Once upon a time, a woman walked into a tiny little redneck dive bar on New Years Eve. She was alone, but she had friends there and they had a live band. She wondered for a moment about why they call it a "live band" when it's pretty clear that a dead one wouldn't make a sound. Then she refocused her attention back to this story.

She grabs a beer from the very cranky bartender and sits at a table. Not long afterward, a very handsome and charming man walked in wearing a cowboy hat and boots. She noticed the bartender wasn't nearly as grumpy towards him, but she still definitely didn't approach being warm and welcoming. The cowboy walks past her table and their eyes connect. He took a couple of steps past her, then backed up and started a conversation with her. "I'm Jerry", he said. "Nice to meet you, Jerry, I'm Melisa." They chatted for a few minutes, then he strolled off. She noticed he kept looking her way, but she didn't think she had a chance with a guy like that. He asked her to dance. She said no. Jerry looked shocked when she said no, but she knew that she could fall in love with a man like that and she didn't want to get hurt.

A little while later, he approached Melisa again. He mentioned that he had a guitar in his truck. She said, "We're close to Nashville, everyone has a guitar in their truck. Prove it!" He said, "I can't play in here, there's a live band playing." She suggested going outside to the little covered patio out back.

Jerry played every old country song he could think of. People wandered outside and listened while the two harmonized to solid country gold, but they barely noticed. It felt like time stood still, and the only thing in this world was this man and this woman.

He had a great voice. He could remember chords and lyrics to songs she hadn't heard in years. He handed his guitar to her, and she played and sang a couple of songs that she had written. As she was playing, the band inside stopped and the crowd started counting down for midnight. Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three... Jerry said, "Move my guitar so I can kiss you." When their lips touched, fireworks lit up the sky, but only for the two of them. Melisa's heart was pounding. Wow, what a kiss.

A few songs later, Melisa said she was going to go inside for another drink. "Put it on my tab, and get me one, too", Jerry said. She went to the back door and was shocked to find that it was locked. She looked around the parking lot, and there wasn't a car remaining except her truck. It was like they had been in a time warp, and was so completely oblivious to everyone else that they didn't realize it was 4 am.

Jerry said, "My friend took my truck. Is there any way you can take me to his house? He lives just down the road." Just my luck, she thought, I've been charmed by a handsome stranger with no freaking car. Melisa had met guys like that before, and she wasn't falling for that mess again. But, she couldn't leave him alone at the abandoned bar in the middle of the night, so she agreed to drop him off at his friend's house. Jerry gets out of the truck, comes around to her side, and kisses her goodnight.

Q + A

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