Trouble When You Walked In (Contemporary Romance) (40 page)
Read Trouble When You Walked In (Contemporary Romance) Online
Authors: Kieran Kramer
Tags: #Contemporary, #Romance, #Fiction, #Player, #Business, #Library, #Librarian, #North Carolina, #Mayor, #Stud, #Coach, #Athlete, #Rivalry, #Attraction, #Team, #Storybook, #Slogan, #Legend, #Battle, #Winner, #Relationship, #Time
Edwina snorted like a pig at that, which made everyone else laugh, too.
Mrs. Hattlebury, reeking of cigar smoke, wandered in. Cissie suspected she’d already been drinking from the colonel’s flask. “Scotty wants his pie,” she said. “And we have some interesting visitors.”
Cissie grabbed the wedge of Starla’s pie she’d set aside, added a fork to the plate, and handed it to her. “Who are the visitors?”
“They’re on the porch with Nana.” Mrs. Hattlebury was in full Elvis Presley beach-bunny mode. “She won’t let them inside until they smoke a cigar with her.”
“Who
is
it?” Edwina asked shrilly, her sharp bob swinging.
“I’m not gonna tell.” Mrs. Hattlebury disappeared with the pie, weaving just a tad.
“Maybe not having TV news accounts anymore—or old documents—about the goings-on in Kettle Knob is a good thing,” Janelle said. “Not everyone’s gonna be a hero. Most of us are just
folks
.”
“We still have Edwina,” said Laurie, and sent the
Bugler
editor the evil eye.
“I
know
,” Edwina said. “The reporter in me is off duty tonight. Okay? Gawd!”
But Cissie was thoroughly charmed by what Janelle had said. There was hope for the woman yet. “We
are
just folks,” she said, and felt a little teary. Because she knew exactly who her special guests were.
She felt it in her bones.
She walked out on the porch and saw him—Boone sitting in a rocker, his parents doing the same. They were smoking cigars and drinking bourbon with Nana—even Mrs. Braddock, who inhaled shyly on her cigar and then coughed. Mr. Braddock patted her back.
“Good news, baby,” said Nana to Cissie. “Our erstwhile ancestors kept separate copies of a lot of the town history at home. Your father reminded me of several secret drawers in the secretary in the library.”
“Are you making this up?” Cissie asked her dad. “We have secret drawers?”
“It was standard practice in the old days,” her father said, “and ours are packed with historic papers: legit journal entries, a few poems. You weren’t supposed to know until I was on my deathbed.”
“This is so Southern,” said Mother, fanning herself with a cocktail napkin.
The librarian in Cissie was verklempt at the news. “Thank you, erstwhile ancestors,” she whispered, hoping they could hear her from their writing desks in the sky.
Nana chuckled. “Tell her what I just found out about you, Boone.”
His gorgeous brown eyes met Cissie’s. “Thanks to a party my mother swore she couldn’t miss, I was born right over the border in Tennessee. Two weeks early.”
“So you’re not a Kettle Knob native?” Cissie sat on his lap and put her arm around his shoulders.
“No. What’s the big deal?”
“Nothin’,” she said, the Southern coming out in her strong and sweet. “Nothin’ at all. Good speech you gave tonight. And great win, too.”
“Thanks. I love you, Mayor Rogers.”
“I love you, too, Coach.”
“I’m sorry about the library. But we’ll fix it together.”
“I know we will,” she said.
They shared a long kiss, and Cissie didn’t even care that everyone was watching. Or that she hated cigars.
“Marry me,” Boone whispered huskily. In his hands he held some pink Gerbera daisies—her favorite!—wrapped in a paper towel. “I’ve already asked your dad’s permission.”
Her parents sat on the porch railing, eyeing her with such love that tears came to her eyes.
“I’d love to marry you,” Cissie whispered back, and took her flowers. They hadn’t come to her desk in the library, but someday, there would be a new library, and Boone would bring her Gerbera daisies there. She just knew it.
They kissed again, two ordinary folk among the many in Kettle Knob who messed up, cheered one another on, danced at dive bars, kicked leaves, went whitewater rafting, read good books, and ate casseroles—who played tag football, made love in sheds, cabins, and hot tubs, and slept the sleep of the exhausted because they worked hard and played hard, most of them.
And they were glad to be alive.
Cissie and Boone exchanged a jubilant smile.
“Rule number one,” announced Nana, a halo of smoke around her head.
“And they lived happily ever after.”
USA Today
bestselling author
Kieran Kramer
is a former CIA employee, journalist, and English teacher who lives in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with her family. Game show veteran, karaoke enthusiast, and general adventurer, her motto is, “Life rewards action.” Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and at
www.kierankramerbooks.com
. Or stay connected to Kieran on-the-go with her FREE mobile app available for iPhone and Android devices! You can sign up for email updates
here
.
ALSO BY
KIERAN KRAMER
T
HE
H
OUSE OF
B
RADY SERIES
T
HE
I
MPOSSIBLE
B
ACHELOR SERIES
Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right
Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage
Praise for these other novels of delightful contemporary romance by
USA Today
bestselling author
Kieran Kramer
YOU’RE SO FINE
“
Kieran Kramer
writes a sexy, sassy Southern romance with heart.”
—Jill Shalvis,
New York Times
bestselling author
“Kramer dishes up another delightful contemporary romance that is deftly seasoned with sassy Southern wit, snappy dialogue, and plenty of smoldering sexual chemistry. Readers who fell in love with Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s
Dream a Little Dream
(1998) or
Ain’t She Sweet?
(2004) will definitely want to add Kramer’s latest sexy, sparkling, spot-on love story to their reading lists.”
—
Booklist
“Filled with smart, believable characters and fresh, witty storytelling. A sexy, poignant romance wrapped in Southern charm and lightly accented with Hollywood glamour.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“A superbly written, powerful, and touching book.”
—
Fresh Fiction
SWEET TALK ME
“The perfect combination of good-natured sass, sultry sexual tension, and hint of Southern crazy. I loved this book.”
—Tracy Brogan, author of
Crazy Little Thing
“A sweetly sexy love story that is everything a romance should be … a knockout!”
—
Booklist
(starred review)
“The banter between these characters was fun to read and I loved the tension that flowed between them … a great read to lose yourself in for a few hours.”
—
Night Owl Reviews
(Top Pick)
“Readers who enjoy works by Nora Roberts and Luanne Rice will want to give Kramer a try. This reviewer predicts that the beaches this summer will be covered with copies of
Sweet Talk Me
.”
—
Library Journal
(starred review)
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