Page 45 of The County Fair Queen

He grabbed my hand and squeezed. "I think pre-dawn Phillip's a pretty great guy."

I huffed out a stream of hot air. "I guess pre-dawn Jordy isn't so bad, either." I gave him a quick nod, and then I was on my way upstairs. Twenty minutes later, I descended the stairs, ready to greet whatever the day had planned for me with a scoff and ascowl. When I caught sight of Rivers, I had to do a double take. I didn't know how he did it. In less than two hours, he'd spruced himself up from the roguish vagabond who'd banged on my door like a pre-dawn maniac, into a more roguish, less vagabondish morning snack. He wore a pair of tight gray slacks with a baby blue button-down shirt that clung to him in all the right places.

Rivers was sitting in the same spot on the sofa he had been when I visually assaulted his mountainous bulge earlier that morning. Beside him, my father sat stoically, his hands clasped in his lap, staring at the wall as if he wanted to strike it down with nothing more than brute, brawn, and his bare fists. Across from them, on the loveseat, Jordan sat scowling at Rivers. The source of Jordan's upset, surprisingly enough, seemed to be Rivers. Apparently, he'd made the grave miscalculation of how close he should sit to my father on the sofa. I didn't know when Jordan's ridiculous, borderline problematic infatuation with Preston had gotten so strong, but we'd need to have a talk soon. The man was almost double his age, after all.

"For Christ's sake," I muttered, passing Jordan and wedging myself between Rivers and Preston. "Just piss on him and call it a day." I arched an eyebrow at my father. “Why are you here? I thought you were supposed to be out of here by 6:30?”

Preston eyed Rivers. “I ain’t leaving a stranger alone in my house. Lurlene might trust him, but I don’t.”

"Hey there, Firecracker," Rivers greeted, far too cheerfully for seven in the morning, and far too calmly after my father essentially just called him a burglar.

"Rivers," I said, giving him a polite, but mostly reserved, nod. "So, what's on the agenda?"

"I figured we could have a breakfast picnic in the square before getting fitted for our outfits."

"Outfits?"

"For the Muscadine King and Queen crowning. Didn't you get the email I sent?"

I turned and glared at Jordan, who was too busy staring longingly at my father to pay me the slightest bit of attention. "Earth to Jordy," I called, snapping my fingers. "What the hell is he talking about?"

Jordan reluctantly tore his gaze away from Preston. "Sorry. I thought I forwarded it to you. He said he wanted to take you somewhere called…" He pulled his tablet into his lap and clicked and clacked at the screen until he found the email. Staring at the screen as if the words on it offended him to his core, he dry-retched. "Dear God. He wants to take you somewhere called A Touch of Taint."

Rivers snickered. "It's actually A Touch of Taunte. Fernando Taunte. You remember him, don't you, Firecracker?"

"Was he the exchange student they caught snorting rat poison in the locker room?"

"The one and only. After he graduated, he got a job down at Tommy's Tuxedos. Worked with Tommy for ten years before he died. It was a real shame what happened," he said. "Tommy and Fernando got married a few weeks after me and Sabrina. We were groomsmen in each other's weddings. I figured maybe we could head down there and get us a pair of matching tuxedos. Thought it would be nice to celebrate in style."

I nudged him with my shoulder. "You're just trying to sneak a peek at me in the changing room."

He nudged me back. "Maybe."

"As fun as that sounds, I've already got my tux. It's a bit tighter around the middle than it used to be, though. Should probably start starving myself now. God knows all these waffles aren't helping."

"I think you look great." His eyes dipped to my midsection, and he reached for me, resting his hand against my hip. "I alwaysthought you looked great. You don't need to change a thing." Then, even though there were no cameras present to capture the moment, I took the compliment. Try as I might, he'd been wearing away the walls I'd erected to keep him out. He was like a termite, gnawing through my insides until I was structurally unsound. He reached for me, his hand resting on my love handle, giving me a gentle stroke with his thumb. "I mean it. Don't change. You're beautiful just as you are." He offered me a quick, insistent nod before sliding his hand around my hip and tugging me toward his side.

I blinked at him. What the hell wasthatlittle admission about? There were no cameras in sight. There wasn't a single member of production waiting in the shadows to capture the moment. Just me, Rivers, and a compliment grand enough to bring me to my knees.

"What?" I asked.

"I think you're beautiful."

"You do?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"I just…" I blinked at him a few times, trying to find my words. Any words.Aword. Hell, I would have settled for a syllable.

Jordan leaned in and grabbed my knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It's been a while since he's heard that from someone other than me. You should probably give him a second to process." I was going to set Jordan Miller on fire. I hadn't planned on committing arson when I woke up that morning, but there we were.

"Is that true?" Rivers asked. His finger found my chin, and he used it to tug my face in his direction. "Maybe if I tell you enough, it might just stick." He slapped his thigh and stood, holding a hand out for me. "You ready, beautiful?"

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

Once we were in his truck, Rivers stared at me with a curious expression. I'd already fastened myself in and was using the mirror on his visor to make sure I was camera ready for when we finally made it to the town square. I wasn't sure if he could tell my hands were shaking, but I said a silent prayer to the universe that my tiny tremors went unnoticed.

"Firecracker?"

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