Southern Charm (6 page)

“
Oh don’t try and play me,
heffa. I know the look of a woman that has just got it in! You had
a date with Logan’s sexy other side of the tracks behind so SPILL!”
Cassidy said sitting on the stool at the island in Shelby’s
kitchen. Shelby loved her kitchen. It was gourmet kitchen that
focused on the love of food and cooking. Shelby was a home chef who
enjoyed cooking with the best ingredients and equipment and she
thrived in this type of environment. It met her needs as a cook as
well as expressed her style.

The hardwood flooring was an extension
from the rest of the home. Her granite countertops had a laminated
stone look but scratched and burned easily. Shelby had not been
able to resist their look. Her walls were painted a Terre cotta
with a red backdrop at the sink. Her sink was copper. She also had
a faucet near the stove.

She had a range with a warming drawer
under the oven. It was the ultimate kitchen. It featured
super-spacious floor plans, eat-in area with a fireplace,
room-sized pantry, and a separate prep area.

“
Do you want something to
eat?” Shelby asked turning on her espresso maker.

“
Oh no, heffa, you are
going to tell be how this date was. Don’t make me call him. You
know I will,” Cassidy said to her pulling out her phone.

“
NO!” Shelby said
snatching her phone “I swear if I had not known you almost all my
life I would swear you were a Yankee,” Shelby said handing her her
phone back.

“
Don’t try insulting me to
change the subject, woman. I am a true Southern Belle. Now spill!”
Cassidy said laughing.

“
Logan and I had sex in
the parking lot of O’Flannigan’s last night,” Shelby said looking
away from her friend.

“
WHAT??” Cassidy said
jumping off her stool and doing the running man for twenty seconds
and then saying, “STOP! HAMMER TIME!” She then started laughing
hysterically with her hand out like ‘stop in the name of
love’.

Laughing out loud Shelby said, “You
need a horse tranquilizer!”

“
How did this happen? How
did you do it in that Porsche? Did you ride his face? Are you going
to do it again?” Cassidy said looking at her like a child waiting
for a sundae.

“
Slow down! Jeez, I cannot
even remember all those questions, let alone… WAIT did you say sit
on his FACE? My God Cassidy, he is a man not a stool!” Shelby said.
She was making a fruit salad for them to have for
breakfast.

“
Ok, you didn’t do it,
because if you had, you would tell me. Logan could lick you dry any
day and you would love it!”

“
Cassidy! Honestly that is
gross!” Shelby said.

“
Shelby, you have not
lived until a man has licked to the center of your Tootsie Pop! Now
spill, what happened?”

“
Well, first of all we
were not in the car. We were on the hood, and he and I had a little
argument after we went to the first restaurant that he picked and
saw my parents. We went to O’Flannigan’s and did some talking and
realized that our relationship, up to that point, had been a series
of mis-understandings until last night. Then, I don’t know; it was
like lust and desire took over and all we could think of was having
sex, right then.” Shelby said starry eyed as she ate her
breakfast.

“
OMG! Not only did he get
you to ride him like a mechanical bull on the first date but he got
you to do it in a parking lot on top of a car!?” Cassidy said
loudly. She wiped pretend tears away from her face and said, “My
baby dusted the cob-webs off her ass and gave someone some. I am so
proud.”

“
Something is wrong with
you!” Shelby said laughing and shaking her head. “The most amazing
thing is that I do not feel regret or fear. All I feel is an
overwhelming desire to do it again.”

“
Oh, Shelby! Will you
please? Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while. There is
no way that Logan won’t want to make love with you again. Shoot, I
was surprised he didn’t take you against the wall in the den when
he came to pick you up.”

“
Do you think I should
call him?” Shelby asked.

“
You haven’t called him?”
Cassidy said outraged.

“
No! I don’t know what to
say. I am not used to this,” Shelby said. Although she had had sex
once before, she had never felt such passion and abandon that she
did with Logan. She did not want to seem clingy.

