Read Waking Up in Charleston for Free Online

her cheeks, but she didn’t blink or look away. “Bet you can’t,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
    Caleb once again admired her willingness not to turn away from something that so clearly scared her. He could have let the whole thing die right there, satisfied with the response he’d managed to stir in her, but he, too, was feeling just a little bit reckless and daring tonight.
    With her steady gaze still even with his, he leaned slowly down and brushed a daring first kiss across her lips. When he pulled away, she looked shaken, but undaunted.
    “You think that will change my mind?” she scoffed. “We’re talking a banana split here.”
    He grinned. “ That might not change your mind,” he agreed. “But how about if I tell you that if you don’t share, there’s a whole lot more where that kiss came from.”
    She faltered for just a second, then chuckled. “You know, for a minister, you certainly know how to play dirty.”
    “It would be wise, Amanda, if you’d remember that when it gets right down to it, I’m a minister, not a saint. Trust me, there’s a difference.”
    “Yes, I’m beginning to get that.”
    Oddly enough, it didn’t seem to scare her half as much as he’d expected it to.
    And that gave him unexpected hope for the future.

3
    M ary Louise had worked a double shift at the Stop and Shop and her feet were killing her. She was determined, though, to show Danny that she was willing to make good on her word to earn all the money they would need to get by once they were married.
    “Is Danny coming home again this weekend?” Willie Ron asked as she closed out for the evening and he prepared to take over.
    Willie Ron Dupree was only twenty-six, but he had been working the graveyard shift for ten years to help support his disabled mother. He never talked about whatever hopes and dreams he’d had before his mother’s illness had made her unable to work. If he’d had to give up college or anything, Mary Louise had never heard him complain about it.
    Willie Ron was one of the nicest guys she’d ever known, always willing to come in early if she needed to take off, always ready to listen when she had a problem. And he always asked about Danny. She wondered what he’d have to say if he knew about her pregnancy, if it would make him think less of her, or of Danny, for that matter.
    “Hey,” Willie Ron said, concern in his voice. “You okay? I asked about Danny and for once you didn’t launch into a full-scale recitation of all the guy’s good points.”
    Mary Louise shrugged. “Guess my mind wandered,” she said. “He should be here any minute. He was driving over from Clemson after his last class today. He promised he’d be here in time to pick me up after my shift.”
    “Girl, you got that boy wrapped around your finger,” Willie Ron teased, his smile showing off a row of glistening white teeth. “No woman’s ever going to tie me up in knots like that.”
    “Just wait till the right one comes along,” she goaded him. “You’ll treat her like a queen, the same way you do your mama.”
    “My mama’s raised eight of us, and done a good job of it,” Willie Ron said, his expression turning serious. “She deserves being spoiled. Haven’t met anyone yet who’s her equal. Even when she was laid low by a bad heart, my mama kept her spirits up. She raised all of us to count our blessings and not be crying over things we can’t fix.”
    “You’ll find someone just like her someday,” Mary Louise told him. “I know for a fact that Li’l Bit Gaines comes in here just to see you.”
    If it was possible for a black man to blush, Willie Ron’s cheeks would have been flaming. “Li’l Bit just likes her nightly candy fix. She comes in here for a Snickers bar. Got nothin’ to do with me.”
    “Yeah, right,” Mary Louise responded. “I know better. How many people rush out to indulge a chocolate craving after eleven o’clock at night?”
    Willie Ron frowned.