The Devil She Knew(2)

     



 

Suzie caught a whiff of delicious cologne. A man was standing behind her  studying the board over her shoulder, and boy, did he smell good. She  turned slowly, making the movement casual. Tall. Broad shoulders. Square  jaw. Hair so dark it was almost black, razor short on the sides and  long enough on top to have the perfect touch of artful scruffiness. Holy  mother of dragons, this guy was way too good looking, he had to be  married. Her eyes dropped, searching for a ring and not finding one.  Could her luck have finally changed?

He turned gorgeous brown eyes on her and her knees went weak. Wowser. Now that was a face she could imagine waking up next to.

"Hi." She gave him the most alluring smile she could manage when he'd already sucked the breath out of her lungs.

His eyes narrowed and he didn't smile back. "You don't recognize me, do you?"

She stared at him, shocked. No way could she have met a man this hot  before and not remembered him. So why he was looking at her like she'd  done bad things to him, and not in a fun way?

"Ah … " She gulped. "Maybe you've mistaken me for someone else?"

The look he gave her could only be described as a glare. "Shall I give  you a clue, Suzie? We were at school together, and my parents used to  own the store on the corner of your street."

She frowned, thinking back to when she was a teenager. "No, you can't be … ?"

Her mind was racing. Was he really Harrison, the boy who'd worked behind  the counter? She'd had a crush on him and finally worked up the courage  to ask him out. On the night that was supposed to be their first date  he'd never turned up to collect her, and when she'd stormed up to him  the next day, confused and angry, he'd said some awful things.

Although she remembered Harrison being cute, he sure didn't look  anywhere near this good back then. He'd had a shaved head, six studs in  his ear, and three in his lip. She'd wondered how she'd kiss him with  all that hardware in the way.

No, this man didn't look like Harrison. Different mouth shape. Different eyes.

Suzie's blood went cold. Could it be Harrison's kid brother?

"Milhouse?" she breathed.

"Thank you for giving me that nickname." His voice was soaked in sarcasm. "Do you even know my real name?"

She swallowed. What on earth was his real name? He'd always been  Milhouse to her. "You don't wear glasses anymore," she said, stalling.

"I had laser surgery."

Suddenly her memories were flooding back. Milhouse had been the nerdiest  of the nerds. A friend of Laura's because they'd been in all the  advanced classes together, and the math and science clubs. He'd always  made her feel stupid, the way he talked to Laura about things she had no  hope of understanding, though she was a year older than them both.

She'd hated him. Hated the way he used to compete with Laura to be top  of every class. His arrogant swagger when he collected his endless  awards. And worst of all, the way he'd made up a lie about her that had  taken her years to live down.

"How dare you?" She clenched her fists. Oh yes, it was all coming back  to her what an asshole he was. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You called me Milhouse, for a start."

Yeah, well, he'd looked like Milhouse, Bart's geeky friend on The  Simpsons. Now he was a six-foot hottie in a designer suit. Who the hell  could have seen that coming?

She drew herself up as tall as she could manage. "Harrison told me he  didn't want to go out with me because I'd offered to have sex with you  if you'd write my term paper. He didn't believe me when I denied it and  the next thing I knew, everyone at school was talking about it. Where do  you think he might have got an idea like that?" Her face was getting  warm, and no doubt flushing bright red. "You lied about me, and everyone  believed you."

"It was payback." His square jaw tightened. "That thug you used to go  out with stole from my parents' store. When I tried to stop him he broke  my collarbone."

Suzie's greatest superpower was her ability to attract losers, and  dating thugs was a particular specialty. But she knew which one Milhouse  was talking about. It could only be Troy, the boy she'd broken up with  before she'd gathered her courage to ask Harrison out.

She folded her arms defiantly. "You can't blame me for what Troy did."

Milhouse folded his arms as well, matching her stance. "He stole  cigarettes." His lip curled with disdain. "Menthol cigarettes. The brand  you smoked."

