Skin (McCullough Mountain 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that.
You’re not fat.”
    “I’m not arguing with you about this
again.”
    “Then don’t insult yourself in front of me.”
His tone was sharp and she realized he wasn’t playing around
anymore.
    “All right. Relax.”
    “You do that a lot, put yourself down. I
think what you need is to stop obsessing over your looks.”
    At that, she took offense. “I do not obsess
over my looks.”
    “How many miles did you run today?”
    “Four. So what?”
    He looked at his watch. “It’s four o’clock.
What have you eaten?”
    “What do you care?”
    “Just answer the question.”
    She sighed. “I had eggs for breakfast and a
salad for lunch.”
    “That’s it?”
    “That’s a normal amount of food.”
    “What if I held out a cheeseburger right
now? Would you take it? I bet you would. I bet you’d even lick the
grease off my fingers.”
    She bristled. “You’re an asshole.”
    “What? I’m playing around.”
    All she could picture was her going at his
hand, cheeseburger in fist, like Cujo. She stood. “I have to switch
my laundry.”
    The door to the washer swung open with too
much force. Her hands plopped the clothes into the hollow basin of
the dryer. She slapped the wet clothes down.
    “Hey, Philly, what gives?”
    She ignored him and continued to scoop up
and transfer her clothes. He caught her wrist, mid-toss. “Hey,
don’t ignore me. You’re mad.”
    Her molars locked. “You make me sound like a
heifer.”
    He made a sound in his throat and drew back.
“No. You picture yourself that way. All I was trying to do was get
you to go grab a burger with me. You totally mistook my
meaning.”
    She stilled. “You were going to ask me out
to eat?”
    “Yeah, but I’m not down with rabbit food, so
only if I could convince you to have some red meat.”
    She sucked in a slow breath and mentally
called herself a million names. Not one of them nice. “Sorry. I
thought…”
    “I know what you thought. Look, I like you.
I’d like to be friends. Try not to be so defensive. I’m not a mean
guy.”
    No, he wasn’t. Friends. That’s how he
saw her. Sure, she could spend days looking at him. He was
gorgeous. But he only saw her as a friend, like one of the guys. It
wasn’t like she could afford to be picky. At the moment she had no
friends. Finnegan was it. “Sorry,” she repeated.
    “Stop apologizing. Here, I’ll help you
fold.”
    He lifted the laundry out of the dryer next
to the one she’d just loaded and she abandoned the wet clothes she
was handling. Her hand snatched back the stuff he’d grabbed.
“No!”
    “Why?”
    “My…private things are in there.”
    “Ah, some of those sexy granny panty
unmentionables you told me about?”
    “I should have never told you that
stuff.”
    He laughed and checked her with his hip.
“Nah, I’m glad you did. You weren’t lying about the magic
spot.”
    Ugh, images of Finnegan necking with Erin
bombarded her mind. “Ew.”
    He chuckled.
    They stayed at the Laundromat for another
hour waiting for her things to dry. When everything was folded, he
helped her carry her clothes home. Mallory slowly forced herself to
stop seeing Finnegan as anything more than a friend.
    He was fun and made her laugh and she
enjoyed his company. He also had a girlfriend and that made him
off-limits. There was also the fact that she wasn’t his type, or
anyone else’s for that matter.
    Once inside her apartment she awkwardly
tucked her laundry in the bedroom and shut the door.
    “You’re place is nice.”
    “Thanks. It’s small, but I like it.”
    He went to the fridge and started rummaging
around. “Can I eat this yogurt?”
    “Um, sure…” He sure made himself at
home.
    The air from the window unit pumped into the
living room and cooled her skin. Her hair was flat because she
didn’t dry it. Her instinct was to pretty herself up in any guy’s
presence, but if they were just friends, why bother? It was sort of
refreshing to not have to give a shit.
    “When are you