by Leslie Kelly
Not sure what she was getting at, and wanting very much to get back to the much more interesting task of getting naked with her, he nodded absently. “Sure.”
“Good.”
Getting naked was definitely more interesting. But he’d only gotten as far as his shirt, which he tossed to the floor, when he had to ask, “Why do you need to reserve judgment?”
She shrugged, moving her cool hands all over his chest, as if testing the curves and contours of his body. He nearly shuddered under the power of her soft, delicate touch, completely forgetting what he’d just asked her.
“Well, your mother would kill me if I up and moved to New York with you right now,” she finally whispered, her words riding her tiny little pants of arousal.
“My mother can visit me anywhere I go,” he mumbled, not wanting to think of anyone else, especially not his mother, when Emma was doing such remarkable things with her hands. Her lips.
Oh, God, he silently moaned, her amazingly sweet mouth.
Emma chuckled, then moved down his body, using that mouth to unfasten his pants, then reaching to tug them down and out of her way.
She climbed on top of him, looking down with heavy-lidded, desire-filled eyes. Her wet hair tangled around her face, and he put his hands in it, delicately caressing her scalp, thinking, as he always did when he tangled his fingers in her soft, bright hair, how much he wanted to get down on his knees and thank God that she’d survived her accident.
“I didn’t mean she’d kill me for taking you away,” she admitted as she stretched and curved like a cat, sliding her body over his, tempting him with her heat and her softness. “I meant, she’d be upset if her business partner bailed on her.”
“Business…”
“Later,” she whispered, leaning down and nibbling on the corner of his mouth. Then tilting her hips, doing crazy, insane things to him until he forgot who and where he was.
“I’ll tell you all about it later,” she said, licking at his lips. “Right now, I want you to tell me you love me, over and over again, while you’re making love to me.”
And Johnny was only too happy to oblige.
EPILOGUE
EMMA JEAN’S PECAN GROVE opened the following September.
The very first customers—members of Sylvie Stottlemyer’s bridge club—decided after sampling some amazing homemade desserts to hold their annual Christmas party in one of the diner’s private party rooms. They booked it, stuffed a bit more pie between their cheeks, then left to spread the word that Emmajean’s was divine.
When not ordering Emmajean’s Famous Pecan Pie, or Minnie’s Perfect Peach, the diner’s patrons happily consumed the delicious home-cooked meals whipped up by the two cooks: Minnie and Jane Walker. The guys from the machine parts factory north of town took a particular liking to the mighty fine meat loaf.
Which they told to whoever would listen.
The rumors circulated and floated through the autumn air, fast and varied, like leaves caught in a strong wind. They landed here, were passed along there, then took off again, carried on until they’d covered most every square foot of Joyful.
Yessir, before long, every soul in the county knew Emmajean’s Pecan Grove was a bona fide hit.
As an investor, Jane had a lot at stake in making sure the regular folks kept coming back, and that strangers getting off the highway remembered to stop on their return trip. So she worked hard to make every meal as good as many a home-cooked one, and better than some.
With even more at stake—as a full-fledged partner—Mona Harding kept the business side of things running smoothly. She also, the male populace was pleased to note, did the hiring.
Meaning the waitresses at Emmajean’s Pecan Grove were all young, perky and buxom.
As for the co-owner, well, the granddaughter of the diner’s namesake didn’t have much to do with the day-today operations of the diner. No, she was much too busy running her thriving financial consulting business out of one of the upstairs offices.
Not to mention planning her wedding to the formerly most eligible bachelor of Joyful, Georgia.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-0590-4
SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY
Copyright © 2005 by Leslie A. Kelly
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