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"No, but you live alone, don't you?" She asked nibbling her pork chop now and realizing that no pork chop had ever tasted so heavenly.
"Yeah, but Little Bit and I eat together every evening." He grinned.
"Oh, why don't you invite him in here?" she said and her glance slid to his lips, that looked moist and inviting with every bite.
"Sure you don't mind?"
"Not at all."
She was drooling over the man. She had to get a grip. It made her angry to feel so helpless and so vulnerable to one man. This was ridiculous, being attracted to another man only a few days after her planned wedding to Chad. Especially a man who wanted no part of marriage. Wouldn't she ever learn?
"So what's the story?" he asked as his dog joined his side and contentedly waited for a scra
p of food from his master.
"The story?" She moistened her upper lip, nervously. He wanted details and she wasn't sure she could provide them. She couldn't tell him the truth, she'd made a promise and she intended keeping it.
"Running away from a wedding isn't an everyday occurrence. What happened?"
"Oh," she blushed, "Chad Huntington II. He's really a great guy. He actually took it very well, as I was leaving. Better than I expected. He simply didn't light any fires, that's all, I recognized it in time. He wasn't for me, and I knew it." the lie coming from her lips tasted sour. She'd never been good at lying; it bothered her, caught up with her
"Then why did you accept his proposal?"
How could she go into this without telling him the whole truth? She couldn't do that. She promised Chad she wouldn't say a word to anyone, and she couldn't. No, she'd have to invent the story as she went. Whether the Sheriff bought it or not.
"When you are accused of being an old maid, it pushes buttons. My two sisters are married, and have children. My brother is engaged. It seemed the thing to do. Besides, I'd known him all my life, he's a good man."
"What was wrong with good ole Chad?" he asked with a chuckle. "It had to be something."
"Nothing. Nothing at all. I just didn't love him, and woke up before it was too late. Our parents thought it was mutually beneficial to get us together. I'm twenty six years old and they pushed it."
When he kept waiting for more story, she twisted her head, "What?"
"Indulge me, start from the beginning."
"Well," she began but the phone rang and the Sheriff answered it. He was talking and nodding at the same time, a frown lining his handsome face. That phone saved her and she was ever so grateful. After all, why should she burden the Sheriff with her problems?
"Trouble?" she asked as she finished the pork chop.
"'Fraid so, John and his wife are at it again. Never comes to anything, but if I don't show up they get mad and tell everyone I'm not doing my job, so I go. Sorry, you better try to get some rest. We'll finish this talk later."
"Y-yes, just what I need," she rolled her eyes. She set the tray away from the bed and snuggled into the covers, but she couldn't stop the frowning. Darn it she would miss him, and she shouldn't miss him at all.
He seemed to sense it and before she knew what he was doing he bent over her, and kissed her tenderly on the lips. His lips felt like soft butter, much different from the way Chad had always kissed her. It reminded her of when butter touched a hot pan and began to melt and spread. She wanted to explore this new feeling, but knew better than to go there.
It didn't last long enough to amount to anything, but Savannah felt like a big ball of mush nonetheless. She pinked then asked him, "So what was that for?"
He shrugged, "My Mama used to say a kiss made it better."
With that he tipped his hat and left her.
It was hours before he returned, but he didn't come into her room. She listened intently as he moved about the house.
Late that night, she snuck into the kitchen for a glass of milk and was about to tiptoe back to bed, when she ran into a big, hard, shirtless, chest. His skin was like silk, with just a touch of sweat peppering it.
She gasped; the light from the hallway lit him into a shadow in front of her.
"I was...just getting a glass of milk," she explained. "I'm having trouble going back to sleep."
