“Oh, that? I was telling them…that I was here to pick up my
pretty lady friend,” he said after a little hesitation.
Spurs and Heels
61
“Oh?” He opened the door of the truck and helped her onto the
seat. After he climbed in, he turned to her.
“Bitable?”
She snickered. “Oh, yeah. It’s very nice.”
“Ouch,” he said as he started the truck.
“Mmmm, yummy.”
“Not to change the, uh—subject. But I was hoping to have supper
with you tonight, if you have the energy, that is. Would you like to go
back to your house and see about that bandage on your back first?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind, Ash. I’ve been worried about it getting
infected since I got it wet this morning.”
They returned to her house, and after removing her top and
wrapping up in a towel, Juliana allowed him to peel back the dressing
and take a look.
“Darlin’, it looks fine, not inflamed or puffy around the stitches
like it would be if it was getting infected. Those lacerations looked
pretty deep last night. I’m not surprised that it hurts like hell. But all
things considered, it looks like it’s healing fine.” He put a fresh
dressing on it while she sat on the bed.
“Oh, shoot!” Juliana groaned and pointed to her closet door where
a long, red dress hung on a hanger. “I was going to wear that to the
wedding Saturday.”
“Now you can’t?”
“It’s a backless halter dress. The bandage will show.”
“Look at it this way, if you wear the dress, you won’t have
anything pressing on the stitches.” He went over to inspect the dress
and whistled softly as he lifted it from the door. It had an empire waist
with a plunging V-necked halter. His fingertip slid down the neckline.
“I hope you wear it anyway, darlin’. You would look gorgeous.”
His emphasis on the last word sent a thrill through her body that
centered in her damp cunt. The fact that she was clad in only a towel
added to her sense of vulnerability.
62
Heather Rainier
She smiled at him, feeling like she might just do that. “You think
so?”
“You would be beautiful in it,” he replied, looking back at her.
She had a feeling he might have said more but thought better of it.
“Wear it for me?”
“I’ll try and find flesh-colored bandages tomorrow. It will look
funny if I wear it with white tape and a gauze dressing. The bandage
is so big. You don’t think it will look terrible?”
“No, everybody will be too busy admiring your pretty face and
your blue eyes to even notice.”
“Sweet talker. Still want to take me out to eat?” she asked, feeling
a little better now that she was sure it wasn’t getting infected. The
pain reliever must have also kicked in because it hadn’t twinged in a
while.
“Sure, if you feel up to it. How does your wrist feel?”
“It ached a little this morning, but it feels fine now. If only I could
keep from clunking myself in the head with it,” she said with a
chuckle, remembering thumping herself in the forehead as she
brushed her hair away from her face several times during the day
* * * *
Juliana and Ash were seated at a quiet corner table at O’Reilley’s
and enjoyed their meal and talked for a while. Juliana noticed that
Ash had impeccable table manners.
Ash brought up the hours she worked and her need to take time
off to heal in the short term, but also for pursuits that were not work
related in the long term. It made her uncomfortable, and knowing how
thin their staff was spread at Stigall’s, she couldn’t think about taking
time off from her current schedule. Out of the goodness of their
hearts, Evelyn and Leah were making her time off tonight possible,
but this could not become a regular occurrence.
Spurs and Heels
63
“I hate to see you so invested in a store that you don’t even own or
co-own. You’re in a position of authority, but ultimately you answer
to Mr. Woodworth, right? It’s because of him and his policies that
you’re spread so thin, all of you that work there.”
“He wants to implement some of the strategies Leah has been
suggesting. I told him we would give some of them a try. Things will
get back to normal once she’s done with her experiments.”
“What if the bottom line shows improvements initially and he
gives her leave to make other changes? What if the changes directly
affect you?”
Juliana was becoming a little irked at Ash for pushing so hard at
this sore subject. Part of her knew he pressed because he cared about