Shoe Strings

wrap her
arms around him and burrow.
    “Damn, I guess I never realized how much the heels added.”
    “What is with you people and my height?”
    “Who exactly is ‘you people’?”
    She pushed back from him and reached up to get two mugs from
the cabinet.   “Your ex-wife.   Sorry if I’m not of the ‘giant mountain
people’ lineage.”
    “I heard you spent the day with Kerri Ann yesterday.”   He shuffled his feet and crossed his
arms.   “How exactly did the two of
you hook up?”
    “I ran into her at the general store in town; we got to
talking.   I like her.”
    Jesse chuckled, shook his head.   “Can’t imagine the two of you together,
but I guess wonders never cease.”
    “Funny,” Lita said.   “I spent the whole day thinking the same of the two of you.”
    He accepted the mug of coffee she handed him and set it down
on the counter.   “Have you given any
more thought to my offer?”
    She turned to face him and noted his cocky smile.   Could he possibly be asking about his
intention for them to be more than friends?   “What offer?”
    “Rafting.   I had
a group cancel this weekend.”
    “Jesse…”   Why
wouldn’t he let this go?   She wanted
to spend time with him, but did it have to involve rushing water and a
flotation device?   As if to
demonstrate how her thoughts tended to wander when he was near, she added two
tablespoons of sugar to her coffee instead of one.
    “You like it sweet, don’t you?”  
    “Huh?”
    “The coffee, Angelita.   Try to keep up, would you?   Anyway,” he walked to the door and outside to retrieve the tire from his
truck.   She left her coffee on the
counter and followed him outside.   So much for freshening up.   “I’ve got the patch of river all picked out.   It’s a nice easy ride and the scenery is
beautiful.   How about I pick you up
Saturday morning around seven?”
    “Jesse, I never said I’d go rafting with you.”   But she wanted to, if only to get him
off her back.
    “You’re not going to let a little thing like fear stop you
from a new experience are you?”
    She huffed out a breath and put her hands on her hips.   He was enjoying her reaction and had
probably planned to bully her into accepting.   “I told you before, I’m not afraid.   I just don’t want to.”
    He stood up, wiped the gravel from his knees and faced
her.   “Prove it.”
    He was incredibly handsome, standing there looking down at
her trying to hold back his crooked smile.   How had he figured out how to maneuver her already?
    “Fine, I’ll go.   But you’d better know what you’re doing.”

 

 
    Chapter 10
    Bryce stood before the gilded mirror in his office foyer and
contemplated removing his tie.   He
unhitched the knot, tugged it off, unbuttoned one button, and surveyed the
results.   Damn.   He hadn’t been this nervous or this
insecure since the eighth grade dance.   And the prom.   God help him,
how had he forgotten the prom?   Susie Cunningham had worn a dress with spaghetti straps and he hadn’t
known where in the world to pin the lily corsage on her ample bosom.   What a nightmare.
    “Relax, you idiot,” he said to his reflection and then
cringed when Misty called, “What?” from the front of the office.
    “Nothing.”   He
retreated behind his desk.   It was
only five o’clock.   He had thirty
minutes to second guess his attire and try to tamp down the jittery stomach
that had plagued him all day.   It’s
just a date, he told himself.   With the woman of your dreams.   The woman you’ve wanted to be with since
you were thirteen years old .  
    He’d made reservations at his favorite restaurant in
Asheville.   Thank God he knew Kerri
Ann liked all kinds of food.   She
was an adventurous eater, one of her many appealing qualities.   He’d once dated a woman who wouldn’t eat
anything more daring than chicken.   Kerri Ann was always up for trying something new or something old
prepared in a new way.   Whether it
was the restaurateur in her or just the way she was made, he didn’t care.  
    They had an hour’s drive to Asheville and at least two hours
in the restaurant.   He thought he’d
suggest a walk around the city afterward and possibly a drink at one of the
area’s varied bars.   He could see
the night play out in his head, the way she’d look in her new dress, her
appreciation of the meal, the dawning in her eyes that they were meant to be
together.   He wondered if