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“Allow me to introduce you two. Beau, this is the pretty girl who will be staying with us for a few days. Andi, this is Beau. He might look big and tough, but he will be your best friend for some table scraps and belly rubs.”
Walking over to the two of them, I scratch Beau behind the ears, and he leans into my hand. Gently, I grab Andi’s arm and place her hand on top of Beau’s head. He gives it a couple of licks and sniffs before letting her rub him.
“Hi, Beau,” she says, showing off that beautiful smile. She doesn’t show it much, but when she does, it lights up the room.
She sits down on the couch, continuing to rub Beau’s head. When she is settled, he lays down, putting his head in her lap.
“He likes you,” I say. “You know dogs are an excellent judge of character.”
I leave them alone to get acquainted while I get back to making dinner. I’m searing the burgers in a skillet when I hear Andi behind me a few minutes later.
“Something smells amazing,” she says, inhaling deeply.
“Do you like cheeseburgers?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?”
Her words catch me off guard, and I start to laugh. “Well, listen to you. We just might make a country girl out of you yet.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” she says with a smile. “Pretty sure half of this town is already gathering their torches and pitchforks to run me out of this place.”
My laughter fades. “What happened?” I ask, fearing the worst.
She starts picking at her nails, not looking at me. “Brenda Jenkins.”
Her answer doesn’t surprise me. Brenda Jenkins is the town gossip, and she always seems to have her nose in everyone else’s business. She happened to see me out and about with women here and there, and I’m fairly sure that she thinks I’m a giant man whore.
“What did she say to you?” I ask, my forehead creasing in the middle.
“She doesn’t understand why someone would move here out of the blue, and she’s convinced that I’m up to something. She informed me that people like me don’t tend to last very long in this town. Blah, blah, blah.” She makes a talking motion with her hand.
“I’m sorry, Andi. I don’t want you to think that Brenda Jenkins is a benchmark for how everyone in this town acts. Not everyone is so wary of new people.” I try my best to put her mind at ease, but honestly, I know that there are probably more people whoarewary thanaren’t.I don’t say that to her, though.
She holds up her hand. “It’s alright. Yeah, Brenda was a bitch, but I’ve met you, and I met Tracy, who runs the boutique. I figure two out of three of you are decent human beings, which is still the majority.” She winks at me. “Unless you really are a serial killer who is just trying to lure me into his web before slitting my throat while I sleep.”
“Not that I know of,” I say. “That wasawfullyspecific, though.”
She giggles. “I watch a lot of those procedural crime scene shows.”
“All that death and violence doesn’t scare you?”
“Nah,” she replies, shaking her head.
“Brave girl.”
She shrugs. “Or just really aware that they are just TV shows, I guess.”
“Fair enough. You hungry?”
“Starved! Of course, I’m always hungry,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Her face says that someone in her life has made her feel uncomfortable about her eating habits.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Andi probably ran to this small town to get away from a man or past relationship. The way she feels self-conscious about her body, or the way she acts like she doesn’t know how to handle a compliment tells me that she hasn’t been treated the right way.
In an attempt to make her feel more comfortable, I say, “As I told you before, Andi…around here, we prefer women who like to eat. It’s no fun sitting across from a woman on a date who just picks at a salad all night long.”
Her lips pull up into a weak smile, and I can tell she still doesn’t fully believe me. If I have my way, I will be sure to show herexactlyhow sexy she is. I’d love to kiss every inch of that body of hers before giving her more orgasms than she can count.
