Page 36 of Bourbon Bliss
As he pulled away from me, I was briefly disoriented. I blinked a few times and reached out to touch the door, as if the solid wood could ground me in reality. The cascade of physical sensations still stimulating my nervous system was almost too much to process.
“Can I call you?” George asked.
“What? Oh. No.”
He leaned back slightly, his eyebrows shooting upward. “No?”
“We have yet to exchange phone numbers. It would be impossible for you to call me.”
He smiled. “You’re right, I worded that question wrong. Can I have your number so I can call you?”
“Yes, of course you can.”
We exchanged numbers, my heart still beating so hard it made the blood roar in my ears.
“I’ll call you,” he said. “Good night, June Bug.”
“Goodnight, George.”
I went inside and shut the door behind me.
Jonah glanced up from the couch. The TV was on. “Hey, Juney. How was your date?”
“Magical.”
12
June
George did call. The very next day. Cassidy was quite impressed, and to be truthful, I was as well. He didn’t seem like the type of man who’d promise to call if he didn’t mean it. But from what I knew of men, that was a common problem. And I wasn’t very good at reading people.
He asked to see me again, and I certainly harbored no objections. The next thing I knew, an entire week had gone by, and I’d spent time with George every single day.
Saturday evening rolled around, and I needed to make my weekly trip to the Pop In. Normally I would have gone much earlier—it was getting quite late—but I’d been with George all day.
My schedule was in complete disarray after sharing so many meals with him. But I didn’t mind. I transferred some unused items to the freezer, reworked my plan for the coming week, and made a truncated shopping list. Problem solved.
Besides, it was worth disrupting my routine for dates with George.
I parked in front of the Pop In, but as I walked in, I almost ran into my sister coming out the door.
“Juney,” she said, sounding surprised. She was dressed in her deputy uniform.
“Are you on duty?”
“No, I just got off, but I was about to call you.”
“Why?”
She glanced around, then lowered her voice. “Something’s happened with the Callie Kendall case. Something huge. Bowie’s family is coming over to our place so I can explain.”
I glanced down at the shopping bag in her hand. “What’s that?”
“Dessert,” she said. “I felt like… well, this is big news, and I thought we’d all appreciate some sugar to go with it.”
“What’s the news?”
She glanced around again. Was she concerned about being overheard?
