Slow Talkin' Texan

“Good. That means you can finish and leave.”

She blinked in confusion.

“I came to take you to dinner.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said, taken aback.

“Why not?”

Ellen’s heart was suddenly pounding much too fast. “I just don’t.”

His eyes traveled the length of her body, just as they had the Sunday she met him, which brought another flush to her face. She sensed she was in for a verbal fight. He didn’t seem to be the type who took no for an answer, despite his laid-back demeanor.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay if you don’t want to go to dinner .”

Ellen opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

“Later.” He tipped his Stetson and walked out.

Five

Ellen sipped a glass of iced green tea as she stretched out on the chaise longue on her patio. She shouldn’t have come home so early, but she had felt the need to get away from the shop for more reasons than one.

Thank goodness the days were getting longer, which meant more daylight to enjoy her home and its lovely surroundings. She couldn’t take credit for the tiny, well-manicured yard, with its splattering of different colored annuals and tallow trees, but she could enjoy it.

Not sure she or her business would thrive here, she had put off buying a home. Yet she couldn’t bear the thought of living in an apartment complex, where doors slammed at all hours and the neighbors’ voices carried through the walls.

When a realtor she had contacted found this patio home for rent, she’d snapped it up. She hadn’t been sorry, especially since it was new; she was its first occupant.