
    “Then change the subject.”
    Tracey rolled her eyes.  “Fine.” 
Taking a mouthful of chicken, she started the DVD again, only to pause it
during the previews.  “By the way-”
    “I get the shivers as soon as you
say that,” Lori informed her.
    “Ha ha.  By the way , I