Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Bonny

I lean my cheek on my hand and drift into another daydream. This one is about the hot optometrist down the street. God, I wish a man like that would be interested in me. I mean I understand why someone like Grayson Weston wouldn't even look twice at me. I'm na?ve, I'm shy, I'm… not at all like the woman who came to get him when he was waiting for the drops to work on Tandy.

She was beautiful and didn't have crazy red hair like mine that does whatever it wants because it has a mind of its own. I wondered if they had gone to an empty room to have an afternoon love-making session. He looked kind of rumpled or out of sorts when he came back in, but it must have been over really quick because it wasn't five minutes and he was back in the room with us again.

He's not the right man for me anyway. I mean I'm not going to stop daydreaming about him, but half the town wants to be with him. There is no hope for someone like me when all the other pretty girls are already in line ahead of me. And the last thing I want is to end up just like every other woman. It's not even that I wouldn't be his first or last. It would be the fact that I would fall in love and have to hear about all those other women after me who have their first times with him. No, something like that would kill me.

"Why are you back here moping around?" Candy makes me jump like I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

"I'm not moping, just dreaming." I give her a big smile and when she comes closer, I reach out and hug her. I'm a hugger. Some people can't stand it, but thankfully I have wonderful friends that love it.

"And who might you be dreaming about?"

I lose the smile. Oh Lord, can she tell? If this crush ever came to light, I don't know what I would do. Well, I do. I would most likely die.

"I just figured with that sweet smile a man must be at the center of it. Is it the guy I introduced you to the other day?"

"Storm? Oh goodness no! He's yours." Now it's her turn to lose her smile.

I have known Storm for some time now. He's older than me and does a lot of good things for the community. This is a small enough town that everybody really does know everyone, but it never crossed my mind to even think romantically about him. And after I saw him with Candy there's no way I'm stepping in the way of that. That man is already halfway in love with her if not all the way. It's Candy that seems to be running from the inevitable.

What would it be like to have someone look at me like that? Would I be scared like Candy, or would I grab it with both hands? I really like to think I would grab it and hold on, but who can tell until it happens? Getting caught by Candy refocuses me enough to have me firmly put any ideas about the new doctor out of my head. I shouldn't be in the back wasting time while my friends are out front busting their butts to get this dream of ours up and running.

It's not until a couple of days go by that I realize how far gone I already am. I come through the back and hear Lolly laughing. Her laugh makes my own face burst into a happy grin. She is just a beam of sunshine that lights everyone's day up. But the smile melts from my face when I hear the voice of the person she's laughing with.

"That's when I get off so, it works out great. I guess I'll see you then, Lilly."

It's Grayson.

And I'm pretty sure he's flirting with her. He is the reason Lolly gave one of her musical laughs. It sounds like he just made a date with her today after work too.

Well, shoot! I was so hoping… no, it doesn't matter what I was hoping, and it was stupid to even dream about someone like him. I knew that. I just didn't listen to myself. Considering my shyness it's probably for the best. Even if I worked up enough nerve to ask him out, I wouldn't be able to keep him…or know what to do with him while I had him.

I know practically nothing about sex - or being sexy for that matter. I make candy for goodness' sake. I hang out with my sister… for fun. I know more about kids' cartoons than I do about seduction and how to use my body to make a man stay with me.

I pour myself into the work for the day and don't say a word to Lolly about her date. There is absolutely no way I am going to stand in her way. This could be her happy ever after. The thought of being a bride's maid for my best friend who happens to be marrying the man I was crushing over and might have had a few dreams about just depresses me.

Not wanting to bring anyone else down, I tell Candy I have to watch my sister for the evening, and I take the hell off. I want Lolly to have every happiness, but I don't think I can be witness to their romance starting. And I definitely don't want to watch him kiss Lolly - or anybody really. I just have to take a few days to purge all the stupid daydreams out of my system and then I will be alright. Just a few days of exorcising the thought of him from my mind.