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She saw straight to the bottom of his warning and sighed softly. “If Dave’s ego is as fragile as you suggest, isn’t there a danger he’ll see simple friendship as something more?”
“Yes,” he admitted, “the danger exists. But each time he brings up your name, I’ll do my best to lessen his expectations. It’ll be a delicate balancing act, but I think we can pull it off.”
She would have preferred to tell Dave the truth, but she could scarcely lecture Luke on the danger of harboring secrets. She was tired and would rather do anything than argue.
“I’m going to adopt your policy and not think beyond tonight,” she vowed.
She left her chair to kneel in front of his. She rested her arms across his thighs and slid her thumbs along the inseam of his jeans. “Now I’d like to try something, and I’ll need your promise that you won’t scream and frighten the neighbors.”
“Just what is it you intend to do?”
She began to unbutton his fly. “Where’s your spirit of adv
enture?”
When her fingers encircled his shaft, he was already hard and chuckled way back in his throat. “I think you’ve found it.”
She paused to take another sip of her icy cold drink, then tasted him and, with a soft, sucking hunger, took him deep.
Luke was used to the heat of her exotic kiss, not this stunning chill. His legs tightened around her convulsively, and he buried his fingers in her hair. Before the frozen thrill had even begun to thaw, he was lost, but she’d been wrong; he had no breath to scream.
She knew exactly what she was doing, and it eased her conscience to know she wasn’t the first woman to escape her fears with a lover. She quickly enticed Luke out of his clothes, and they were soon naked on the lawn, as playful as pagan gods who lived only for pleasure. She gave as much she took, and the enchantment lasted until dawn.
Chapter Fifteen
With such enthusiastic workers, progress on the mural was swift. Content to supervise from a distance, Catherine brought a low aluminum beach chair from home and parked herself near the sidewalk. Occasionally someone would wander by on their way to the neighboring bar and pause to comment, but otherwise foot traffic was scant.
Out on the street, however, cars had begun to slow as drivers gawked at the kids climbing the scaffolding. She couldn’t help but notice how pleased the teens were to attract so much attention, but she warned them all to keep their wits about them to avoid a fall.
She took lots of candid photos and even managed a few of Luke while he toured the project Thursday morning. When he caught her and smiled, she simply took another shot, but she intended to keep that photograph for herself rather than post it on the bulletin board.
The previous afternoon, Toby had taken Rafael to Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. Now the spike-haired artist was excitedly recounting his tour of the campus to Luke, but it was plain he was even more excited by the prospect of impressing Art Center’s professors with his spectacular mural.
Rafael had used charcoal to block in all the figures, but none had distinct features as yet. Catherine knew if she were going to raise Violet’s objection to appearing in the mural, it would have to be soon, but she hated to mention the girl’s name in front of Luke. She also knew better than to try to work around him.
She waited for a break in Rafael’s animated conversation and then approached the young man and Luke. “In your drawing, one of the angels resembles Violet. I think she’s a perfect subject, but she’s afraid Ford Dolan will object. I couldn’t bear it if he took his anger out on her.”
Luke responded with a bitter curse, then addressed his comment to Rafael rather than Catherine. “I refuse to allow a bastard like Ford Dolan to force us to change so much as an eyelash, but it’s your call, Rafael. What do you want to do?”
Rafael shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know what Violet’s doing with that asshole, but she’s much too pretty to tack on a witch’s crooked nose to keep Ford from recognizing her.”
“It’s just a thought,” Catherine offered, “but we don’t have signed releases from the kids who’ll be portrayed in the mural, so maybe she really does have the right to object.”
“Whose side are you on?” Luke asked pointedly.
“Lost Angel’s, of course. The other teens are all so proud to be appearing in the mural, but there might be consequences for them as well. Christmas cards are mailed to distant friends and passed around at work. It’s possible some abusive parent might recognize one of the kids from our cards and come after him.”
“It’s just as likely some parent who has been worried sick will at last discover where their child is through the mural or cards,” Luke posed.
“That’s true,” Catherine granted easily. “And now I think about it, if any of the kids are underage, they can’t legally sign a release anyway.”
“You’re just all kinds of help today, aren’t you, Mrs. Brooks?” Luke jabbed the toe of his loafer in the sparse grass. “What you don’t understand,” he softened his tone to explain, “is that if Rafael were to take Violet out of the mural, Ford would just pick something else to rag on her about. That’s why it never pays to give in to bullies, because it just inspires them to increase their demands.”
“Look,” Rafael interjected, “even if I just made up faces rather than used the kids here, someone somewhere would think one of the angels looked exactly like them. I’m using Violet, and if Ford gives her any grief over it, she can send him to me.”
Catherine admired his jaunty walk as he headed toward the porch. He was dressed in bright red polyester pants and a purple T-shirt, both of which clashed with his orange hair. “At least Rafael never lacks for confidence.”
“Frankly,” Luke whispered, “I think we’ve created a monster. He had an attitude problem before, but now he’s become insufferable.”
