Free Better Late Than Never by Stephanie Morris

profanity slip. This was the guy he wanted to be his next deputy. He was showing Eric around the town to show him what he would be getting himself into. He turned to look in the direction Eric was looking in, and he grinned when he saw the Smith Triplets, although he felt like he had been punched in the gut when he got a full look at Kristen. She was sexy as hell. Even though it had been less than twenty-four hours since he last saw her, he missed her. She said that she needed time, but it didn’t mean that he should sit around until she made up her mind. Like his mother stated, he needed to provide her with extra motivation. Not being able to resist, he took the last swig of his coffee and sat the cup down. He pulled out his wallet and placed a few bills on the table. It was enough to cover his and Eric’s food plus a nice tip. He stood up.
     
    “I will introduce you.”
     
    Eric grinned. “Well, if you insist.”
     
    Randy shook his head. He liked the guy and could see him fitting in well in Baxley.
     
    He headed over to a table where the trio was sitting, with Eric following right behind him. Kristen was sitting facing him. When she saw him, a look of shock crossed her face. She cleared the expression but not fast enough for him not to see it. He smiled. Kristen was more affected by him than she wanted to admit. When he reached the table, he noticed Kayla was busy studying her menu and Keirra was digging around in her purse.
     
    “Good evening, ladies. Do you mind if we join you?”
     
    Kristen hesitated briefly before sliding over to make room for him. He grinned at Keirra when she looked up from the menu, and she froze. Not being a stranger to sexual attraction, he could tell Keirra was attracted to Eric as well. He chuckled under his breath when Kayla nudged Keirra to encourage her to move over. He watched Keirra regain her composure then slide over. He gave the introductions after Eric sat down.
     
    “This is Eric Brooks, a candidate for the vacant deputy position.”
     
    His eyes widened when Keirra began to choke on a sip of soda. She turned and gave him a hard look. He looked at Kayla, who gave a quick shake of her head. He looked back at Keirra, who was still glaring at him. He sighed, looking over at Kristen. Her attention had been directed to the menu in front of her. He smiled when he saw the slight tremor in her hand. Pursuing Kristen might be more fun than he thought it would be.
     

Chapter Six
     
    “What do you want to eat?”
     
    Kristen glanced at the menu before looking up at Randy. “I will take the chicken marinara.”
     
    Randy nodded. “Anything else?”
     
    She shook her head, and when their waiter came up to the table, he placed their order. It was their first official date. So far, everything was going okay.
     
    She had been shocked when he sent a large bouquet of orchids to the day care with an apology for having to cancel their dinner plans for the night and asking her to join him another night. Gerri and Zebbie had teased her, telling her that she would be crazy to turn down the invitation. She let the two of them worry when she pretended to ponder the invitation she already planned to accept before putting them out of their misery, and she called Randy to accept his invite to join him for dinner. She could no longer fight her attraction to him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to.
     
    It ended up being a forty-eight hour rain check, and now as she sat across from him, she was glad she had the opportunity to see him this week. Even though it was only Wednesday, she knew he had conducted quite a few interviews. He looked tired, and she reached across the table and touched his hand. She was deeply moved that he no longer wanted to put the date off but not at the expense of his rest.
     
    “We can take the food to go if you want to.”
     
    He smiled and shook his head. “No, I have always enjoyed taking you out, and I have been looking forward to this. It won’t kill me to