Raylene by Lori Wilde

Author:Lori Wilde
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

For the rest of the week, Nate courted Shannon in slow, easy measures.

He was determined to not scare her off. He knew she was skittish, and he didn’t blame her, considering what had happened with her ex. On the whole, he was pretty distrustful, too, but the way Shannon made him feel overrode his doubts. His gut told him that she was special, and he always followed his gut. It had never led him astray.

The day after their date, Nate came into the Horny Toad for Monday Night Football. He brought Shannon a PayDay, and her face lit up as if he’d given her a new car. On Tuesday, he arrived with a deep-dish pizza, and they ate in the back room of the bar, stealing kisses between each bite, their lips smeared with tomato sauce and melted provolone.

On Wednesday morning, he went to J.C. Penney’s and bought a purple shirt, because she said she loved the color. She laughed when she saw him in it. He asked her to go fishing. They took hamburgers with them from The Lunch Box—no cranberries, quinoa, or feta cheese allowed. When Shannon caught a small sun perch, she laughed with such joy that the sound had Nate thinking all kinds of seditious things about a long, slow courtship. He wanted her, and he wanted her now.

But the Navy had taught him patience, and so he kept waiting.On Thursday, he asked her to go with him to the annual community tradition of decorating the town Christmas tree that Saturday evening. Shannon’s smile of agreement followed him home to his bed where Nate coped with sexual frustration the best way he could. Hand therapy.

On Friday, he couldn’t wait to get to the Horny Toad to see her again. He’d made peanut-butter-and-strawberry-jelly sandwiches, carefully cut the crusts off, and wrapped them in plastic wrap. His plan was to share this simple supper with her during her meal break. But when he got there, a part-time waitress was waiting tables.

“Where’s Shannon?” he asked, surprised by the nervous stab in his stomach. His first fear was that he’d come on too strong and she’d left Twilight as unexpectedly as she’d arrived.

“She took the day off.”

“Oh,” he said, disappointed that she hadn’t told him. And the sharp edge of that disappointment told him he was sinking deep. Instead of staying for a beer, he just turned and went home.

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