She bit her lip. “It would be like accepting payment for helping you out.”
“And that’s wrong?”
“In my world, yes, it is. A small present at Christmas is one thing. But expensive jewelry, that’s something else.”
“That’s what Boone says. His girlfriend was hinting that she’d like a diamond collar. He said she could whistle for it. He didn’t have to pay women to go out with him. She was really mad. She stormed out without another word.”
“I’ll bet she came back,” Keely said sadly.
“Of course she did. Boone’s loaded, and he’s a dish, and he’s relentlessly chased by every spinster south of Dallas.”
Keely’s heart sank. Of course he was. Boone was every woman’s dream. He was certainly Keely’s.
“It started me thinking,” Clark continued. “And not in a good way. If Nellie loved me, she’d be wanting to buy things for me.”
“She couldn’t afford your taste, Clark,” she murmured dryly.
He thought for a minute and then laughed. “Well, no, she couldn’t. But it’s the point of the thing, Keely. She hasn’t bought me anything since we started dating. Not even a handkerchief or a music CD. Nothing.”
“Some people aren’t givers.”
“Some people are gold diggers, though,” he replied.
She leaned back against the seat with a little sigh. “I guess so. I’ve never understood why. I love working for what I get. My paychecks may be small compared to a lot of others, but every one thrills me. I worked with my own hands for what I have.”
“Boone admires that.”
“Does he?” She tried not to sound impressed.
“Not that he wants to. He does his best to ignore you.”
“I noticed.”
“Maybe he’s right, Keely,” he said solemnly. “You’re very young, even to be going out with me.”
She threw up her hands. “What is it about my age? For heaven’s sake, I’ll be twenty on Christmas Eve!”
He smiled. She made him feel good. She always had. She and Winnie were closer to him than any other two women on earth.
“You’re the nicest friend I have,” he said out of the blue. “I’m going to start treating you better.”
“Are you, really? Then if you want to get me something…”
“Anything!” he interrupted. “I mean that.”
“I’d love to have mats for my car.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Mats. You know, those black ribbed things that go on the floorboard. Just for the driver’s side,” she added quickly. “It was used, so it didn’t come with the original equipment, and Dr. Rydel’s parking lot isn’t paved. I have to walk through mud to get to my car when it rains.”
Clark was still absorbing the shock. Nellie had asked, petulantly, for a diamond pendant she’d seen advertised in a slick magazine and here was Keely asking for a single mat for her damned car.
“Not anything expensive,” she said quickly, fearing she’d overstepped. “I mean, for Christmas. I’m going to get you something, too, but it will be inexpensive.”
He pulled up at the community center, feeling two inches high. He turned to her in the car. “You make me ashamed,” he said quietly.
“Of what?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Never mind. We’d better go in. I think we’re a little late.”
“My fault,” she said, smiling. “You had to wait while I found my purse.” She held it up. “It was an old one of Mama’s. She let me have it, and her cell phone, and she loaned me her fox fur—” she waved it at him “—and her shoes—” she held up one foot to show him.
He could have wept. She never asked for a thing. She wouldn’t let Winnie loan her anything at all. He’d never felt so bad in all his life. He’d used her as a blind for his great love affair, put her in a position where Boone could savage her if he ever found out what she’d been doing and never even gave a thought to the consequences.
“Tonight is the last time I’m hiding Nellie behind you,” he said suddenly. “I’ll go off with her, this once. But from now on, I’m taking her right into the front door of my house.”
“Have some catsup handy, won’t you?” she teased. “Boone will have her for supper.”
“I know that. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing to let him have a bite of her. For once, maybe she’d show her true colors.”
She stopped smiling. “It might not be as bad as you think,” she said softly. “I mean, she might care about you and still like jewelry.”
“She might rather have just the jewelry,” he returned cynically.
A big SUV pulled up into the parking lot. He grimaced. “She’s early.” He looked at Keely. “Want me to walk you in?”
She shook her head. “I can do it all by myself.”
He handed her a ticket. “You’re taking that, even if it’s all you’ll let me give you. I’ll be back before you miss me.”
She knew better than that. He might talk good, but he was still under Nellie’s spell. She’d have him convinced by the end of the evening that he couldn’t live without her. Poor man.
“Have fun,” she said.
He harrumphed. “You have fun.”
She got out of the car, closed the door and waved. She didn’t look toward Nellie. She would have happily thrown rocks at her if it would have spared Clark.
* * *
MUSIC POURED OUT into the cold night air. They were playing a Latin number. She imagined all the town’s excellent dancers, including Matt Caldwell and Cash Grier, were out on the dance floor dazzling the spectators. She was looking forward to watching them.
She gave her ticket at the door, tugged the fox fur closer and moved into the huge room where a live band was playing.
“I thought you’d be along when I heard Clark mention that he bought tickets,” a deep, amused voice said behind her.
She turned and looked up into Boone Sinclair’s dark, soft eyes.
CHAPTER EIGHT
KEELY COULDN’T MANAGE a single word. Boone caught her hand and tugged her into the community center with him.
“Should I ask where Clark is?”
She felt
