Page 48 of Love’s Silver Bullet

Wasn’t he worth fighting for?

Her heart began a slow thud as she absently stirred the hot fudge into her melted ice cream. Yes, he was, and Sheridan truly believed that nothing would accomplish that more than Jake learning she’d been secretly seeing Clay and possibly falling in love.

Especially if a kiss were involved!

Her heart suddenly stalled for several painful seconds. But what if she did fall in love? With Clay or someone up at school?

“Promise me, Sheridan, that if this summer doesn’t go the way you hope, you’ll lay it aside for the rest of this year to enjoy your time away at school.”

All air immediately suspended in Sheridan’s lungs because all at once, she knew she had no choice. She only had six weeks to make the man of her dreams admit he was in love with her, and she had to do everything she could to make that happen.

She gulped. Even if it meant kissing Clay Morgan!

“Well?” Sophia clicked her fingernails on the table while Kathy Jean bit hers. “Are you willing to pursue any means to an end to win the heart of he who shall remain nameless?”

Sucking in a deep draw of air, Sheridan gave a nervous nod. “I think so.”

“That’s real good, chiquita,” Sophia said with a lazy smile, gaze veering over Sheridan’s shoulder, “because he happens to be standing right outside of that window.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Glancing over her shoulder, Sheridan felt another brain freeze she couldn’t blame on the ice cream. There stood Clay Morgan, flashing the same crooked smile that had fluttered her stomach all night at the Wild West dinner. Tipping his hat, he gave a sideways nod toward the door before proceeding to enter Lambert’s Confectionary, freezing her body with a cold chill colder than the hot fudge sundae she’d just consumed.

Or maybe it was a warm one.

Melting her into a puddle like the soupy ice cream at the bottom of her bowl.

“Ay-ay-ay!” Sophia whispered way too loudly for Sheridan’s comfort, tracking Clay as he made his way to their table. “You spoke true, chica—that man is fabuloso!”

“Well, good afternoon, ladies,” Clay said as he approached with his hat in his hands. “My name is Clay Morgan, and I’m with the Buffalo Bill Wild West show.” He delivered a polite smile and a nod to both Sophia and Kathy Jean before his gaze lighted on Sheridan, warming considerably. “May I join you?”

“Uh …” Sheridan could only stare, her tongue completely uncooperative and obviously frozen along with her brain.

“Oh, absolutamente, Mr. Morgan,” Sophia said with a wide smile that matched Clay’s to a tooth, indicating the empty chair between her and Kathy Jean, whose face was now the color of Sheridan’s vanilla ice cream. She inclined her head toward Kathy Jean. “This is Kathy Jean Rightler and I am Sophia Lopez, Sheridan’s best friends, and I must say we have heard much about you—ouch!”

Sophia’s eyes narrowed as she shot a pointed look at Sheridan, casually reaching beneath the table to rub her leg before she turned back to Clay. “Maria at the post office is a friend of my mother’s, you see, and she’s mentioned you quite often, that you visit every day.”

Clay’s husky laugh could have melted the ice cream if it wasn’t already a pool of soup. “Yes, Maria and I have become good friends,” he said with a firm nod, the twinkle in his eye almost winking. “I handle all the shipments for the show, of course, so that keeps me beating a path to her door, I’m afraid. It’s a pleasure to meet you both, Sophia and Kathy Jean,” he said with a polite smile before his attention settled on Sheridan. “I was actually on my way there when I saw you as I passed, Sheridan, so I consider that a stroke of good luck for me.”

“Oh … a … r-really?” she stuttered, completely caught off-guard by the onslaught of goosebumps tingling her skin. She swallowed hard. And just a plain ol’ ‘stroke’ for me.

“Yes,” he said, casually fiddling with the brim of his gold-studded black Stetson, “I was wondering if perhaps I could offer you and your friends a tour of the show grounds some morning when the show is not in progress.”

“Ay, caramba!” Sophia splayed a hand to her bosom, her excitement more than evident in the flash of white teeth that all but blinded Sheridan. “We would be honored, Mr. Morgan.”

“Clay, please,” he said with almost as many teeth as Sophia.

Even Kathy Jean, usually so shy and mute with strangers, gaped in astonishment with a fold of hands to a chest considerably less endowed than Sophia’s, her face still as pale as death. “Oh, Mr. Morgan, that would be an absolute miracle! You have no idea how I’ve longed to see the inner workings of a traveling show.”

Clay winked at Kathy Jean, effectively replenishing the blood supply in her face. “Well, I’d say it’s a date, then, ladies,” he said, homing in on Sheridan with brown eyes that seemed to deepen to the exact color of her hot fudge, making her hungry all over again. “Although I’d say the real miracle will be if Miss Donovan stays after for a personal shooting lesson.”

“Of course she will,” Kathy Jean said, grabbing Sheridan’s arm and shaking it as if she were Sophia. “Won’t you, Sher?”

Sheridan blinked several times, gaze flicking from Kathy Jean’s giddy anticipation, to Sophia’s pleading smile before meeting Clay’s laughing eyes with an embarrassing gulp. “Uh … okay.”

“Great!” Clay said, rising with his hat in hand. “So, what morning works best for you, ladies?”

“Tomorrow!” Kathy Jean and Sophia shouted in unison while Sheridan could only sit there, as mute as her chair.