Where Love Finds You

Chapter 6

Copyright © 2020 Sara R Stewart

All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

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My god, she is beautiful. And sexy as hell in that cream-colored top and green skirt. Her hair is a vibrant shade of red that shines and draws attention from men throughout the room. Putting down my drink I quickly get up and walk towards her. I don't want anyone else to get the idea she is available; it has taken me this long just to get her to go out with me and I'm not willing to take any chances. I smile as I approach her and notice she has a guarded smile.

"Hey, Sailor."

"Hey, yourself," she says and looks up at me.

"You look incredible," I say and before I realize what I'm even doing I bend down and place a light kiss on her lips. I hadn't intended to do that and am surprised a bit by my own reaction. Sailor is compelling, and I suppose if I'm honest with myself I also want to stake my claim on her in front of the rest of the men in the room.

"Thank you," she says. Not seeming put off in the slightest by my forwardness.

Placing my hand on her lower back, I propel us towards the hostess stand and ask for the table I reserved earlier. When the hostess hears my name, she looks up with wide eyes and promptly escorts us to our table with the normal platitudes. My family has been coming here for some time and are quite well known. I'm not surprised when we are seated a table right in the window with the best view of Mt. Hood in the dining room.

"It's beautiful here!"

"It certainly is," I reply while keeping my eyes on Sailor, making it clear I am not talking about the view. Noticing my attention, color rise in her cheeks again and she looks away.

"Thank you so much for having dinner with me. I'm not sure what I did the first time to make you leave so quickly, but if you tell me I promise to not make that mistake again."

Sailor considers me, takes a sip of her water and then after what looks like a breath of resolve she says, "I seriously doubt that is possible."

"Why, what did I do?"

Blushing, but holding my gaze she replies, "I realized I was very attracted to you."

"Why did that make you run?" I probe, astonished by her candor.

"I don't like my feelings to make decisions for me," she replies. Sailor looks towards the window for a minute, breaking the intensity of the conversation and conveying she doesn't want to continue down this path any further. I'm surprised by her honestly.

I'm still contemplating her answer when the server approaches and asks for our drink order. After a brief consultation, we send him away with our order for a bottle of wine and it seems the tension of the previous topic returns all too quickly.

"Look..." I place my hand over hers on the table. "Let's bring down the intensity a little, get to know each other a bit over dinner and see what happens. You cannot very well make decisions about what is going to happen between us without giving us a chance to get to know each other first, can you?" I ask.

"Okay," she says.

"Thank you. How was your week?"

"Good, the flowers are beautiful. Thank you."