Always Enough (Meet Me in Montana #2) - Kelly Elliott Page 0,17

you like the quiche florentine?”

“Yes! It was amazing. How was the pasta?”

“It was great. I can safely say I am full.”

Channing stood and took my coat, prompting me to stand and allow him to put it on me again. As we made our way out of the restaurant, I tried to push all thoughts of Ty Shaw from my brain.

Tried . . . and failed.

When we stepped into the Blue Moose, I took a quick look around. No Ty, but I did see Tanner. I wanted to groan internally. Could I not go anywhere in this town and not see one of the Shaw brothers? I mean, it wasn’t that small of a town.

“What would you like to drink?” Channing asked, taking my hand in his as he walked us toward the bar. My stomach did a little jump at the contact. It had been a long time since a man had touched me in any sort of intimate way. It wasn’t like butterflies in the stomach, but at least my libido was waking up a little. She recognized a man’s touch and liked it. Score one for me.

“I’ll just have any local craft beer they have on tap.”

He winked, and I couldn’t help but smile. It looked like the evening was back on the positive again.

“Do you want to sit at the bar or at a table?” Channing asked as he motioned for Ralph, the bartender, to order.

“How about I go grab a table?” I replied while I gave his arm a slight squeeze. He smiled, and I turned and set out for a table. It didn’t take me long to find one in the back corner. It wasn’t tucked away, so it wouldn’t appear we were attempting to hide, but it was a good distance from the dance floor and had a clear view of almost the entire bar.

“Here you are. I was looking all over for you,” Channing said as he placed the beer down in front of me.

“Sorry, this one’s sort of out of the way, yet we can still people watch and talk without competing with the music.”

He sat down and gifted me with another wink and grin.

Another stomach jump . . . okay, this was promising. My body was certainly on board with Channing and his sexy little winks. I just needed to get my brain on board as well.

“Do you like to dance?” he asked, glancing out over the dance floor.

“I love to dance. I’m pretty good at the two-step, if I do say so myself.”

He laughed. “Well, I figured, since you’re from the South. No one would doubt it with that accent of yours.”

I felt my cheeks heat. He didn’t have to know I’d worked for years on my southern drawl, much to Lincoln’s endless eye rolls when I threw out the words fixin’ or y’all.

Having wealthy parents, I was always told to speak slowly and clearly around my father’s business associates, or my parents’ friends. Even though we were from the South, having a southern accent was very much frowned upon by my father. A well-educated woman would never say y’all. I did, more to spite them than anything. Well, and the fact that I loved how it sounded.

It was just another reason I was glad to be away from Georgia. Back then, anytime my mother called, it was usually to see if I was dating anyone yet, or if I could attend a fundraiser, or a wedding, or some other bullshit event where they wanted to put on airs for their peers and show off how great a family we were. The perfectly well-rounded, educated daughter. I was both those things, but somehow, I still lacked something in their eyes. Unfortunately, I had yet to figure out what that was.

I loved my parents, and I knew they loved me, but their money came in at a very close second to their daughter. Or maybe it was the other way around. I hadn’t figured out where I stood in the ranking.

“So, you asked me about myself. Is it my turn now?” I asked, taking a sip of my beer and loving the way the music pulsed through my body.

“Have at it, Kaylee. I’m an open book.”

I sat up a bit straighter and tilted my head some as I regarded him for a moment or two. “Okay, the most common one—why are you single? You’re handsome enough, nice body, hot job, pun intended.”

He laughed. “Well, I dated my high school sweetheart up