“Not lately and certainly not anyone I would believe.”
“Something’s Got a Hold on Me,” another Etta James tune, started as soon as the first one ended. Blake hugged Allie tightly to his chest and moved slowly around the floor.
“Do I have a hold on you?” she asked.
“Oh, honey, you don’t have a clue,” he teased.
The music stopped and she hurried to the jukebox. She bent over it to see the song titles better and there was that cute little denim-covered butt just tempting him. His mouth went dry and his pulse jacked up a few notches. He laced his fingers together on top of the table to keep from taking a few steps forward and cupping her fine ass in his hands.
He would not seduce Allie. Not even if he could already feel her body next to his, under him, working with him, and satisfying the ache behind his zipper. He was trying hard to make her his friend and that did not include benefits. She was an important part of his strategy to get past his wild reputation. He really, really needed for the folks in Dry Creek to see him as a responsible rancher, not a bar-hopping cowboy with nothing but a good time on his mind. No one in Muenster would take him seriously, and that had always bothered him.
The jukebox spit out “Lean on Me.” Was she telling him something? She returned to her chair and smiled. “I remember some of these songs from when I was…” She clamped a hand over her mouth. “Granny had some of these on vinyl. I wonder if she was ever here?”
Blake smiled. “Darlin’, your granny has lots of secrets.”
At midnight Deke handed Allie the keys to his truck and said, “Place closes at two. Frankie says y’all can stay long as you want. Leave the keys on the front seat, Blake. I’ve got a lady who says she can make a mean breakfast come daylight.” He grinned and disappeared in a fog of smoke.
“One more dance?” Blake asked.
Allie stood up and moved out to the middle of the empty floor as Sam Cooke sang “Bring It on Home to Me.” She wrapped her arms around Blake’s neck and smiled up at him. “It’s not hard to imagine my granny in her best dress out here on this very floor dancin’ with my grandpa to this song.”
“Who says she came here with your grandpa? Maybe it was with Walter,” he teased.
“I don’t want to think about that.” She leaned back and looked up at him.
She’d said no more kisses but those dark brown eyes mesmerized him. He tipped up her chin and whispered, “Then let’s think about this.”
His lips closed over hers and his arms pulled her tighter against his chest, his tongue finding its way inside her mouth, tasting the peach pie moonshine. Finally, she put her hands on his chest and pushed.
“Blake, I told you about that,” she said.
Her tone wasn’t very convincing so he brushed another kiss across her lips. “I was just seeing if the peach pie tasted better on your lips than it did straight from the glass.”
“Have you always been a charmer?” she asked with a smile.
“I can’t help it when I’m around you. You don’t have any idea how beautiful you are or how you affect a man, do you, darlin’?”
“On that note, I think it’s time for you to take me home.” She blushed, shrugged, and threw up her palms all at once. It was so damn cute he wanted to kiss her again. “I mean, take me to my home, so don’t look at me like that.”
The dance ended and he led her out to the truck. He wished the whole way back through the rutted road and to the county road leading home that she was sitting as close to him as she had been on the way to Frankie’s, and cussing himself for wanting her for more than a friend.
Chapter Nine
Blake opened the door before she even knocked that Saturday afternoon. “Come right in out of the cold. Man, I’m glad y’all got the roof done. I believe the weatherman just might be right and we’ll get that six inches of snow on Sunday.”
“I won’t take long. Just a few measurements and then I’ve got to get to Wichita Falls for supplies before the weather hits.” She pulled a steel tape measure from one of the pockets on her cargo pants and headed down the hall.
Deke pushed in the back door without knocking and yelled. “Hey, Blake, do you mind if I use your chainsaw sharpener?”
“You sure can. I didn’t think you’d be around today after last night.”
“I’m energized and ready to work,” Deke said. “I’m filling my travel mug with coffee. Once that snow gets here, the wood-cuttin’ business will have to wait.”
“Sharpener is in the barn,” Blake said. “There’s spaghetti sauce made from venison simmering in the slow cooker. One of the ladies brought it by when they delivered all that food. We’ll have it for supper tonight? Y’all want to join me?”
“Sure, maybe we’ll go back to Frankie’s,” Deke yelled, and the back door slammed.
“How about you?”
“How about me what?” Allie asked.