My phone dinged and I checked the text message. “Oh no! I was meeting Tammy here, but she just canceled.”
Figured.
And now I was stuck here with Charlie in a half-empty bar. Great, just great.
“I can keep you company,” he suggested with a wink.
“You planned this, didn’t you?” I joked playfully. “Are you and Tammy in cahoots?”
“Cahoots?” he said with a chuckle. “Why ma’am, that’s mighty contrary of ya to go ‘sumin’ things ‘bout folks,” he teased in a Southern drawl.
“Did you promise her, like, 10,000 bucks to cancel?”
“You’re funny,” he replied. But it wasn’t very convincing, and I smacked his arm until he laughed and held up his hands in defense. “I didn’t, swear it.”
I settled back with a huff and didn’t say anything.
He smiled. “I know you haven’t accepted my wedding proposal yet, but I’m not going to give up. I’ve already won Max’s heart, and I’ll win yours too.”
“Max? So you two grew up to be swingers, eh?” asked Eddie the bartender as he set my beer down on the bar.
“Max is a pit bull, Eddie,” I corrected. “He’s my newest addition to the family, just a puppy.”
“The family?” Charlie asked, confused.
“I take it you have told ol’ Charlie here about the other three fur balls,” Eddie said.
Charlie looked at me and set his beer down slowly. “You have four dogs?”
I nodded enthusiastically and brought up pics on my cell for him to see. “Yep, and I think...” I started, then paused and bit my lip.
“You think what?”
“We’d all love to move into your lovely home, if you’ll have us,” I finally said.
The expression on his face was priceless.
“Hmm. Are they all as little as Max?” he asked.
“Uh-uh,” I said, blushing and shaking my head. “I’ve got a German shepherd, a golden retriever, and a yellow lab too.”
“So you come with a little baggage,” he joked.
“A little baggage?” Eddie interjected. “Pal, this one comes with a whole damn zoo!”
“That’s not a problem. I can handle four dogs, I think.”
“Just a warning. Max loves to chew shoes, and Oreo loves to shed all over the place.”
He tapped his fingers on his leg, face growing serious before it broke out in a bright grin. “My marriage proposal still stands. Maybe I’ll balance it out with four cats.”
Eddie peered at me. “Hold up. Are you talking a wedding proposal?”
I grinned. “Yeah, our Charlie here proposed to me.”
Eddie scowled at Charlie and crossed his arms over his chest. “Really? I don’t see a ring on that finger of yours. Hell, a girl as special as you should have at least two carats on her hand. What’s the deal with that?”
I frowned. “He proposed without one. It was horrible.”