And Then He Kissed Me

And Then He Kissed Me Copyright © 2023 by April Decton. All rights reserved. Editor: Erin Toland of Edits by Erin Proofreaders: Erin Toland, Kaleigh Wolfe, and Cara Douthit Cover Design: Cara Douthit Formatter: Erin Toland All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. The scanning, uploading, and/or distribution of this document via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidence. Dedication And Then He Kissed Me is dedicated to five couples I know or have known. Also, to a friend, and my sister. I used their life experiences and situations, along with a few of my own, to create my fictional couple, Cora and Wes. Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Epilogue Author Note Songs and Hymns Mentioned in And Then He Kissed Me Also by April Decton Acknowledgments About the Author One 1953 “So, tell me again, why you had to ask your parents for permission to stay the night at my house?” Hazel asks. “My dad’s church doesn’t believe in dancing. They would never have allowed me to go out with you for the evening if they had known that we were going to a place to dance,” I answer her truthfully. “But,” Hazel asks hesitantly, “you’re eighteen. Can’t you do what you want to do? Aren’t you your own boss?” I can tell she’s not wanting to be judgmental or rude, but she’s curious. “I still live under their roof, so I still must obey their rules,” I answer with a sigh. * * * We enter a bar with our fake IDs. The music is loud and the dance floor is crowded. Hazel pulls me up to the bar to order us drinks. When the bartender looks to me for my order, I ask for a cola. The bartender looks to me like Really? Hazel elbows me. “Go ahead. Order.” I look to Hazel, “I did order.” I look back to the bartender, “A cola, please.” Once we have our drinks, we find a place against the wall. Sipping our drinks, and swaying to the music, we are looking around for a vacant table. I’m also looking around, hoping I don’t see anyone that I know. After we finish our first drink, we dance to a couple of songs. After a third song, I’m parched and need another drink. We go to the bar and I order another cola. Hazel decides to order a cola instead of a beer. We still haven’t found a table, so we’re back to standing against the wall, people-watching while we sip our beverages. It’s then that I lock eyes across the room with the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. When I am finally able to break my eyes away from his and continue to look around as if my heart isn’t beating out of my chest, I realize that Hazel has said something. “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.” I use the loud music as an excuse for not paying attention to her. “I said. You seem to have an admirer,” she says with a grin as she looks from me to across the room. I follow her eyes across the room and she’s right. He’s still staring at me. I can’t seem to look away from him. His friend leans over, says something to him. He flashes a big smile and then turns to say something to his friend. I look back to Hazel. She’s still smiling when she looks at me. “I saw him looking this way a bit ago, but I thought he was looking at someone else. Why do you think he’s looking at me?” I ask seriously. “I don’t know. I can only guess. But, you’re about to find out,” she adds with a smirk. I turn to look back across the room, only to find him within steps of me. It’s obvious that he’s coming straight for me. “Would you like to dance?” he asks standing right before me. I stand there speechless as I look into his beautiful brown eyes. I also notice a dimple on the left side of his cheek when he smiles. I note that he’s only a few inches taller than me, as I look at his very short brown hair. When I look into his eyes again, I realize he’s waiting on me to answer him. “I’ll hold your drink for you.” I hear Hazel say as she takes it from my hands. He takes my now empty hands and guides me to the dance floor. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he says as he turns around to place his hand at my waist and his other hand secures my hand. We dance to a couple of songs. Then a slow song comes on and he lets go of my hand, wrapping both of his arms around my waist pulling me to him. I’ve never been so close to a male in my life. He leans down to whisper in my ear, “It’s okay.