“That’s not how they’d see it.” She closed her eyes as he leaned in to kiss her neck, his mouth sending tingles down her spine. “Like mother like daughter. The town sluts.”
“Anybody calls you that, I’ll make sure they can’t speak again.” His voice was low.
She laughed at his words. “You’re my hero, you know that?”
“I’ll be whatever you want me to be,” he told her. “But I need you to know this is serious. I want you in my life and in my bed, Van. No messing about, no mixed messages. This is it for me.”
His gaze was deadly serious. Her breath caught at his intensity. “I feel the same. Just give me some time to get used to it.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Agreed.”
“And in the meantime, we can sneak around like teenagers,” she said, grinning. “And make out in cars.” She cupped his jaw with her hands, brushing her lips against his. He kissed her back, hot and hard until they were both breathless.
“Sounds good to me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Van! Hey!” Maddie Clark walked out of the diner kitchen, waving at Van as she leaned on the counter. “How are you? And your sister? Is she okay?” She walked along the counter and picked up the coffee carafe. “You want some?” she asked. “It’s decaf, I’m afraid. Murphy messed up the real stuff.”
“Sure.” Van watched, amused, as Maddie filled up two mugs with the bitter liquid, then put them on the counter along with a few containers of creamer and a container of sugar. Then she walked around and sat on the stool next to Van’s.
“Maddie Clark, how many times have I told you not to help yourself to my coffee,” Murphy, the diner’s owner, grumbled as he shook his head at her cup. “You don’t work here anymore, remember?”
“I was saving you the hassle. I hear Cora Jean’s not feeling well.” Maddie shrugged. “And I did say hello.”
“Well unless you want to put an apron on and run a shift, I suggest you stay on that side of the counter.”
Maddie blew him a kiss. “I miss you like crazy, Murph, but I’m never working for you again. You’re too bad humored.”
“Humph.” He shook his head and walked back into the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind him.
“He loves me really,” Maddie told Van. “Even if he doesn’t show it.”
“I didn’t know you used to work here,” Van said, taking a sip of coffee.
“Yeah, before Gray and I met.” Maddie grinned. “Well after, I guess, since we met when I was a kid. But this was where we met for the second time.”
“Right.” Van didn’t try to hide her confu
sion.
Maddie laughed. “Sorry, I’m talking too much. Gray’s been in the studio all week and I’ve had nobody to talk to. That’s why I came to see Murphy, but then I remembered that he doesn’t talk much.” She shook her head and put her hand on Van’s wrist. “Am I holding you up? Do you have somewhere to be?”
“Only the drive-in. But I can stay and drink this coffee. It’s good, by the way.”
“I forgot you were working with Tanner.” Maddie lowered her voice. “How’s that going? If he’s anything like Gray, he’s making you work all the hours god sends.”
“I’m enjoying it,” Van admitted, smiling at the petite brunette. “I’m busier than I’ve ever been, but it’s really starting to come together.” And yeah, she was enjoying being with Tanner, too. Even though when they were at the drive-in he kept his promise and was all about business.
When he climbed through her window at night, though, he was anything but.
“I can’t wait to see it when it’s done.” Maddie clapped her hands together. “I’m so excited about making out with Gray at the movies. It’ll be like I’m a teenager again.”
Van laughed. “A lot of people have said that to me. It’s making everybody around here nostalgic. How about you? And how’s Gray?”
“I love him to death, but he’s such a damn perfectionist. He’s been recording the same song for a week, and keeps asking me to listen to the latest version so I can hear the difference.” Maddie leaned forward. “And I have to lie and say I do, because it’s exactly the same.”
“Is this a new album?”