Chapter Six
Savannah
As I stoodin front of my closet in my underwear, I put my hands on my hips and swore beneath my breath.
“How in the heck did I get myself in this darn mess?”
Okay, so I couldn’t bring myself to swear, even though I wanted to. My grandmother hated curse words with a passion and always threw a fit whenever she heard me cuss. Now that she was gone, I found I still adhered to the habit she ingrained in me out of love for her and her memory.
Satchel mewed from the bed and I looked at her over my shoulder. The look she gave me conveyed her considerable boredom with this process. Rhys was meeting me in half an hour and I still had to put on make-up. When he’d asked me to help him with something a couple of days ago, my heart did a strange twist-leap in my chest. For some crazy reason, I’d automatically wondered if he was going to ask me out.
Silly me.
Instead, he’d asked me if I knew a good place to buy a car. To my surprise, he didn’t have a vehicle. I agreed to drive him around to a few dealerships on my next day off, which was today.
“What is Mommy supposed to wear to shop for a car with her stupid hot neighbor, Satchel?” I asked her.
Her only reply was to turn her back on me and start licking her paw.
“Thank you. You’ve been very helpful.”
With a sigh, I decided to ignore my cat and try to focus on my outfit. The weather was beautiful, warm and sunny. It was a gorgeous spring day, the kind of day that made me want to wear one of my maxi dresses with small straps and bright colors. But this also wasn’t a date and I didn’t want Rhys to think that I thought it was. Wow, that was a mouthful. Or a brain full since my entire conversation was in my head.
“God, now I’m confusing myself,” I mumbled. Annoyed with my own wishy-washy behavior, I reached into the closet and grabbed the first dress I saw. I would wear what I usually wore. Would he even notice what I was wearing unless it was aggressively sexy? The thought made me laugh. Nothing I owned could be classified as aggressively sexy. Or even sexy at all.
The purple dress in my hand had a halter neckline with slender straps. The dress had a high waist and fell in voluminous folds to my ankles. I loved it because the color flattered my pale skin and dark hair and it was one of the most comfortable outfits I owned.
I slipped into the dress and slid my feet into flat tan sandals. A quick look at the clock made me wince. I didn’t know Rhys very well, but he struck me as the kind of person who would show up five minutes early.
I hurried into my bathroom to finish getting ready. I pulled the sides of my hair back and pinned it in place with bobby pins. Then I put on a light layer of make-up. I brushed a little lavender shadow on my eyelids, applied mascara, and put a tinted balm on my lips. I had no sooner finished the final swipe before the doorbell rang.
“I knew he’d be early,” I muttered to Satchel.
My cat followed me down the hall to the front door and sat on her rump, staring intently at the front door.
Pointing a finger at her, I admonished, “Don’t even think about it. No clawing or biting my sexy neighbor. I want him to stick around for a few minutes.”
Her imperious look told me to mind my own business.
“I mean it, Satchel,” I said, pointing my finger at her.
She yawned.
“Dissed by my own cat,” I grumbled. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself before opening the door. It might have been crazy, but I felt like I needed a moment to prepare before I looked at him. If I took the time to ready myself, maybe I’d be able to string three words together without embarrassing myself.
I opened the door and immediately realized that I was wrong. Any words I planned to use vanished from my mind. Rhys stood on the porch wearing jeans, a t-shirt that hugged his upper body, and a pair of dark sunglasses. His dark blond hair was messy, as though he’d been running his hands through it, and his goatee looked fuller as though it needed a trim.
My brain cells didn’t scream as they died, they swooned. The light spring breeze carried his scent into the house and my legs suddenly felt weak.
After we stood there staring at each other for a long moment, Satchel meowed. I jumped and gave myself a mental slap. “Hi, Rhys. Why don’t you come in for a minute while I get my bag?”
I stepped back from the door to let him in and gripped the knob tighter as he passed me, his arm brushing mine. I had to get over my body’s crazy reaction to his proximity. This was ridiculous and worse than any crush I’d had in middle school.
He stopped next to my cat, looking down at her. I couldn’t read his expression because of the sunglasses he wore, but I could feel the slight buzz of his emotions, mainly curiosity and amusement. It seemed that with each of our interactions, small hints of what he was feeling would seep through the barrier that surrounded him.
“Who is this?” he asked, his mouth curving up slightly.
Surprised by his smile, I forgot my awkwardness. “That’s my cat, Satchel.”