Suzie swallowed down a hard lump of guilt. Troy had given her several  cartons, and she'd smoked them without asking where he'd got them. She'd  been a blind, infatuated fool, but she'd never meant to hurt anyone.  Besides, his ‘payback' had made her life hell.         

     



 

"So you took revenge on me instead of Troy?"

He shrugged. "I figured Captain Fingerpaint was on a collision course  with a jail cell anyway. His IQ was so low, you'd have to dig for it."

Great. Her boyfriend had been dumb, so what did that make her? She  glared at Milhouse, but he ignored her rage, instead stepping forward so  he could study the seating plan.

It brought him close, and she was suddenly all too aware of his body.  His white shirt clung to his muscled frame, hinting that he'd somehow  developed a delicious bad-boy physique. And what was with that  too-delicious cologne?

Her blood pulsed harder, and her heart stuttered. But what she was  feeling couldn't be arousal. No, there had to be a breeze sending  shivers over her skin. He might be sickeningly handsome now, but all the  window dressing in the world couldn't disguise the fact that he was  still the despicable nerd she'd hated.

"You're sitting there." Milhouse pointed at the board. "And I'm sitting-" He broke off, his eyes narrowing.

Crap. It had taken him all of two seconds to work out the formula.  Worse, he had to have known she wouldn't be smart enough. Suzie flushed.  She felt like she'd just failed high school all over again.

"Oh good!" The happy exclamation came from behind them, and Suzie  glanced around at Laura, who was standing close, smiling at them both.  "I'm glad you two are getting reacquainted. I'm sure you've already  worked out where you're sitting? You're together, over there." She  pointed to a nearby table. "We'll have some speeches first, then dinner,  so go and make yourselves comfortable."

Suzie clenched her teeth. Laura had seated her with Milhouse? Perfect.  That probably meant he was the only single guy here and Suzie's sister  thought she was doing her a favor. Laura was a genius, except when it  came to people. If she remembered that hateful rumor from their school  days, she'd no doubt forgotten Milhouse had started it.

Laura was already turning away to talk to someone else. Suzie shot  Milhouse one last look of hatred before she spun on her heel and headed  for the bar. She needed another drink before she had to sit down and  endure an entire dinner with him.

"I'll have the strongest cocktail you have," she told the bartender.

From the corner of her eye, she watched Milhouse stride to the table  Laura had pointed them to and tug out a chair like he wanted to break it  into kindling. Another shiver ran over her skin and with a shock she  realized her nipples were hard. No, she hated him! She refused to let  her body react to him. But he moved with such effortless, animal grace,  she couldn't stop herself from imagining what those hands might feel  like if he put them on her.





3





Nate tried to ignore Suzie while the wedding speeches were going on, but  sitting next to her was torture. Each time they were asked to toast the  happy couple, he glared as she gulped her ridiculous cocktail. It was  even brighter than her hair, bristling with too many straws and  umbrellas. When it was reduced to nothing but a few half-melted ice  cubes, Suzie ordered a big glass of wine and made a show of knocking  that back as well.

No doubt Suzie wasn't listening to the wedding speeches at all, but  stewing over the single lie Nate had told. He had much more to be angry  about. She hadn't recognized him. Hadn't known he was the kid who'd been  hit with an iron bar when she'd sent her thug of a boyfriend after  cigarettes.

But all that was in the past. He didn't need to think about it, because  he was completely over it. And the fact she'd been permanently burned  into his memory when she didn't even know his real name? No, he wasn't  upset about that either.

Nate realized he was grinding his teeth and made a point of relaxing his  jaw. If only the perfume she was wearing didn't keep wafting over and  stirring something inside him he couldn't quite control. He shifted in  his seat and she shot him a sideways glare, her eyes narrow slits and  her expression dark. Bring it on, Suzie. He needed more looks like that  to get through to the part of him that hadn't got the memo about her  being bad news.

The other guests were clapping. Were the wedding speeches over? He got a  waiter's attention and motioned for another beer. He'd already had more  than he'd usually drink, but they were fuel to help him get through the  evening.