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I felt grateful to her for offering an opportunity for Mama to get out of the station. She was trying to be supportive, but I knew she’d probably never been more uncomfortable and didn’t know what to say.
“We’ll see you there,” Frank said, trying to help move things along. He waved his hand in a circle above his head, giving everyone a “get the fuck outta here” look.
Sam, Murph, and little Nic followed him to the door, and my mama went next. But before she left, she stopped and turned back to me. She smiled softly and looked me over. Bet she never thought she’d see me in a dress again. I hadn’t worn one since I was fifteen. She would be pissed all night that I wouldn’t wear the sweater she’d brought to cover me up. She held the ridiculous angora thing out toward me again, but I shook my head “no” for the fiftieth time, and she finally gave up. She rolled her eyes and pushed out the front door.
Carey came to stand beside me. He clapped me on the back like he always did, like the fact that I was a woman didn’t even matter. It never had to him, no matter who I kissed.
“I’m meetin’ Frannie over there. Better get goin’. You kids have fun.” He smiled at Devo, winked at me, and was gone. Technically, he was on duty tonight, along with Dan and Roxi, but he’d never pass up a chance to dance with his wife, not after they’d found their way back to each other after years apart.
When the room was empty except for Devo and me, and Shelley, who promptly excused herself and disappeared down the hall, Devo finally blinked.
“You are more beautiful than I know how to put into words.” She stepped closer and anchored her hands on my hips, looking up at me. The boots she’d worn must’ve had some good heels, because the distance between our lips was less.
“Thank you. You look amazin’. So sexy.”
She blushed, and I found myself having a hard time looking away from her shiny pink lips. The color was subtle, but it was there, and I marveled at how it matched the rosy hue of her cheeks.
She didn’t seem to be able to move her gaze away from my cleavage, of which there was ample. I was kind of embarrassed, having the girls out there for all to notice, but it felt good too. I felt powerful and disarming.
I’d certainly disarmed Devo tonight, which had been my plan.
She lifted up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to my lips, and I closed my eyes and inhaled, breathing in the berry scent of her lip gloss and then tasting it when I licked my lips.
“I think I’m fallin’ in love with you,” she said.
My heart skipped five beats. The smile on my face couldn’t have been bigger, and my cheeks cramped. “I don’t just think I love you.” I’d been so nervous to say the words, but now they flowed out of me easily, and Devo stood a little taller when she heard them.
She kissed me again, but this time, it wasn’t quick or innocent. It was the single most intimate kiss I’d ever shared with anyone.
Our eyes closed, and she moaned, and then I did, too, as her tongue swept into my mouth. The sounds of our kiss filled the station, and I felt free in a way I’d never experienced. There wasn’t anyone else there, but still, I’d never have risked a kiss like this before.
Her hands slid upward, her palms cupping the sides of my breasts in my dress, and I wound my arms around her back, my fingers reaching up to play with the ends of her shiny black hair, fingering the little duck tail she hated. I tugged on it, and she shivered at the now familiar way goosechills danced down her neck.
“I’m not sure if this dance is a good idea,” she said. A smirk began taking over her lips, and she pursed them, trying not to smile any bigger.
“What? Why not?” I looked down at myself, letting go of her and sweeping my arms out dramatically, but I knew where her thoughts had been headed. “I wore a dress for you! Do you know what it took to get me in this thing? Think Crisco.”
She laughed, then followed my gaze from my shoulders to my toes. “It’s a shame,” she said, “’cause all I can think about is gettin’ you out of it.”
“Mm. Well then,” I whispered, then bumped her nose with mine and peppered those rosy lips with tiny kisses, winding my arms around her again, “we better get this show on the road.”
She spun on her foot, turning toward the front door, but her eyes never left mine. She held out her hand, and I took it and tucked it under my arm.
“Yes,” she said, “we’d better.”
Standing on the stoop outside, we looked up and down the street. People milled about everywhere. Some shops hadn’t yet closed for the night, their owners hoping to cash in on the infusion of tourists who’d come into town looking for a little bit of country-mountain fun.
The lights and displays in the windows lit Main Street with a subtle glow. The white twinkle lights hanging all through town from lamppost to lamppost helped, and the warm chatter of conversation and laughter in the air gave a homey and comforting feeling.
No one bothered us. Some people tossed smiles our way as they passed us on the sidewalk. My dress got a few double takes from a couple of the cowboys who’d wandered into town from the ranches surrounding Wisper, but they all knew me, so they knew better than to make any lewd comments. I’d thrown a few of them behind bars at one time or another over the years, so they probably didn’t want to risk it.
And I looked damn good. There wasn’t anything they could’ve said to ruin my night.
Holding the hand of the person who was quickly becoming my home felt perfect. It felt right in a way I couldn’t describe, like there was a song inside me. It was cheesy but true.
Really, the sound had come from the dance a couple blocks up the street, but then a flash of lightning above us made my heart beat faster while the notes of the music danced and played in the air around Devo and me, frolicking and following as we walked silently toward the very center of town.
But even rain couldn’t ruin this night, if it ever fell. It wouldn’t matter if it did. We’d still dance and laugh and rush home to make love later and fall asleep to the sounds of its quiet tapping on the windows.
