Paper Kisses (7 page)

“Maybe that’s the part you needed
to find.
 
The girl who never put out,
learning she could have a good time.”

“It’s not that easy for me,
Cee
,” Alannah admitted.
 
“It’s hard for me to
emote
my feelings.”

“I know.”

“I mean, that’s part of why I
left.
 
Part of why I never let anything
develop between me and Sky in the first place.
 
I didn’t want to be trapped, like my mother.”

“I’m sorry to hear she died.”

Alannah shrugged.
 
“I moved her out to California, but by then
it was too late.
 
The drink had gotten
her.
 
My home life was never good, you
remember.
 
Sky and I spent so much time
together because he needed to vent and I needed to forget.
 
I didn’t know how to open up and be the ‘fun
me’ I know that’s inside.
 
When I left
here, I…lost myself.”

“Is that what you’re really looking
for?
 
Little girl lost?”

“Maybe,” Alannah muttered.
 
“In twelve years I would’ve thought I’d be a
little more grown up, a little stronger.
 
Instead, I’m back here at square one and everything is gone.
 
My business, my husband,
my…sense of self.”

CeeCee
rose and walked around the table to hug her.
 
“Just because we have over a decade of birthdays doesn’t mean we’ve
gotten smarter or that love gets easier.
 
If nothing else, everything gets more fucked up.”

Alannah snorted.
 
“Somehow you always put things in
perspective.”

“It’s a gift.
 
Now let’s go put some clothes on.
 
I
gotta
run to the
grocery store.
 
You’re eating me out of
house and home.”

“Your cupboards were bare when I
got here.”

“Eh, semantics.”

****

CeeCee
pulled up to the grocery store and cut the engine on her pickup truck.
 
Here it was not even noon yet and she was
sweating like a pig.
 

“I forgot how muggy Southern
Missouri can get in the summer,” she said, wiping her brow.

“Doesn’t Los Angeles get hot?”

“In the Valley, but I live west
side, near the beach.
 
I don’t even have
an air condition unit.
 
Or didn’t.
 
Actually, I’m not sure where I’m going to
live now.”

“You can always move back to
Dexter,”
CeeCee
told her.

They weaved through the parked
vehicles when Alannah spotted a dog in the back seat of a sealed up car.
 
None of the windows had been cracked to let
in any air and the heat was steadily climbing.

“
Cee
,
come here!” she called out and then tapped the glass to get the dog’s
attention.

“It’s got to be a hundred degrees
in that car!”
CeeCee
exclaimed.
 

The poor little dog, which looked
like it might be a miniature Poodle, stood in the middle of the backseat, its
tongue hanging out of his mouth although it was clear he wasn’t panting
anymore.
 
Alannah grabbed the handle but
the door was locked.

“I don’t think that dog can take
too much more,” she muttered.

Just then the dog collapsed and
they both saw he was straining to breathe.

“
Cee
, do
you have something that’ll shatter the window?”
Alannah
asked, her decision made.
 
She’d
gladly break a hundred car windows to save the dog’s life.

“On it!”
Cee
cried as she spun and raced back to her truck.
 
About half a minute later, she rushed back
with it and handed it to Alannah.

“Run into the store,” Alannah told
her.
 
“See if you can find the
owner.
 
Bring back some water.”

As
CeeCee
turned and flat out ran to the store, Alannah moved to the opposite driver’s
side window, as far away from the dog as possible.
 
Without a second thought, she swung the
crowbar and the side window shattered into a gazillion pieces.
 
She dropped the metal bar and rushed to
unlock the back door.
 
Carefully, she
picked up the little dog, cradling it in her arms.
 
As she backed away from the car, a police
vehicle suddenly appeared next to her and Sky jumped out.
 
He looked from her to the dog to the
shattered window.

“Come to my car,” he ordered.
 
“I have the air conditioner running.”

Alannah rushed to the passenger
seat and Sky held open the door as she sat down, angling the vent so it blew on
the dog.
 
CeeCee
ran up with a bottle of water and uncapped it.
 
Between the both of them, they managed to dribble some water into the
dog’s mouth.

Sky pulled out his phone and hit a
number.
 
“Kevin, we have an emergency at
Southern Pride grocery.
 
Dog nearly
suffocated in a locked car.
 
Okay.
 
See you soon.”

As he hung up, Alannah caught and
held his gaze for a long moment and something bloomed to life, united by their
desire to save a pet.
 
Sky gave her a
lopsided, encouraging grin.
 
And then the
little dog’s tongue began to lap at the dripping water.
 
CeeCee
let out a
whoop as Alannah felt the tension ease in her shoulders and she smiled up at
him.
 

“Well, I’m no Kevin, but I think
he’s going to make it,” Sky murmured.

“We did it.
 
We saved his life.”

Sky ran a finger down her
cheek.
 
“You did it.
 
I saw you swing that crowbar.
 
A couple of seconds could have meant the
difference between life and death.
 
And
when the owner of this car comes and I have to explain everything, I just want
you to remember how proud I am that you didn’t hesitate.”

Alannah’s heart melted.
 
Ah, man, how was she supposed to fight such praise
and magnetism?
 
All she wanted to do was
lean over and kiss him.
 
