Waking Up in Dixie Read Online Free PDF Page B

harder.
    It wouldn’t be easy, acting blasé, but she had to let him chase her till she landed him, no matter how hard it was or how long it took.
    So instead of responding to Howe’s come-hither look, shelifted her eyebrows and bestowed her own sparkling smile on Cathy. “I don’t have time for boys. I have to study. And I want to join the Drama Club. Come on. Show me to my first class.”
    She didn’t even glance Howe’s way as they passed, but deep in her heart, Elizabeth knew one thing: Howe Whittington was a hunk of a heartthrob, and she was going to marry him one day.
     
    Four years later, Elizabeth made sure she was studying across the library table from Howe Whittington’s usual spot at the Emory Library when he came in to study. She’d spent all her spare time in the first two months of college quietly learning his schedule. Fortunately, he was just as regimented as she was. Then she’d started coincidentally turning up where he was. Despite the girls who’d thrown themselves at him, Howe seemed just as obsessed with study as she was.
    But she wasn’t getting anywhere, and she’d waited long enough. Howe was between debs, and it was time to make her move.
    As he always did on Thursday afternoons, he came into the section and dropped his books on the table, then pulled a bottle of water from his book bag.
    Elizabeth kept right on studying. She had plenty of work to do. She was taking six courses and had to keep her grades up for the scholarship.
    Howe took some time to settle in, then finally sat with his book open in front of him.
    Eyes on her own books, Elizabeth arched her back with a softmoan and stretched, lifting her arms high above her head, fingers interlocked. Then she closed her eyes and counted.
    One, two, three, four . . .
    “Do I know you?” Howe asked. “ ’Cause if I don’t, I’d sure like to.”
    This time, Elizabeth responded. “Actually, we went to the same high school. I’m here on scholarship.”
    His expression warmed. “Ah. Beautiful
and
brilliant. I’m impressed.”
    She cocked her head with a skeptical, “Does that line usually work for you with the other girls?”
    Howe chuckled. “The other girls I know aren’t usually brilliant, just beautiful, but that doesn’t make for good conversation. I’m not really into creme rinses and the latest shopping news.”
    Elizabeth chuckled back.
    Howe’s eyes narrowed as he pointed her way. “Wait. Don’t tell me.” He studied her face. “Mason? Morgan? No, that’s not it.”
    Elizabeth turned her attention back to her book.
    “You were homecoming queen,” Howe announced. “I saw the picture in the paper. And you were head of the Beta Society. National Merit Scholar. Perfect sixteen hundred on your SATs.”
    She looked up. “How do you know all that?”
    “My mother sends me the local paper every week,” he admitted. “So I can keep up with what’s going on back home,” he said with definite sarcasm, revealing that he wasn’t too anxious to go back there.
    Perfect. Neither was she. Elizabeth extended her hand. “Elizabeth Mooney,” she offered.
    “Elizabeth. Of course.” Howe shook his head with a grin. “Every girl in town wanted to be you.”
    “Every girl in town wanted to
have
you,” she said archly.
    His eyes sparked with interest. “Except you.” He slid down till they were facing each other across the table. “Why was that?”
    “I didn’t have time for boys,” she said evenly. “I still don’t. I want to have my Ph.D. by twenty-four and go somewhere far, far away from Whittington.”
    Howe grinned, melting her insides. “Me, too.” He looked at her with deepened interest. “Don’t you think you could make just a little time for me? We could plan our escape.”
    Our
escape . . . Perfect, perfect, perfect. Elizabeth looked him up and down, then relented. “Well, maybe a little. But only a little.”
    Smug, he leaned forward. “How about dinner tonight? Anywhere in the city you’d