"She definitely said she was coming?"

Donnie knew he sounded like a chick but he couldn't help it. Kaylie was being nice enough not to mention it, though he had seen her hiding a smile the fourth or fifth time he'd asked.

"Yes. Well, she said she'd probably stop by. I don't think she goes out much."

He frowned. Why was that? She certainly wouldn't have trouble finding a date. Even with her dowdy clothes and lack of makeup, she was a very, very pretty girl.

"What does she do when she's not working?"

Kaylie shrugged.

"I'm not sure really. She works a lot of shifts. I know she likes to reads a lot of books too."

"Books?"

"Yeah, they are these pieces of paper with words on them, all stuck together."

Jack and Janet laughed from their perch on the picnic bench nearby. Great. He had been hoping no one had heard that. Those two always seemed to be in their own world these days.

"That's it?"

"Yeah. Sally doesn't really talk about herself too much. Oh, I know! She said she wanted to get a dog."

Now Donnie rolled his eyes. She wasn't giving him much to go on. It didn't really matter anyway. He wanted her.

In fact, he couldn't remember wanting a woman this badly ever before in his life.

So, he was going to have her.

In his mind, it was more or less a foregone conclusion that little Miss Sally Adams was going to be in his bed. Soon. Not one woman on God’s green earth had ever been able to resist him yet.

Usually, he didn't even have to do anything. Well, he did have this one move he used a lot. Not a move so much as a smile. He'd turn on the charm, flash the pearly whites and BAM, the panties came off.

He'd brushed his teeth twice this morning just to make sure they sparkled.

"She's here."

He straightened up and looked toward the clubhouse entrance. The entire parking lot had been turned into an area for cooking and eating. And of course, drinking. A lot of people were drunk already.

He felt like the air got sucked out of his lungs when he saw her. She looked… different out of her uniform. Beautiful really. And nervous. Very, very nervous.

No wonder, with all the drunk people horsing around. A nice girl like her wouldn’t want to be around all that. He made a beeline right for her, his protective instincts on high alert.

She was wearing an open button down shirt over a tank top and tight jeans. Her beautiful blond hair was down, tumbling like spun gold over her shoulders.

Spun gold? Who the hell was he?

But it was true. Sally wasn’t just pretty. She was beautiful.

Donnie told himself to get it together or he was going to make an ass of himself. No- even more of an ass of himself. He decided he'd be friendly but he wouldn't hang all over her. He'd let her come to him.

As he got closer he saw the lacy little soft pink camisole she was wearing. His mouth dried up as he stood over her and stared down her shirt. A deep cavern of golden skin between two glorious globes.

He didn't mean to, but he was tall and she was a tiny little thing. Well, not all of her was tiny.

Jesus, what a rack!

He couldn't look away for a minute. The tops of her luscious mounds were visible from up here in a way that made his body react instantaneously. A man could get lost in there. He had never seen anything so sensual in his life.

His mouth was dry from just looking at her. Shy little Sally and her lacy underthings.

Damn.

She stared up at him, startled. He realized he was standing there like a dolt. So he smiled. Nope, that didn’t work.

She looked even more alarmed if that was possible.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Come on, Kaylie's over here."

She smiled at him nervously so he took charge. He lifted her arm and laid it gently over his. Then he started shouldering people out of the way.

A strange feeling came over him as guys turned to stare at her. She was like a fresh rose in a sea of dandelions. He felt possessive.

She was his rose dammit. Or she would be. He hoped.

He glared at anyone who even glanced at Sally, not just the guys with their tongues hanging out of their mouths. And then he glared more when he saw that Kaylie, Janet and Jack were all laughing at him.

Every single one of them.

He was used to being funny. He was not used to being the butt of the joke.

At least Devlin was out on an errand. He was picking up the fancy mustard Kaylie liked. Devlin would understand. He wouldn't make fun of him for this ridiculous crush.

That's all it was. A crush. Right?

The girls greeted Sally warmly and pulled her up onto the picnic table between them. He felt ridiculous, standing there and watching her, not sure what to say.

He never had a problem knowing what to say. At least the view was nice. He realized she didn’t have a drink and sprung into action.

"So, do you want a beer?"

She nodded shyly and he smiled, feeling much more at ease. A beer. He could get her a beer.