One More Dance by Roxanne Rustand (best ebook reader for pc txt) 📗

fled, past the supercilious, knowing looks and titters from a gaggle of sorority girls and out to her battered Ford pickup, then home to the cramped apartment over a garage that she shared with Deanna and another vet student.

And hoped she’d never see Jared Mathers again.

SHE SAW HIM THE NEXT morning at the vet school library, proving that heartfelt wishes didn’t count for much, and that embarrassment wasn’t something that dissipated overnight. It was right there, in the heat of her cheeks and the trembling of her stomach, the moment he sauntered over to her, propped his large, tanned hands on the table and flashed an easy grin.

“You didn’t leave a slipper at the ball, but your friend Deanna told me you practically live here,” he said in a husky whisper. He glanced at the stack of textbooks in front of her, arranged to hide a now-cold cup of coffee and a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich from the eyes of the Nurse Ratchet library assistant. “Guess she was right.”

“I’ve got a pathology midterm fourth hour, and a paper due tomorrow.” She rearranged the stack of papers in front of her to avoid his eyes, expecting to see a hint of mockery, but when she looked up she found only empathy.

“I hide out in the periodical section of the main library myself,” he said. “There’s no way I can concentrate at the frat.”

His friendly manner was so unexpected that she was once again at a loss for something to say. It almost sounded as if he’d come looking for her, though that couldn’t be right. And then she saw what he held in his hand.

Of course he wasn’t interested. He’d simply found her pocket-sized planner and was nice enough to return it. “I looked all over for that this morning.”

“Must’ve fallen out of your purse when you left the patio last night. I tried to catch up to you, but you’d disappeared.” His eyes twinkled. “If you’d written your address inside, I could’ve delivered it sooner.”

She wondered what he would have thought if he’d seen her aged vehicle or the shabby place where she lived, and breathed a silent thanks for the fact that he’d tracked her down here, in neutral territory. “I can’t thank you enough. All of my assignment deadlines and test dates are in there.”

“Thank me by having a cup of coffee with me.”

“What?”

“I’ll buy. Just name the time and place.”

“But—”

He laughed. “Just coffee, because I didn’t get that last dance, and now I wish I had. Prove your friend wrong, and say yes.”

There were a dozen reasons she should decline, but she could well imagine what Deanna had said about her—hermit and recluse were words her friend bandied about quite often—and Kate’s rebellious streak made her nod before she even stopped to think.

“Okay. We could run over to the Student Union, if you don’t mind.” She flicked a glance at her watch, thankful she had an excuse to make it short. Conversation regarding ova and parasites, tensile strength of suture material or dystocia in maiden ewes she could handle. What on earth would she have to say to someone like him? “I’ve got to get back here to book it a while longer before that test, though. Say...just for half an hour?”

He grinned. “More than I’d expected.”

They walked toward the redbrick Union, crunching through the dead leaves, breathing in the crisp scent of late fall. She’d figured the situation would be awkward, but the minutes flew as they sat outside on the cement steps of the Union, cradling foam cups of hot coffee and talking casually about random events on campus. He was warm, witty and made keen observations; within minutes she felt as if she’d known him forever.

But then she happened to glance to the east, toward the vet school buildings.

With a start, she looked at her watch and jumped to her feet. “My exam,” she exclaimed, tearing down the sidewalk with a quick wave. “I’ll be late!”

It wasn’t until much later that she realized she’d enjoyed every minute with him, but he’d expertly led the conversation while sharing almost nothing about himself.

A very cool guy.

A dead end.

But what did she expect? He’d undoubtedly realized the obvious—that they couldn’t be more different, and that she was totally off the radar as far as his family and peers were concerned.

But it was just as well, she decided over an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough at midnight.

Ice cream was there when you craved emotional support. Men were a complication she just didn’t need. Not until she graduated. Not until she set up her own practice and proved to herself that she was secure and a success in her own right.

Next time, Deanna could just try fixing someone else up for a hot date.

CHAPTER TWO

SHE HADN’T GIVEN JARED her address, but at five the next evening he appeared at her door with a fragrant pizza in one hand, plus a grocery sack and a six-pack of Pepsi in the other.

He wore a different pair of disreputable jeans, loafers, and that same leather jacket over a dark green sweater, and even in that he could have posed for a Neiman Marcus advertisement.

Though she’d already shucked her dirty coveralls and boots outside, Kate was still in the clothes she’d worn to the stockyards, where she and the rest of her class had practiced bovine pregnancy palpations. But she had to give him credit—he didn’t seem to falter at her scraggly ponytail, or the fact that she wore no makeup and had to smell like the wrong end of a cow. “How on earth did you find me?”

“Deanna.” His eyes twinkled. “I saw her with you last night, and ran into her in the campus bookstore this morning.”

“So she’s giving out my address? To just anyone?”

“Actually, she dated one of my friends for a while, and we double-dated a few times. I think she’d give me a character reference. She made me promise I wouldn’t