Stealing Taffy (Bigler, North Carolina #3) - Susan Donovan Page 0,3
up into the sky.
* * *
“May I have another vodka and cranberry when you have a chance? Thankyousoverymuch.”
Tanyalee tipped her chin and gazed up at Dan. Oh, this man was so easy it was pathetic. Not that she wanted anything from him. Because she didn’t. Her days of seducing men who had money or happened to be outrageously hot were over. Done. This Dan Carnes person surely wasn’t rolling in cash or he’d be in first class or on his own private jet, for heaven’s sake. And yes, he was stunningly attractive, but Tanyalee knew he would amount to nothing but good company on a three-hour flight. That was all. End of story.
Dan had ditched his suit jacket during her previous cocktail, and the muscles she now spied under that dress shirt were extraordinary. She’d never been to bed with a man built like Dan Carnes. She wondered what it would be like. Tanyalee couldn’t help but stare at his chest and the tiny tuft of dark hair peeking out from his loosened tie. Goodness! What would a girl do with all those hairy muscles? Stroke them? Kiss them? Rub her face in them until her cheeks were exfoliated?
“Ma’am?”
Tanyalee licked her lips, unable to drag her eyes from the contents of Dan’s shirt.
“Your drink, ma’am.”
“I’ll get this one,” Dan said, passing along Tanyalee’s beverage and handing the flight attendant a ten.
“Oh, thankyousoverymuch! Aren’t you sweet?”
“Can I get you anything, sir?”
“Another seltzer with lime, please,” Dan told the flight attendant. He turned his attention to Tanyalee again. “So. You were saying…”
She’d been saying something? That must have been before she started staring at Dan’s muscles.
“Your husband?”
“Oh! Yes! I stole the love of my sister’s life right out from under her, which was wrong, I know. And I married him, though it lasted only about six months. He couldn’t really support me in the way I deserved.”
Dan nodded slowly.
“I got myself in a little bit of trouble after that.” Tanyalee leaned closer and whispered in his ear. “Legal trouble. A small misunderstanding with a loan my granddaddy couldn’t remember cosigning for me. You know how forgetful old people can be.”
“Of course,” Dan said.
“And then there was that ridiculous security mix-up at the boutique where I love to shop. Well, I used to love to shop there. A few checks happened to bounce and I was somehow accused of accessing Granddaddy’s online checking account, and since the police made such a fuss about it all, I ended up with a probation officer. He’s cute as a button but the nervous type, you know? I think he’s overworked.”
“I bet.”
Tanyalee smiled up at Dan. He surely was easy to talk to. “Next, I was engaged to a real estate investor who was stinking rich, you know what I’m saying?”
“I do.”
“But he found himself responsible for some of his dead daddy’s shady business dealings and … oh, goodness. Do you know what my fiancé did? You’re not going to believe this!”
“I can’t wait.”
“That man went and shredded all my credit cards! Left a little bird’s nest of plastic right there on the bathroom rug! My American Express. My MasterCard. My Sears card! Have you ever heard of such a thing?” She took a sip from her slender cocktail straw.
“You’ve sure led an interesting life, Taffy.”
Tanyalee waved her hand in the air and giggled. “Oh, that’s only half of it.”
“It is?”
“Oh, my, yes.” She sucked from the straw, harder this time. “See, right after my fiancé put my credit cards in the shredder, he went off and found a gun somewhere and decided it would be a good idea to take me hostage, along with my sister and my sister’s best friend. But when he busted in, a squirrel flew through the front door and attacked him, which gave me a chance to hit him with a tequila bottle. Thank goodness he fell and hit his head on the corner of the coffee table. Just then, the police came. My former fiancé is in jail now, did I mention that?”
Dan shifted in his seat.
“You know, my parents died when I was little, and after the whole kidnapping thing, it came out that they had been murdered by my fiancé’s evil dead father! Can you imagine how I felt when I realized I’d almost married the son of the man who killed my mama and daddy?”