Through The Grapevine: A BWWM Romance Read Online Free PDF

me where you want to meet me, and when, and I'll be there!" she said, sounding enthusiastic suddenly. It surprised him, but he was enormously relieved to hear it.
     
    "How about Bee's cafe? As soon as you're free," he said with a little less tension in his voice. He felt like he was getting somewhere, and it eased his mind a bit.
     
    "I can meet you there in an hour." 
     
    "Wonderful! I'll see you there, then." He thanked her and hung up. Colby rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath. He was going to get to the bottom of this mystery somehow, and then he would have some piece of mind.
     
    On the other end of the line, Shannon hung up and squealed with excitement, clapping her hands together in joy. She didn't even care that he was meeting her to talk about Tiffany. He called her up out of the blue and asked her out for coffee to talk, just like friends do, and she was going to get to spend at least an hour with him. She would be t talking with him, looking at him, and enjoying his company. All of his attention would be on her, for once.
     
    It was almost electrifying for her. She rushed about and did her hair and makeup, rifling through her closet to find the nicest looking dress she had, that wouldn't make it seem like she had purposefully dressed for him, and by the end of the hour, she looked in the mirror and nodded with satisfaction. 
     
    She drove her Highlander down to the coffee shop and when she walked in the door, she saw that he had already been waiting for her. He stood up and rubbed his palms over his pants out of nervousness, and she smiled at him to reassure him.
     
    Shannon walked over to him and he hugged her as he usually did, and then he stopped short as her perfume mingled with the air he breathed in. He let her go and looked down at her with a smile. "You smell nice. Is that new?" he asked, feeling a bit more relaxed.
     
    She nodded. "Yes, I picked it up the other day when Tiffany and I were shopping." She had bought it at the store where they shopped right before lunch; before she found out who Ron was and that Tiffany was sleeping with him. Her stomach clenched, but she took a breath and relaxed, focusing instead on the man in front of her, who just happened to unwittingly hold her heart in his hand.
     
    His brow furrowed and he looked down at the cup of tea in his hands for a moment, and then he looked back up at her and gave her a smile. "You look lovely; that's a pretty dress. It suits you." He meant it, but was skirting the issue he had come to talk with her about.
     
    She smiled at him and turned her head away from him a little. "Thank you, Colby, trust me, I appreciate it, but that isn't what you came here to talk about."
     
    He looked nervous suddenly and she lowered her brow at him. "What's wrong?" she asked in a soft voice.
     
    Colby frowned. "I have to apologize to you," he said sadly. "I brought you here under false pretenses."
    Shannon looked at him in surprise. "You did? Are you telling me we aren't here to talk about gifts for Tiffany?" He had piqued her curiosity.
     
    He shook his head subtly. "No, we're not,” he answered her, looking down as if he was ashamed of himself.
     
    She tilted her head at him. "What are we here for, then?" she asked him.
     
    Colby took a deep breath. "Something about what Tiffany said the other night got stuck in my head and it has been bothering me ever since. She said her dad sent her on a business trip."
     
    Shannon's heart skipped a beat and then began to pound.
     
    "It just didn't sound right to me that he would send her away so close to the wedding and to such a remote place that she wouldn't have access to cell phone service or Internet. That just sounded so weird to me. I kept trying to put it out of my mind, but it just kept coming right back, and I knew if it did that, then I needed to pay attention to my intuition."
     
    He turned his mug of tea in his hands and looked up at Shannon. "I called her dad."
     
    Shannon's