Instead, because
they had an audience, she looked back down at the dog.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

He didn’t answer but he didn’t have
to.
 
He was right there beside her.

****

That evening
CeeCee
and Kevin were in the kitchen making dinner,
stopping every once in a while to pet the little dog.
 
He’d been taken from the owner, who was
mighty pissed at finding out that not only was his car window broken, but also that
no one would be compensating him.
 
Sky
pointed out he could be arrested for endangering the dog’s life, so the man
shut up and drove away.
 
CeeCee
had affectionately named the mutt Pooch.
 
Sky and Alannah sat side by side on the porch
swing, sipping a beer, and enjoying the night.
 

“What a beautiful night,” she
murmured, feeling content.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” he
warned.
 
“After dinner I’m making good on
that ‘anything’ promise.”

Alannah felt
herself
blush and was glad they were sitting in the dark.
 
“I haven’t forgotten,” she told him.
 

“Are you wearing panties?”

She squirmed in the seat.
 
“No.”

“Good,” he replied and she felt
happy she was able to please him.
 

What the hell?
 
Why would she want to please him?
 
Shouldn’t the man want to please the woman?

Maybe that was why her marriage
didn’t last.
 

Alannah cleared her throat.
 
“I never would have pictured you as sheriff
twelve years ago.”

He turned and looked her directly
in the eyes.
 
“There are a lot of things
about me now that you don’t know about.
 
That no one knows about.
 
But if
we’re playing that game, then twelve years ago I never would have pictured you
in Los Angeles.”

“Really?
 
Where did you picture me?”

“Do you want the truth or do you
want a lie?”

“Always the
truth, of course.”

“With me.
 
Anywhere with me,” he said softly.

Her breath caught in her throat.
 
Was he sincere?
 

“What do you think about that?” he
asked.

“I think…I think your hormones were
raging and you don’t remember very clearly.
 
There was never anything between us, Sky.”

“So we’re going to hide behind the
hormone theory?”

“What else would you call it?
 
We were best friends.”

“We were a boy and girl
first.”
 
He shrugged.
 
“Still are, although now we know where this
is going to lead, at least tonight.”

Her lips compressed.
 
She didn’t want him to know how his words
affected her.
 
Her nipples pebbled, her
clit throbbed…
oh, yes
…her body
remembered last night, and it wanted more.

“What about Linda?” she asked,
trying to remind herself about the practicalities.
 
Because she knew, once she crossed that path
with Sky, there’d be no turning back.
 
And that scared the bejesus out of her.

“Linda is not my girlfriend,” he
said.
 
“We have an arrangement.
 
One I terminated this morning.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s
not who I want.
 
Tell me, Alannah,
what are you really so scared about?”

“I don’t want to lose our
friendship.”

He shook his head.
 
“You can’t use that excuse.
 
You walked away for twelve years, so,
no.
 
Anything else?”

“I’m not ready,” she said, a bit
desperately.
 
“I’ve only been divorced
for a short time and I’m not looking for a rebound.”

“Actually, a rebound is falling
into a new relationship, and ours is decades old.
 
Anything else?”

She rose, intending to leave, but
he grabbed her arm and forced her back on the swing.
 

“Alannah,” he said in that imperious
voice that he used earlier.
 
The one that would have made her panties damp had she been wearing
any, and compelled her to do exactly what he told her to do.

“There was a reason why I didn’t
invite you to my wedding,” she whispered sadly.
 
“If you had been around, I wouldn’t have gone through with it.
 
I…I realized long before my wedding day that
I didn’t love Bryce.
 
I didn’t want to
marry him.”

“Then why did you go through with
it?”

“Truth or lie?”

“Always the
truth.”

“The truth was that…I did have
fantasies about you.
 
I hated every girl
you dated.
 
I hated hearing their names
because…because you were mine.”

“Alannah,” he murmured achingly.
 
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Because I couldn’t stay here!” she
cried.
 
“I refused to end up like
her
!
 
So I did everything I could to be different.
 
I left.
 
I got married.
 
I had a
career.
 
And it still went to shit!
 
I still failed!”

All the emotions bottled up inside
her suddenly exploded.
 
Her deepest,
darkest secret exposed.
 
There was no
more hiding.
 
She couldn’t bottle it back
in and tighten the lid.
 
Tears ran
unchecked down her cheeks as she sobbed out all the misery that had been
festering inside.
 
Anger and hurt over a
mother who preferred her booze, anger and hurt over a father who walked away.
 
Anger and hurt over a husband who didn’t love
her enough.
 
But especially anger and
hurt at
herself
.
 
She had done everything she could think of to be the opposite of her
mother, but nothing worked.
 
In the end,
she was her mother’s daughter after all.

Sky pulled her into his arms and
gently rocked them.
 
The swing made
creaking noises, protesting every motion as he cradled her in his arms and
soothed her by petting her hair.
 
For
something that should have been a little demoralizing, somehow it was exactly
what she needed to feel.
 

“Listen to me, Alannah,” Sky
murmured, once again using his special voice, the one that had every part of
her standing at attention.
 
It said
obey me
and she immediately answered
yes
.
 
“We’re going to eat dinner, because you need strength, and then I’m
taking you to my house and I’m going to take care of you.”