Free Confessions of a Girl-Next-Door by Jackie Braun Page B

refused to acknowledge the way her heart sank at his description of her visit as being short. What else could it be? It wasn’t as if she could stay on Heart indefinitely. She couldn’t just quit being a princess and relocate to a foreign country. Could she?
    “Holly?” Nate prompted.
    “Sorry. My mind wandered.” Wandered? It had taken a trip into uncharted territory. She pasted on a smile. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
    “Hi,” each of the boys said, looking a little shy and adorably awkward as they accepted her outstretched hand.
    “You talk funny,” Josh—or was it Joey?—said. His cheeks turned blotchy immediately after saying so. “I don’t mean funny, more like, you know, different. You have an accent of some sort.”
    “Smooth,” his brother muttered half under his breath.
    “I’m not from your country,” Holly said. She couldn’t help thinking they had a bit of an accent, too. American English definitely carried a different sound than British English, which she was far more used to.
    The other brother spoke up then. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like someone famous?”
    Holly and Nate traded glances.
    “No. Whom do you mean?” she asked, keeping her expression carefully blank. This was exactly what Nate had warned her would happen, and what she wanted to avoid.
    “Lady Gaga.”
    “What?” Holly let out a completely unladylike snort of laughter that would have earned her mother’s censure. As it was, it had Nate’s eyebrows rising. “I can honestly say that no one has ever told me I look like the pop star.”
    “Not when she’s done all up for, like, a concert or an awards show or anything,” Josh was quick to correct. “She can be pretty out there. But you kind of have the same eyes.”
    “Really.” More amused than incredulous now, Holly sent a grin in Nate’s direction. “Lady Gaga. What do you think?”
    He shook his head. “Sorry. I’m not seeing it.”
    She turned back to the twins. “Don’t feel bad. Nate is more of a country-Western sort.
    Or at least he was back when we were children.”
    Garth Brooks, George Strait, Alan Jackson and a little Brooks & Dunn had been staples on his stereo. He’d known the songs by heart. He’d even taught Holly to two-step. The first time she’d gotten the movements right without his prompting, he’d swung her around in a circle and kissed her cheek before setting her down and quickly stepping away. They’d been on his parents’ deck. She’d been fourteen. He’d been … her world.
    “I’ve grown into a heavy metal fan since then,” he informed her now.
    Holly’s mouth gaped open a moment before she could say, “You did not.”
    He merely shrugged. “My college roommate was a huge AC/DC fan. It was either learn to like screeching lyrics and wicked electric guitar riffs or sleep at the library. I chose the path of least resistance and the most shut-eye. Besides, it’s not so bad once you get used to it.”
    “‘Back in Black.’” One of the boys nodded and grinned. “Totally.”
    “Totally,” the other one echoed.
    “Righteous,” Holly said, flipping what she thought was the sign she’d seen rock starsuse, but earning confused glances from all three of the males in her presence. She could only hope the sign she’d flashed hadn’t been offensive.
    “Start loading these logs into the pickup,” Nate instructed.
    The boys did as they were told. Holly asked in a lowered voice, “Did I get that wrong?”
    “A finger or two. You gave us the Boy Scout salute.” Nate started to chuckle.
    “Oh.” She picked a coffee ground out of the otherwise empty cup. “Heavy metal. I guess it makes sense that your tastes have changed since I was last here.”
    She tried to keep her tone light, but the way Nate was looking at her made it difficult.
    “We were kids then.”
    “Children,” she agreed.
    His gaze skimmed down. Awareness simmered between them.
    “Not all of my tastes have changed,” he