Read Online One True Love (Cupid, Texas 0.5) by Lori Wilde - Free Book Online Page A

think my lungs are about to explode.” I chuffed.
    “You can do it, Millipede.”
    His nickname for me!
    A couple was pulling up close behind us. John and I exchanged glances.
    “You’re as competitive as I am, aren’t you, Millie Greenwood?” he asked.
    “You bet.”
    He winked. “Let’s show them how it’s done.”
    I kicked off those high-heeled shoes and they went flying as John and I ran as fast as we could to outpace the couple behind us.
    Just when I thought I could not take one step farther, the horn blew, signaling the break.
    The last five groaning couples were disqualified.
    Laughing, John and I collapsed onto the floor, along with everyone else.
    We looked at each other and we could not stop laughing. It felt so good to laugh with him on the gymnasium floor. It was so unorthodox, so improper, but all for a good cause, so who could complain, right?
    That’s when I realized my dress had risen up, exposing my knees and the garter holding up the stockings. There was a run in stockings as well, but John’s eyes were locked on my legs like they were the prettiest things he’d ever seen.
    My cheeks burned and I yanked at the skirt of the dress, pulling it down past my knees. But it was too late. He’d already seen my knees. If my mother could see me now. She’d be shocked and give me a stern lecture about propriety.
    “Your toes are bleeding,” John exclaimed.
    And before I knew what he was doing, he got to his feet and scooped me up into his arms.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Taking care of you.”
    “It’s not your place. Put me down.”
    “Hush,” he said sweetly and carried me outside into the cool night air. Someone had held the door open for us and John marched straight for the first aid tent.
    A nurse bustled over. “Set her down.”
    John settled me onto a cot.
    On the cot beside me, the girl that had tripped earlier was having Mercurochrome dabbed on her skinned knee by another nurse. It seemed a night for exposed knees.
    The nurse clicked her tongue over my blistered toes and set about salving and dressing them.
    “Do you want to call it quits?” John asked.
    “No.” I shook my head vehemently. “How much time to do we have left in the break?”
    He glanced at his pocket watch. “Five minutes.”
    “Could you please hurry up?” I asked the nurse.
    “You’re going back in there?” She gave me a disapproving look.
    “I am.”
    “Wrap her feet up good,” John instructed.
    “There’s no time for that,” I said. “I need a ladies’ room break.”
    “You go for that,” he said. “I’ll grab us some sandwiches and meet you back on the dance floor.”
    Hobbled by my bandaged feet, I barely made it back to the dance floor in time. One second more and we would have been out. Eight hours in and we were down to twenty-six couples.
    We danced and ate sandwiches—peanut butter this time—not even bothering with dance steps, just moving our feet. I couldn’t believe we had another sixteen hours to go.
    “I’m beginning to think your sister is a sadist,” I said.
    “I’m inclined to agree.”
    “Do you think she fell down the stairs on purpose to avoid this torture?”
    “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
    “I think she got the better of the deal. She’s riding around in a wheelchair.”
    “Prima donna,” he teased.
    A spasm grabbed the calf of my leg. “Ouch, ouch.”
    “What is it?”
    “Charley horse.”
    “Which leg?”
    “Left one.”
    He eased his hand down the back of my leg, found the offending muscle, and rubbed it.
    The feel of his fingers on my leg blotted out anything else. The charley horse was a minor inconvenience in light of the fact that John was leaning over, his face dangerously near my breasts as his long fingers massaged my leg. I darted a glance to see who was watching. A couple of older women in the stands were staring at me with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. Ladies’ League biddies. That had to be it.
    “It’s good,” I said, shamed by