Page 5 of Tied to Trouble

Now that summer break had brought Az home once again, Mandy had been happy to see him. That is, until the first thing out of his mouth was questions about who she was dating.Geez, talk about a broken record.

Leave it to Az to start hammering her right off the bat, so she snapped at him and brought up the virginity threat, which led to the rest of the argument. It wasn’t any of his business if she wanted to give up her virginity after all this time, but he tried to make it his business anyway. It was her reaction to his kisses threat that had her confused.

Her thoughts wandered to Sam Pickering, whose kiss had already slotted into the possiblecandidates-for-explorationdepartment, and then grimaced in wry disgust. Sam’s kisses now seemed insipid compared to Az’s burning exploration, forcing her to admit that she didn’t feel much desire for Sam after all.

“Az Newcomb always has to ruin everything,” she complained to the silky-haired golden retriever on the seat beside her.

Mags just woofed in doggy agreement, her pink tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. Her big brown eyes stared adoringly at her.

Mandy laughed and patted her head. Mags was getting older and accompanied her on most of her deliveries. She kept her at the market when she was working as well. The kids loved to pet her as she lay on her big pillow by the wooden sales counter. Gentle Mags loved the attention, even from the overly eager toddlers who sometimes fell onto the pillow with her and wallowed all over her.

Mandy patted the dog on the head and scratched around her ears. “We girls have to stick together, don’t we, Mags?”

Mags licked her hand in complete agreement.

A few minutes later, Mandy pulled up to the sentry box at the gates of Genetico and paused to wave at the dour-faced guard who barely acknowledged her with a nod.

He waved her through, so she downshifted into first gear and sent the truck barreling on. Around the corner, she came to a screeching halt in front of the warehouse doors at the back of the building she’d delivered to the first time she’d been to Genetico.

“Here’s your order, Sam,” she yelled as Sam Pickering opened the metal doors connected to the concrete dock three feet high. It was a delivery dock for big trucks, and she looked up at the man standing in the open doorway.

“Thanks, Mandy. I’ll help you with that,” he replied as he leaped nimbly off the dock and followed her to the back of the pickup.

“What do you guys do with all this stuff?” she asked, staring at the fit, dark-haired man with the mustache lining his upper lip. He wasn’t as tall as Az or as powerfully built, but he had a suave, sensual air that attracted her. He was dressed in his usual white lab coat, although on Friday nights at the Lazy Saddle, he normally dressed in a plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots like everyone else.

“I can’t tell you that,” he replied good-naturedly, grinning lazily at her. “I’d have to keep you prisoner here if I did.”

Mandy knew that Sam worked in the lab at Genetico Industries and lived on site with the other scientists. It provided the residents of Mockingbird Hollow with plenty of speculation.

It also provided Mockingbird Hollow residents with jobs. Many of the townspeople worked in the kitchen and living areas of the employee quarters and human resources departments. The lab itself, however, was security clearance only, and there wasn’t anyone in Mockingbird Hollow qualified to work in it.

“Oh, come on, Sam,” Mandy wheedled. “It can’t be all that hush-hush. Good grief, you have no idea what people are saying goes on out here, especially with the cattle disappearing lately. Every gossip in town thinks you all are experimenting on them, and that humans will be next.”

Sam’s dark eyes narrowed to slits. “I know, I’ve heard,” he said shortly. “Trust me, we have nothing to do with the disappearing cattle.”

“But you aren’t going to tell me what it is you do experiment on?”

Sam huffed. “Who said we experiment on anything? Let’s change the subject, shall we?” He walked up close to her and looked down into her eyes.

Mandy shrugged her slender shoulders. “Fine, we’ll change the subject. I’m in a hurry today, so I need to get going anyway.” She pivoted and strode back around the front of the truck.

Sam followed her to the driver’s door. “You going to be at the Lazy Saddle tonight?” He opened the truck door and stood just inside it while Mandy climbed in.

Mandy figured he was watching her bottom, but since she couldn’t do anything about it, she pretended she didn’t care. “Maybe,” she replied airily, tossing her long curls back as she fastened her seatbelt. “If I’m in the mood for dancing, I might.”

Sam put his hand in and turned her chin to face him. “I hope so. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.” He leaned in as if to kiss her.

Mandy pushed his hand away from her chin and briskly started the truck. She didn’t want his kiss—not with Az’s recent plundering still fresh in her mind. She was startled when he grabbed her chin and turned it towards him, then bent down and firmly claimed her mouth.

“You aren’t getting shy on me, are you?” he asked, when he lifted his head, his dark eyes boldly raking her flushed face. “I thought we were past that and getting ready for step two.”

“What’s step two?” She felt the urge to wipe her mouth, but something in the look of his eyes stopped her.

His fingers trailed lazily down to the top of her molded tank, dipping below the rounded neckline. “I think you know.”

Mandy pushed his hand away. “I’ve never given you any reason to expect me to go to bed with you, Sam,” she replied stiffly, not liking his intimate touch.

“No?”

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