Eleven by Karen Rodgers Read Free Book Online

Sister—missed everything about you. I’ll see
you about 10:00 tomorrow morning.” He chuckled as he said, “Do me a
favor. Wear something boring.”
    I complied with his request. I wore a
simple, fitted white t-shirt tucked into my most well-worn pair of
Cruel Girl jeans. They were cinched with a brown Fossil belt that
had a blingy rhinestone and silver buckle, and of course, my brown
Corral boots. I pulled my long brown curls back into a high
ponytail and put on my silver concho earrings.
    He arrived at 10:00 o’clock, right on
the spot. I heard a knock at the door just as I was carrying my
overnight bag from the bedroom into the living room.
    Opening the door, I invited him inside.
I practically jumped at him to give him a big hug around his neck.
I had really missed the guy.
    He grinned as he removed his Ray Ban
Aviators; looked me up and down and said, “Damn, girl! I thought I
told you to wear something boring.”
    I smirked at his comment, put my hands
on my hips and replied, “Well I did the best I could.”
    “ I think you could probably
manage to make a gunny sack look good,” he said shaking his
head.
    “ C’mon, let’s blow this
town, Mister!” I winked at him and bent over to grab the handle of
my bag.
    He beat me to it and said, “Allow me.
Let’s go, sugar britches!”
    I started out the door and he gave my
behind a stinging swat. I turned around to see him flashing a
rather wicked grin. This was going to be a fun weekend!
    I had found a worthy opponent in regard
to his style of banter. He was playful and flirtatious, without
being crude.
    Once again, he opened the door for me.
I looked in the back seat and realized he had already been to the
grocery store to pick up supplies for the weekend. As he got into
the driver’s seat, he reached into the floorboard behind my
seat.
    “ These reminded me of you.”
He expressed as he offered me a beautiful bouquet of
tulips.
    He totally caught me off guard as I
gushed, “Oh, my! They’re beautiful. Thank you, really; thank you so
much.”
    “ I was gonna get you roses,
but the lady at the flower shop said something about tulips that I
liked. She said they symbolized a lover’s heart that’s on fire with
passion. That’s why they made me think of you. Besides, they didn’t
have any leopard print flowers,” he said as he winked at
me.
    He leaned over and gave me a quick peck
on the lips and said, “Enough of that business. If I ever get to
kissin’ you, I’ll have a hard time stopping.”
    So we headed out of town. His ranch was
about an hour’s drive from the city. During the drive, he
reminisced about growing up on the ranch. He was touched when I
told him about the memories I had of his family from when I was a
young girl. He remembered most of my family as well. From what we
could surmise, our families had known each other all the way back
to our great-grandparents.
    In fact, we decided it might be best
not to climb too far up our family tree. We were astonished how
many commonalities we shared. We were afraid if we went too far
back, we might discover we were actually related.
    There was solace in knowing who and
where we had come from. It made me wonder what our ancestors
would’ve thought about us ending up together. We would’ve had their
blessing, no doubt.
    I kept the tulips in my lap the entire
way. Occasionally, I would lift them up to breathe in their sweet,
delicate fragrance. They were such a lovely gesture from such a
wonderful man. He was melting my heart and already spoiling me for
any other man.
    I took great pleasure in watching him
as he drove. While he looked off into the distance of the road
ahead, it gave me the chance to study him. Everything about him
tugged at me. Even his profile was splendid. The morning sun
shining in through the window created a sort of haze around him.
The hair of his moustache looked so soft. The way it curved down
around the corners of his soft, full lips was so attractive. I
loved the