His Southern Temptation - By Robin Covington Page 0,35

end of pleasurable attention.

“So, Mary-Taylor, Lucky tells me you are going to buy a massage therapy place in Hawaii,” Sissy said.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m trained in massage therapy, aromatherapy, acupressure, and aesthetician services.” She noticed Lucky’s confused look in the mirror and quickly added, “Facials, skin care—those kinds of things. It isn’t exactly the physical therapy background I studied at school, but I love helping people.”

“I’ve wanted to expand the salon to offer those kinds of services and give the spas in Roanoke a run for their money. You could open your business here.”

Taylor sat upright in the chair, jostling the poor girl working on her toes and sloshing water on the floor.

“Oh, darlin’, I’m sorry.” Sissy dropped her scissors and comb on the table, rushing over to help clean up the mess. A towel taking care of the damage, she laid a warm hand on Taylor’s, her blue eyes direct. “That was out of the blue, huh? Don’t worry, sugar, it’s just an old woman thinking out loud.”

“You just surprised me. I never…”

“I’ll show you the plans to expand into the empty space next door. I’d like to get your thoughts anyway.”

“Mom.” Lucky filled the one word with a desperate warning.

“Shush. I was just throwing ideas out there.”

“Taylor, Jack never told me the story. Why did you leave Elliott?” Michaela asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

Chatter around dropped to a low roar, a clear reminder that they weren’t alone in Elliott’s gossip central. Since she’d left straight from the ceremony seven years ago, no one had heard her side of the story. By her calculation, she’d just risen to number one on the gossip list for today.

“Oh my God.” A nearby stylist dropped her hand, foil wrappers drifting to the floor unnoticed. “You’re the Mary-Taylor who punched out her groom at the altar and then left town in a stolen car!”

“That would be my car,” Lucky said.

“Oh Taylor, that’s awful!” Michaela said, horrified. Apparently violence against your betrothed while dressed in Vera Wang wasn’t commonplace in the governor’s mansion.

“No, awful would’ve been finding out that Bobby was sleeping with the wedding planner after the ceremony was finished,” she said.

“You’re right. What did your family say?”

“Teague was great. My parents…” Aware of her audience, she tried to think of the best way to describe the total letdown her parents had served up along with the sit-down dinner for three hundred and fifty guests.

“Your mama sure was mad at Lucky,” Sissy said. Taylor looked at Lucky to decipher her meaning. His gaze was steady, his mouth a straight line of displeasure at this turn in the conversation. They’d talked about her defunct wedding day a few times over the years, but he’d never mentioned any trouble with her mother.

“Mom, we don’t need to get into that now. It was a long time ago,” Lucky said.

“No, Mrs. Landon.” Taylor leaned forward in her chair, jostling the poor girl who was probably ready to staple her ass to the pedicure chair. “Spill. I never heard this part before.”

“Call me Sissy. Well, I wasn’t invited, so I didn’t see it firsthand, but your mama smacked Lucky right across the face in front of the preacher and everything.”

“She did what?” Taylor hopped down from the chair and walked on her heels, toes splayed with those little foam thingies, to stand in front of his chair. Sissy stepped back as Taylor wedged in between his legs, hands planted on the strong muscles of his thighs, forcing him to look at her and answer her question.

“It wasn’t a big deal.” He swallowed, his breathing a little heavier now. Taylor shivered when his hands encircled her wrists, tugging her a little closer so no one else could hear them. “Your mother followed you out of the church and she saw everything.” He let the impact of his words sink in, tightening his hold on her as understanding crept into her brain. “She saw us.”

“She blamed you,” Taylor said.

“Yes.”

“She thought you were the reason I didn’t marry Bobby.”

“One of the reasons.”

“Did you try to tell her the truth?” She freed a hand from his grasp, tracing the stubble on his jaw with fingers tingling from the emotions coursing through her body.

“I think I wanted it to be true. There was a reason I wasn’t inside the church.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

Taylor stroked his lip with her fingertip, his breath warming her skin where it was wet from the touch of his tongue. She inhaled sharply, her lungs burning from the fire catching