AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The answering machine gave a soft click and whir, and then Joyce began to speak in a frantic whisper. “It’s late, and there’s a strange car in your driveway. I don’t know what to do, call the police or send over a bottle of champagne.”
Highly amused, Catherine reached over to pick up the telephone. “Thank you for the Neighborhood Watch alert, but I’m fine and need neither the police nor champagne. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night.”
Catherine hung up before Joyce could reply and ran her fingertips down Luke’s side. “It’s nice to know the neighbors are watching out for me.”
He slid over her. “Yes, but what about your reputation, Mrs. Brooks? Should you be entertaining gentlemen callers overnight?”
She spread her thighs to welcome him. “Only one gentleman,” she stressed. He began to tease her with his fingertips and lips, and she was lost in a grateful surrender.
Chapter Nine
Joyce scooted her chair closer to the patio table. “Tell me more, tell me more,” she begged, singing the tune from “Grease”.
It was Sunday afternoon, and Catherine was comfortably seated with Smoky napping in her lap. She tickled his ears, and he stretched to encourage more lavish attention. “It was a memorable evening from beginning to end.”
“It must have been, and yet when I went out to get my paper early this morning, Luke was already gone.”
Catherine was deliciously sore, but she wouldn’t confide such a trifling consequence of Luke’s tireless loving. “We had a great time together. There was no need for him to hang around until noon.”
Joyce sat back and toyed with her beautifully manicured nails. “Perhaps not, but it says something about a man when he splits at dawn.”
“I’d say it’s what happened before he left that counts.”
“That’s obvious from the width of your smile, but be careful. Don’t let him take advantage of your good nature.”
“Hasn’t it crossed your mind that I might be taking advantage of his?”
Joyce nearly bolted from her chair. “You wouldn’t!”
“No, but when I doubt there’s much hope of a future with Luke, maybe I’m the one who’s leading him on rather than the other way around.”
“Do you want a future with him?”
Catherine dipped her head. Her passion for Sam had never waned, and she had no reason to believe it would ever fade with someone as affectionate as Luke. That wasn’t the issue, however.
“After a couple of dates, most people can tell if there’s any potential for more than a casual friendship. It’s definitely there with Luke. From what I’ve seen, he’s a man of character and depth, but I’d like a baby or two, and he might not.”
“Did he actually say so?”
“No, and it’s not a line of questioning I care to pursue just yet. We haven’t known each other long, and it’s much too soon to begin talking about marriage and children.”
“You don’t have to say, ‘Let’s get married and have a couple of kids.’ You can always just ask if it’s something he’d like to do someday with the right woman.”
Catherine nodded, but she hadn’t told Joyce how Luke had lost his daughter, nor did she intend to share his confidence with others. “Thanks, I’ll try and work it into our conversation soon. Now tell me about your night. How was the gallery opening?”
Joyce reached up to fluff her curls. “I’m so glad you asked. It was very nice, but there was such a huge crowd that it was difficult to get close enough to appreciate the artwork. Then I rounded a corner, and there was Shane Shephard, sipping a Perrier.”
“You’re kidding, Shane was there?”
“He sure was. He was dressed in a black silk shirt, black slacks and loafers, and he looked even better than he does in shorts. Someone had mistaken him for one of the artists, and he was laughing as he explained he’d merely provided the profusion of plants.
“Then he glanced my way and responded with a startled expression. He came right over to me and said if I’d been the Joyce who had called him, he was sorry he hadn’t gotten right back to me immediately. It seems he’d had several jobs that had kept him so busy he’d let his messages pile up, but he’d planned to answer all of them on Monday.”
“What did you say?”
Joyce shrugged. “My initial reaction was to deny I’d called him, but because he had my telephone number, he would have caught me in an obvious lie.”
“Please tell me you went with the truth.”