“
All you are doing is
calling the man and saying ‘Good Morning. I just called to find out
if I can ride your hog again’.” Cassidy said laughing. Just as
Shelby was thinking of grabbing her cell phone and calling him, her
phone rang.

“
It’s HIM,” Shelby said
with a frog in her throat.

“
ANSWER,” Cassidy said
looking at her like she had lost her senses. The phone continued to
ring.

“
I don’t know what to
say?” Shelby said starting to panic.

“
Well, when most people
answer a phone they say ‘hello’.” Cassidy said.

“
Ok, here goes nothing.
Hello,” Shelby said finally answering.

“
Hello, gorgeous,” Logan
said. Shelby was instantly horny.

“
Good Morning, Logan,”
Shelby said smiling like a sixteen year old school girl with her
first crush.

“
I was about to hang up. I
thought you might still be asleep.”

“
No, I was a talking with
Cassidy. We are having breakfast before I go for my final dress
fitting,” Shelby whispered walking to one of her island stools and
sitting down next to Cassidy so that she could listen.

“
Oh, well, I don’t want to
interrupt your morning, I just wanted to hear your voice and I knew
I could not wait until the family dinner tonight,” Logan said. He
wondered if she could hear the huge smile on his face.

“
Oh it’s not a bother. How
are you today?” Shelby asked him.

“
Uh, Me? I am excellent! I
got to spend the evening with the most beautiful woman in the
world. And I got the best dessert I have ever had before dinner. I
could not be any better.”

“
LOGAN” Shelby said
blushing. She could not believe this man was telling her he thought
she was sexy, let alone a gift.

“
What?” Logan said
pretending to be innocent. He laughed at her silence. He knew she
was unsure of what to say. “What time would you like me to pick you
up for tonight?”

“
Is eight o’clock ok?”
Shelby said looking at Cassidy as she was nodding her
approval.

“
Sure. I will be there in
the Porsche and one of Lance’s monkey suits.”

Laughing out loud Shelby said, “Logan,
a monkey suit is a tuxedo, and I really want you to wear what you
are comfortable in. It is a formal affair but you should do what
you like. I will not mind.”

“
Really?” Logan said in
shock. He couldn’t believe it. He thought Shelby would spend the
rest of her life trying to please her mother. Shelby showing up
with Logan in jeans, motorcycle boots and a button down shirt,
would send her mother into orbit, though she will pretend to be a
calm put upon society mother. He thought of doing it just to watch
her mother squirm. “I made a deal with you to pretend to be the
better of the two evils of the poor white trash in town for this
week and I will.”

“
Logan! You know that I
don’t think of you like that, right?” Shelby said. “Listen, I know
that pretending to be your brother is like a slap in the face
because you look exactly the same. It’s just that Lance….” she
paused trying to think of the right way to phrase this and not
offend him. “Lance has been… accepted.” When she stopped talking,
Shelby was pissed at herself for even thinking this would sound
better.

“
Oh, so you are saying my
brother is the house trash rather than curb trash. I see, well, I
better get to practicing my skills. I would hate to slip up and the
whole family knows you are not only lying with the dogs, you came
up with fleas,” Logan said and hung up the phone. Placing her head
in her hands, Shelby, hit ‘end’.

“
Lance has been ACCEPTED??
Shelby, have you lost your marbles? How on God’s green earth did
you think that explanation was going to be ok?” Cassidy said to her
friend pacing back and forth in her kitchen.

“
I know, I know!” Cassidy
said with her head still in her hands. “I didn’t know what to say.
I was trying not to say that my parents now think your twin brother
is better than you!” she said. Her words were muffled but Cassidy
could still make them out.

“
Well darling, you
successfully FAILED!” Cassidy said. “Call him back, Shelby and
apologize.”

“
You think I should?”
Shelby asked her, looking up.

“
YES!” Cassidy
said.

