Breanna glanced back at him. Sure, he wasn’t perfect, but since he was the first man to take a serious interest in her, she wasn’t about to lose the chance of getting married. Besides, he would change after they were married. She’d make sure of that.After scheduling a ride, she slipped on her jacket and hurried outside to wait. The crisp night air surrounded her, and she breathed deeply, filling her lungs with the refreshing, non-polluted air. It surprised her what the change did to lighten her pounding head.The clear sky and gentle wind gave evidence the storm had passed. The rain on the road had left a small river, which of course, wouldn’t be easy to drive on. In Tom’s condition, he shouldn’t be driving at all. But she couldn’t be the one to tell him because he would yell at her. Hopefully, the bartender would take Tom’s keys away.The cool air slipped through the opening of her jacket, and she shivered. She p
“Hey.” The man’s finger touched her chin and lifted her face so she could look at him. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Tell me what I can do to bring back your pretty smile.”My pretty smile? Surprise washed over her from his comment, and she almost snorted a laugh from the hilarity of it all. Nobody had ever told her she had a lovely smile. This man must be blind, or he was a great liar.Without being able to control it, the corners of her lips stretched upward. Her cheeks burned, and she knew they shone inside the cab like beacon lights.“There it is,” he cheered.She chuckled and turned her face toward the window. Her heart raced, and she tried breathing slower to calm herself. It had been quite a while since she experienced this kind of unsettling emotion. It reminded her of when she was in school and had a crush on a boy. So why did she have it now?The man named Butch turned to his friend,
As she passed the twin glass doors entering the receptionist area, she caught her reflection. She wore her normal drab-colored dress and low-heeled shoes. As always, her hair was pulled back from her face and secured with a rubber band. Squaring her shoulders, she shifted her gaze back to the floor and dragged herself toward the supervisor’s room.She knocked on his open door. “Terry?” He looked up from his work and met her stare. “I just wanted to let you know I’m done, and I emailed you the file.”Her middle-aged boss shook his head. Running his fingers through the receding brown hair that would turn him bald in a couple of years, he glanced at the clock on the wall. “Ahead of schedule, once again.”“Well, today, I’m cutting it short. The hyped-up women in the office distracted my concentration.”He nodded. “Yes. I couldn’t help but overhear that Todd’s son is in the bui
Monte draped his arm over the wobbly cubicle wall, waiting for the woman to turn and look at him. He remembered her from the cab ride the other night, and at first, he thought she didn’t recognize him. Now as he detected her hesitation, instinct told him she did, in fact, recall that evening. Why, then, was she acting so shy right now?After a few awkward moments of silence, the woman lifted her shoulders and turned in her swivel chair, her gaze meeting his. He blinked, not believing what he saw. She looked so different from when he first saw her. Although it was dark, he remembered her smile had lit up her whole face.It’d been quite a while since he had seen a person wear that style of glasses and even longer when a woman had dared wear such plain clothes. The overly large brown dress didn’t do a thing to enhance her figure. It probably made it worse. He knew firsthand that she wasn’t a big woman since she had sat on his lap with his arms arou
Breanna stood in the middle of her front room and surveyed the confined space she had to work in for her party. There was no way thirty people could fit in her apartment. With a deep sigh, she raked her fingers through her thick hair and lifted it off her neck.“Why did I agree to this?” she grumbled.But she knew the answer. If Tom hadn’t upset her by canceling their date—again—she wouldn’t be worrying about the unknown guests who would be arriving soon.She exhaled deeply and walked into the kitchen. She leaned against the wall as she tried to figure out how to get rid of these disturbing thoughts. At times, Tom made her feel unwanted, and lately, his actions had really hurt. Why did he always choose his friends, Kevin and Trisha, over her? She would be the one marrying him, for heaven’s sake. But it was like pulling teeth to get him to spend time with her.She rearranged the food items on her table and counters
Breanna finished helping him move the furniture around, and by the time they were done, the change was remarkable. Perhaps thirty people could fit in her apartment, now.She released a deep sigh and scratched her head. “How much time before our guests start arriving?”He glanced at his gold watch, which looked to be quite expensive. “Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.” He met her stare. “Why?”“I need to go change.”“Go ahead.” He flipped his hand. “I’ll just check on the refreshments.”She turned and hurried into her bedroom and stripped out of the clothes. After powdering her body with a rose scent, she grabbed the clothes previously set out to wear for tonight. The faded jeans and over-sized shirt would do just fine. She removed the ever-present rubber band and let her hair fall down around her shoulders.When she entered the living room, Monte lounged on her sofa,
Monte studied the shy woman dancing with him whose attention darted around the room more than it had rested on him. He liked the way she pressed against him so intimately and yet didn’t seem to mind. He enjoyed the way she’d gazed at him as if she’d never seen anything so perfect. He also liked the scent surrounding her – better than a flower garden. Of course, roses had always been his favorite.The longer he watched her scan the crowd, the more he realized she was purposely trying not to look at him. His mouth twitched into a grin. He’d change that in a hurry.While the crowd distracted her, he had the chance to examine her eyes. They were actually prettier than he remembered from this morning. Not very often had he met women with gray eyes, but hers were such a pretty color. Being this close to her, he couldn’t help but notice they also held specks of gold as if God had sprinkled stars in her eyes.As he studied her face mo
Once the party had moved to the pool house, the crowd became wild. Even Pat Gurrister joined in the fun. Monte laughed at the older woman who didn’t care that she was making a spectacle of herself as she flirted outrageously, but he was glad she’d let them continue with the party.Monte had been to many parties; thousands upon thousands, but this one seemed to take the prize for the most entertaining. Even the other people at the party agreed.He removed his shirt, shoes, and socks and joined in the fun. He followed the wild group of men as they searched through the party to find those women who hadn’t gotten wet. They took turns in snatching the women and throwing them in the pool.By now, everybody had gotten wet at least once, and Monte’s enthusiasm waned to a dull roar. Who else could he tease? Quickly, he scanned the area for Breanna, and just as he’d suspected, she was nowhere in sight. He should have made it a point to person