his pensive hazel-and-blue eyes incredibly sexy. She’d always thought only brown eyes could be referred to as bedroom eyes, but now she knew better.
Penny Sue sighed. “You might as well know before you meet everyone tonight. The Paine family is…well, we’re the town eccentrics. You know, slightly peculiar. Just a bit off center. We tend to do things our own way. And the women in our family are the worst. I suppose that’s why so many Paine women die old maids. It’s not that we don’t want husbands, it’s just that we seem to intimidate most men.
“We’re all considered beauties and we can attract men like bears to honey, but we can’t seem to keep a man once he realizes how independent and opinionated we are. Even Aunt Dottie, who is the sweetest thing, wasn’t able to land a husband. And one of her fiancés turned out to be a swindler who ran off with a large chunk of her money and broke her heart to boot. And then there was my one and only fiancé—he didn’t leave with any of my money, but he did run off with the Baptist preacher’s wife only a couple of weeks before our wedding. And what made it even more of a scandal was the fact the woman was my cousin.
“Valerie’s last name might have been Paine, but she takes after her mother’s side of the family, which means she’s not a true Paine. You’ll meet her tonight. If you’re like most men, you’ll take one look at her and think she’s easy, if you know what I mean. And you’d be right. She gets that from her mother’s side of the family, too. The Paine women are known for their modesty and their ladylike manners. Aunt Lottie and Aunt Dottie, Cousin Eula, Cousin Stacie and—”
He dropped his case to the sidewalk and then grabbed her by the shoulders. For half a second she thought he was going to shake her. He didn’t. The very instant she stopped talking, he released her. But not before every nerve ending in her entire body had gone to full alert. She’d been startled by his abrupt action, but not afraid. His touch had been firm yet gentle and the feel of his large, strong hands had sent a tingling sensation through her whole body.
She gazed up at him, into those stern hazel-blue eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“Ms. Paine, all I asked was why your aunt left her fortune to a dog.”
Penny Sue laughed. “Oh, my, so you did. You’ll have to forgive me, Mr. Noble—by the way, may I call you Vic? I’d like it if you called me Penny Sue. Everyone does. Well, not everyone in the whole world because I don’t know everyone in the whole world, but everyone in Alabaster Creek and—”
He grabbed her shoulders again and this time he did shake her. Once. A very gentle shake, but enough to quiet her. She gazed up at him and smiled. “I was doing it again, wasn’t I? I tend to get off track. It’s another family trait—giving too many details. Aunt Lottie always scolded me for digressing.”
She glanced at his big hands still clutching her shoulders. He released her immediately.
“Do you suppose you could manage to answer my questions in two sentences or less?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. But I could try.” She reached up and smoothed his wrinkled brow with her fingertips. He jerked back as if her touch had burned him. “You really should smile more, Vic. You’re a very good-looking man, but frowning all the time isn’t very attractive.”
“Ms. Paine—”
“Penny Sue.”
He heaved a deep, exasperated sigh. Was he annoyed with her? Probably. Just a tad. Silly of him, of course, to get so bent out of shape over nothing.
“Penny Sue,” he said. “How about we try yes and no answers?”
“All right. Does that mean you’ll ask me a question and I’ll say either yes or no?”
“That’s what it means.”
“All right. Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s go on home. If we stand out here in front of the Kimbrew house for much longer, Oren Kimbrew will come out here and ask us what we’re up to. He grows prize-winning roses and for the past two years, Aunt Dottie’s roses have won first place in every contest in which they competed against each other. So when he sees any member of the Paine family near his house, he accuses us of trying to sabotage his roses.”
Vic picked up his case with one hand and using the other hand, grabbed her arm and spurred her into motion, leading her up the block in an all-fired hurry. If she hadn’t been so perturbed by his actions, she’d have noticed sooner that once again her body was tingling all over just from his touch.
“Vic?”
“Hush, will you?” After drawing in a deep breath, he added, “Please.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“I know better. Tell me.”
Without looking at her, but holding on to her arm and keeping up their fast pace down the sidewalk, Vic said, “I’ve never met a woman who talked so much and said so little.”
Penny Sue balked. He yanked on her arm, but she wouldn’t budge. He let go of her.
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to say,” she told him.
“You’re right. It wasn’t. I tend to say exactly what I think. If you want an apology, then I’ll apologize.”
“No, don’t bother. It wouldn’t be sincere. And an insincere apology is worse than no apology at all.”
“If you say so.”
“I do say so.” Penny Sue pursed her lips into a little pout. Tears moistened her eyes. Her chin trembled. There was no excuse for being rude. Well, maybe one. If Vic was a Yankee, she might be able to overlook his comment. But she could tell by his accent that he had been raised somewhere in the South, probably farther north than Alabama. Virginia or Kentucky. But even in those states, people were taught good manners, weren’t they?
He studied her for a couple of minutes. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
She sniffled. “Would you please put that into a question I can answer by either yes or no.”
He glared at her. She glanced away, refusing to look at him. Since they were going to be spending a great deal of time together during the next few weeks, he needed to learn right now that she would not tolerate bad manners, especially not from an employee.
“Did I hurt your feelings?” he asked, his manner downright surly.
“Yes.”
“Will you accept my apology?”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
She gasped. It was a fake gasp, but he didn’t know that.
“Don’t tell me—you’re offended by my saying hell?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He blew out an irritated huff. “Look, lady, I’m a man. I occasionally use profanity. And my manners aren’t all they could be. But you didn’t hire me because I’m a gentleman. You hired me because I’m a professional. Can we agree on that?”
“Yes.”
“Then will you accept my apology?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Lifting her head just enough to indicate indifference, she glanced right and then left. He needed to be taught the proper way to deal with a Paine woman. And the sooner, the better.
“You’re not answering because you’re sticking with the yes or no responses I asked you to give,” he said. “Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t mean it so literally,” he told her. “I just wanted to find a way to cut your never-ending explanations to a minimum of words. Feel free to elaborate beyond