Page 26 of Bourbon Bliss
“It sounds like it. Does it really taste like apple pie?”
“It does. Moonshine is generally a harsh-tasting beverage. Early on, distillers started adding things to make it more palatable. Apple pie moonshine is generally regarded as the oldest moonshine recipe in this region.”
He took another sip. “Interesting.”
“Bootleg Springs is something of an anomaly. The majority of West Virginia was in favor of prohibition. In fact, some communities had prohibition laws that predate the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
“Sounds like you Bootleggers prefer to live by your own rules.”
“In many ways, that is accurate, yes.”
“I like it here. It’s a nice town.” He reached across the table and traced his finger across the back of my hand. “But tell me more about you.”
It was hard to think when he was touching me, even with just the pad of his finger. “Um, what do you want to know?”
“How about, what do you do for a living?”
“I’m an actuary. I work as a consultant for a number of large companies.”
“You must work from home, then?”
I nodded, and he didn’t stop caressing my hand. “Yes. It’s an arrangement that suits all parties.”
“And what do you like to do for fun?”
“Watch sports.”
That made him smile again. “Like football.”
“Yes, although I’m happy to watch a variety of sporting events.”
“Because you like to follow the statistics.”
“Precisely.”
“I gotta tell you, June Tucker, you are simply fascinating.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. This was a brand of male attention I so rarely received. The last man I’d dated had been much like me. Logical, with an affinity for numbers. We’d met at work when I’d been in Baltimore for a conference. Although I’d thought we had enough in common to sustain a relationship, things had fallen flat. That was two years ago, and I hadn’t bothered with an intimate relationship since.
“Am I being too aggressive for you?” George asked.
“You are touching me a lot.”
He kept caressing the back of my hand. “Would you like me to stop?”
“No.”
“I told you, June, I like to feel things out. But I figure I can get away with some touching on our second date.”
“Second date? We haven’t had a first date.”
“Sure we did. We had ice cream together.”
“I would disagree with your label ofdate.”
“On what grounds?” he asked. “We sat together and enjoyed conversation over dessert. That sounds like a date to me.”
“A date requires both parties to be in agreement as to the intent of the encounter.”