Shelby hit redial and called Logan’s
phone back. After it rang five times, his voicemail came on.
“Logan, I am so sorry. I was trying so hard not to say the wrong
thing and I said an even worse thing than the wrong thing. Please
call me later,” Shelby rambled onto his voicemail before she hung
up. “It was his voicemail. “Do you think he is going to show?” She
finished looking at Cassidy with sheer terror in her
eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Cassidy shook
her head and said, “I don’t know, sweetie, but come on, let’s get
you glammed up for your last fitting with Cruella and Cinder
Bitch.” Cassidy wrapped her arms around Shelby’s shoulders and they
started walking upstairs to her room. Shelby was terrified that she
had lost any chance with Logan now.

Shelby was sitting in her living room
tapping her feet nervously and wringing her hands wondering if
Logan was going to show up. She had been trying to get him on the
phone all day. She had called him a dozen times to no avail.
Dealing with her mother and sister this afternoon had been a chore
in itself let alone trying to explain to Logan what she meant. She
smiled now thinking of Savannah’s face when Shelby had walked into
the bridal salon. Sarah had rented the entire bridal salon for two
hours so that the store owners and bridal consultants could give
their only attention to Savannah. Savannah had been standing in
front of a mirror when Shelby had walked in. She had said to her
mother, “Mother, I thought you told them it was just family and the
bridal party for this hour?”

“
I did, Savannah, darling,
what is the problem?” Looking over at Shelby, they had both stared
at her with their mouths opened.

“
Savannah, you look
stunning,” Shelby said, smiling like she did not know why they were
staring at her. She had to admit that she was looking rather nice
today. Cassidy had helped her with her makeup again, because she
had not quite gotten the hang of the fake eyelashes yet. She had
worn a pink and purple ombre print body con dress with cobalt blue
stiletto gladiator sandals and silver jewelry. She had pulled her
hair to one side and pinned the style in place with sterling silver
hair pins.

“
Momma, who is that?”
Savanah had said to their mother still staring at Shelby. “I know
that is not my sister. My sister is a fat slob with no class.”
Shelby’s three bridesmaids stood in the corner laughing at her
statement. Savannah had always managed to befriend the girl that
bullied Shelby and now that they were adults, it was no
different.

“
Savannah! What have I
told you about airing the family dirty secrets in public?” Her
mother had said looking around at the bridal shop employees with a
fake smile on her face. The rest of the afternoon had been a day of
her mother drinking every glass of champagne she could get her
hands on and Savannah making snide remarks about Shelby’s new look.
But Shelby did not care, because when she had put on her bridesmaid
gown, which she was sure Savannah had chosen because she thought
Shelby would look bad in it, it was actually two sizes too big, to
which Sarah had said, “I can’t believe it. Are you sure that is her
dress? Oh, Momma I guess you can put lipstick on a pig.”

Shelby had not cared because she was
so proud of herself. Bringing her mind to the present, Shelby
looked at her watch and her knee started to bounce uncontrollably.
She had fifteen minutes to get to the Country Club. She could not
be late. If there was one thing her mother hated, it was someone
being late and Shelby had a habit of being late…a lot. Just as she
was about to go ahead and go alone, her doorbell rang. “Oh thank
God.” Shelby thought as she raced to the door. When she opened the
door, Logan took her breath away. He was wearing a three piece navy
blue suit with a white button down shirt and a yellow silk tie.
“God, I want to sit on your face right now,” Shelby thought.
Thinking of the position that Cassidy had told her about this
morning. She could feel that she was blushing so she stepped back
and let him in. He was holding a bouquet of Gardenias, her favorite
flower.

“
I didn’t think you were
going to come. I tried calling you all day.” Shelby said to him as
he walked into her foyer, handing the flowers to her. She took them
and mumbled a ‘thank you’ to him as she walked toward the kitchen
to get a vase.

“
I wasn’t going to come,”
Logan said, leaning against her island crossing his legs at the
ankle and his big arms across his chest. God, this man was going to
turn her into a harlot! Whenever she was in his presence, all she
could think of was sex, sex and more sex with him.