Downhome Darlin' & The Best Man Switch Read Free Page B

right. Just freedom. In general.”
    He nodded but he didn’t believe her. She saw it in his eyes. Great eyes. She could get lost in those eyes....
    â€œFreedom to do anything,” he said suggestively.
    She shrugged elaborately.
    â€œLike comin’ out tonight, drinkin’ and havin’ a high old time,” he filled in for her.
    â€œRight.”
    â€œAre you havin’ a high old time?”
    â€œThe highest,” she said too cheerfully.
    He reached over and brushed her hair away from the side of her face. The backs of his fingers barely touched her cheek, but it was enough to start a titillating tidal wave inside her.
    â€œYou know what I think?” he said in a soft, conspiratorial whisper that brought his mouth close to her ear.
    â€œWhat do you think?”
    â€œThat you’re tryin’ too hard and need to relax a little to pull this off believably.”
    â€œYou’re wrong. I’m loose as a goose.” But that last word reminded her of the pat on the rear end, and she could feel her face turning red again. To camouflage it, she drained yet another drink that the bartender had replaced the first one with.
    Cal laughed—whether at what she’d said or her blush or her drinking display, she wasn’t sure. But as rich as his voice was, his laugh was even richer and it sluiced in through her pores and rained glitter all through her veins.
    â€œYou’re somethin’, Abby Abby Stanton,” he said appreciatively.
    â€œWhy, yes, I am. Thank you very much for noticing,” she said, letting the liquor speak for her with a gutsiness she wouldn’t have had otherwise.
    â€œI noticed, all right. Been noticin’ all night long. Somewhere underneath all that war paint I think you just might be a breath of fresh air.”
    Take that, Snodgrass!
    â€œI don’t know whether or not I am a breath of fresh air, but I think I could use one,” she said because her head was suddenly spinning drastically more than before and her tongue was starting to feel thick.
    â€œCome on,” he said with a nod over his shoulder. “I’ll take you outside.”
    But if all she did was go outside she’d eventually have to come back in and rejoin Bree and Emily and everyone else at the table. And she didn’t want to.
    â€œI think I’ll walk home instead,” she said out of the blue—the same way she’d made the decision.
    This time his chuckle was wry. “Honey, I don’t think you’d make it.”
    â€œSure, I would. I know the way.”
    The chuckle came again. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we let your sisters know you’re goin’, and I’ll drive you home?”
    â€œI don’t take rides from strangers,” she heard herself say as if she were a little kid.
    â€œI’m not a stranger. Well, not completely. In case you didn’t already know—and I’m bettin’ you did— I’m Clangton’s newest citizen and I’ve dug roots here buyin’ some property outside of town that’s gonna keep me here till I’m old and gray.” He leaned close again, whispering in her ear and letting the warmth of his breath wash over her. “So if I misbehave with one of this town’s sweethearts, I’d have hell to pay, wouldn’t I?”
    â€œYes, you would. Although I don’t know who said I was one of the town’s sweethearts.”
    He just smiled. “So let me take you home.”
    She thought about it.
    Actually she thought about a lot of things. Some of them were things she shouldn’t have thought about. Like doing more than being driven home by this man.
    Like how it might be to have him bending in close to kiss her instead of whisper in her ear.
    Like how it might feel to have his big, rawboned hands cupping the sides of her face. Her shoulders. Her slippery nipples...
    â€œYou aren’t a maniac, are you?” she