Wedding Belles. Beth Albright

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      7

      It was just after 9:00 p.m. when I arrived in front of Sonny’s house. I sat looking at the front door, amber light glowing on the huge front porch, contemplating the changes that were taking place by this one, seemingly innocent act.

      I’m just going for dinner, I told myself. But I knew me all too well. It was late, we would have a drink, and his arms would be warm and delicious. I’d been so lonely for so long that my heart ached just at the thought of him holding me.

      Today had been hectic and stressful with the shower plans underway, and the Aaron case developing, not to mention the new search for Tressa. I just wanted to relax and make the world go away.

      But I had never been inside Sonny’s home. Was I making a mistake even being here? My palms were sweaty and my heart began to race. What am I doing? I’m technically still married, at least until the paperwork is official. Good girls don’t do things like this.

      Another errant thought popped in my head: Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere. Was I a bad girl now?

      Sonny appeared on the porch. Oh, my, I thought. I would happily learn to be a bad girl for him.

      I smiled helplessly at him, his silhouette big and yummy. He looked like a young Tom Selleck, without the mustache. I was a goner. The sight of him made me want to run to him, melt into his arms where it was safe and satisfying. I got out and shut my car door and walked around to the steps.

      He whistled, and a chill ran up my spine. I felt the bad girl coming on. And I liked it.

      “Hey, beautiful, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Sonny reached out and swept me against him, then kissed me passionately.

      “Mmm—it’s good to see you, too,” I managed between kisses. “But we are on the porch,” I hinted. “I can’t wait to see the inside of your house.”

      He kept kissing me. “Oh, it’s nothing much. I built it myself.” He gripped me around the waist and pulled me even closer. “I like to work with my hands.”

      I giggled lightly, caressing his fingertips as they touched me. “You do have amazing hands.”

      “Well, sweetheart, I’m even better when I have something beautiful to work with,” he said, brushing his fingers up and down my arm.

      I got instantaneous chill bumps. It was after nine o’clock, but I was sure my evening was just getting started. I looked up into his glistening brown eyes.

      He was looking right through me with that sexy grin on his face. I sighed. I had never felt loved liked this. With Harry, it wasn’t ever this deep, this real. I needed this feeling like a drug. How could I ever have walked away from him?

      Standing on the porch of Sonny’s home, I was reminded of a summer’s night many moons ago when we lay in the back of his old red pickup truck and watched the night sky. It was crystal clear and lightning bugs twinkled over his backyard. We counted shooting stars and gazed at Orion.

      Sonny was a lifelong Boy Scout. He was in his element outdoors. I always felt so safe with him. That was the first night he told me he loved me. We were sixteen, but Sonny had a depth to him that made him different from the other boys I knew. I remember being with him on a soggy night on a little dirt road just west of town when we were in our senior year of high school. He saw a baby deer tangled in some old rope in a ditch. The fawn had injured himself trying to wriggle free when Sonny pulled up and got out. He went over to the baby and freed him while I sat in the car and watched. He did this like it was all in a day’s work to him. Like it was nothing. A good scout is never without his pocketknife. He cut the rope and the little deer scampered away.

      Now, years later, I stood on the porch scanning his amber-lit home under the pine trees. It looked like something out of a movie.

      “Welcome to my humble abode,” he said, leaning over to me. “I hope you will find the accommodations quite cozy.”

      “I’m sure I will, Officer,” I said, flirting with him.

      He kept up the playfulness. “Please, let me know if I can make your stay any more comfortable. Your satisfaction is my top priority.” He winked at me and lifted that left eyebrow. He was absolutely the sexiest when he did that.

      “Don’t look at me like that,” I said softly, batting my long lashes and letting him know to please, please keep looking at me like he could devour me with one bite. He could do anything he wanted to do to me, all night long, if he kept it up. He knew it, too. I bit my bottom lip, then rolled my tongue over my lips.

      “Don’t you look at me like that,” he shot back.

      I had him. He kissed me softly, then more deeply, his tongue tasting my mouth, then my neck. The chemistry was ridiculous with him. I felt his large hand cup my breast and his mouth slide down inside my silk collar to the flesh of my chest.

      “We should go in, don’t you think?” I asked, breathing heavily against his neck. I knew anyone could be lurking out there, and I wanted to make sure we were seen only when and how we wanted to be seen.

      “I could take you right here, right now,” he said.

      “I know, but I wanna see your place,” I said. “Besides, we’re getting way too, um, relaxed, out here.”

      “If you insist,” he said, still kissing my neck.

      Sonny opened his front СКАЧАТЬ