Stranger in Town - By Cheryl Bradshaw Page 0,21
started. It was some flip-your-partner-dosey-do kind of thing. I’d never understood the fascination with country dancing and all its flinging and twirling. Maybe it was because I’d never tried it before—I’d never been interested.
“Was you planning on dancing tonight?” a husky voice said.
I turned around, coming face to face with Brad Paisley Guy. “You mean were you?”
He held his hand up to his ear like he couldn’t hear me. “Sorry, what? It’s a little loud in here.”
“You just said ‘was’ instead of ‘were.’” I suddenly felt stupid for pointing it out like I was the bar’s grammar police. It didn’t matter, I wouldn’t ever see him again.
Brad Paisley Guy rolled the toothpick dangling from his lips from one corner of his mouth to the other and squinted. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
“Maybe I am—how would you know?”
He took his time looking me up and down like he wanted me to know it. “Nope, you’re definitely not a country girl.”
His tone didn’t seem offensive, but it bothered me anyway.
“Did you want something?” I said
“I’m Cade,” he said, tipping his hat forward. “What’s your name?”
I pointed to Maddie who was engrossed in her conversation with the man who’d bought her the drink, even though I knew her gift of “ear extend” was on high alert. “That’s Maddie.”
He laughed. “I meant your name.”
“I know what you meant,” I said. “Do you have a last name?”
The side of his lip curled up into a smile and he winked. “Sure do. Do you answer everything with a question?”
Before I could say anything else, he placed his hands on my waist, lifted me out of the chair, and dragged me onto the dance floor.
“I don’t do this,” I said. “Please, don’t—”
I tried to back away, but he grabbed my hands, pulling me in until we were so close I could feel his hot, minty breath on my cheek.
“You don’t do what, dance?”
“Not country,” I said.
He laughed and released one of his hands, wrapping it around my waist. Over the next few minutes I felt like I was sitting in an oversized teacup at a theme park—the kind of ride where at least one person usually threw up before it was over. My body flipped, dipped, and whipped into positions I didn’t even know were still possible.
The song ended with me in the dipped position, my head about three inches from the floor. Cade held me there for a few moments, staring into my eyes, but saying nothing.
“Were you going to let me go at some point?” I said.
“Yeah, sorry.”
He stood me upright but didn’t let go.
“Can I have my hand back too?” I said.
He released me and walked away without saying another word.
What just happened? And why is he walking off? Is it a country/western thing? I didn’t know.
“Umm, I think he likes you,” Maddie said when I returned to my seat.
“It was one dance,” I said, holding up a finger. “Besides, I’m dating Giovanni, and I don’t even know the guy.”
Maddie nudged me with her shoulder. “He’s still looking at you.”
I didn’t dare look over. “Can we please leave now? I’ve had enough.”
She frowned but took pity on me. A minute later, we were back in the parking lot as if the last hour had never happened.
I said something to Maddie, but she didn’t hear me.
“Maddie, are you listening?” I said.
“What? Yeah.”
“No, you’re not. What are you looking at?”
She pointed to a truck parked under a lamppost. “Nice wheels,” Maddie said. “I could see myself with the guy who drives that.”
“What are you looking…”
I looked over. It couldn’t be—but it was. A truck. A shiny, black Dodge Ram with a grille in the front and Cade gripping the door handle, about to jump inside.
CHAPTER 15
Rage consumed me. Cade whatever-his-last-name-was, had been following me. I wanted to yell—scratch that—I wanted to scream, but when my mouth opened, all I could manage was, “You,” followed by my pointer finger swirling around in the air like a dagger while I continued to shout, “You—you—you—you—you!”
Cade released the door handle and held his hands up, surrendering to my finger dagger. “Now hold on just a minute, Sloane. Let me explain, okay?”
“No, you hold on! You think you can walk up to me in some bar pretending you’ve never seen me before in your life, and that’s okay?! Why did you ask for my name if you already knew it?”
He smoothed a bit of dirt around with the toe of his boot, like he thought moving a bit of