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“The mural looks great, although it’s easier to appreciate from across the street than my front yard. The kids are really getting into it. I hope you can find other projects for them when they’re finished here.”
“So do I, but I’ll bet they’ll miss working with you.”
“They’ll know where to find me,” Toby reminded her with a mischievous wink. “I’m sorry, but I keep thinking about you and some overgrown lump of muscle from the WWE, and it just doesn’t compute. Why don’t you tell me the truth? I can stand it.”
“I wish it were that simple,” Catherine replied. She removed her hat and used it as a fan. “It’s plain you’re not used to being turned down, but my affections lie elsewhere. Whether or not my honey is a hunk with the WWE or not, really doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me. Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.” Toby kept to a respectful distance as they crossed the street to the Lost Angel parking lot. Then he stepped close, and his tone became intimate.
“Now, as I see it, if you’re in love with the guy and he’s treating you well, then I’ll stay out of your way. But there’s something in your eyes that tells me things aren’t right. If I have to start taking karate lessons to defend myself, then I’ll do it, but please come to me if you have problems with your love life you can’t handle on your own.”
His sleeves were rolled up, and for a brief instant, Catherine was sorely tempted to reach out and trace the delicate scales of the dragon’s tail curling around his forearm. “That’s very nice of you, but really, whatever problems we might have can’t be solved with karate, although I do understand it’s very good exercise,” she added flippantly.
Toby raised his hands and backed away. “Fine, I get your message, but you remember what I said. If someday you need me, I’ll be there for you.”
Completely overwhelmed by that thought, Catherine managed only a faint smile. She’d wanted to talk with Luke, but he’d be busy for the next hour or two, and she was too tired to wait.
“I better go, Toby.”
He waved and strolled off toward his house with a swaggering gait that wasn’t all that different from Rafael’s.
Before leaving his office to conduct the afternoon session, Luke had glanced out the window to check if Catherine’s Volvo were still in the lot. When he saw her and Toby standing by her car with their heads together, he was so shocked he had to stay to watch. They appeared to be discussing something more serious than the mural, but he couldn’t even imagine what that might be.
Catherine was undeniable lovely, but that she attracted such devoted male attention without the slightest bit of effort on her part annoyed him no end. He wasn’t used to feeling jealous, and yet he couldn’t rationalize it away. Then he began to worry Catherine might look up and catch him watching her.
Here he’d thought Melissa was his problem for the day, but with Dave and Toby circling Catherine like sharks, it was clear his real problem lay far closer to home.
Catherine already had the Tuna Helper cooking when Luke rang the doorbell. She welcomed him with a kiss and then took his hand. “Come on in the kitchen and tell me what happened with Melissa.”
While Luke usually refused a drink, he poured himself a scotch before sitting down at the breakfast room table. “It went exactly as I predicted. Melissa even wore a misty blue suit to highlight her deeply depressed mood. She had the linen hanky with the lace border and sobbed into it the whole time.
“To hear her tell it, I tossed her out in the snow without so much as a threadbare blanket. I did my best not to let her pathetic charade make me angry, but—”
“You failed?” She continued to rip lettuce into bite-size hunks and tossed them into a salad bowl.
“Spectacularly,” he admitted sheepishly. “I even threw my chair across the room.”
She began to chop a bell pepper. “Wonderful. Is Melissa now calling you not only cheap but abusive?”
“You got it, but thank God we weren’t in court. Unfortunately my attorney was ready to deck me for it, so we’re lucky the meeting didn’t end in a brawl. In a couple of days, the attorneys will meet and see what they can work out by themselves, but with neither of us willing to give in, we’re sure to end up in court.”
“While it’s little comfort now, I’m sure it’ll all work itself out in time. You look tired. I was hoping you’d come by for dinner.”
“Thank you, but I should have called.”
“Yes, that’s always nice, but I still like finding you on the doorstep.”
“Yeah, but for how long?” He nearly snorted. He downed his scotch in a quick swallow and then set the glass on the table with exaggerated care. “I didn’t really come here to talk about Melissa.”
Catherine had just reached for the celery but paused to give him her full attention. “What have I done wrong now?” she asked hesitantly.
He left the table and came forward to give her a reassuring hug. “You see, you expect me to lurch around in attack mode, and that’s not good for either of us. Hell, I might as well be with the WWE.”
The image of him strutting around a wrestling ring screaming insults to another wrestler was so absurd she couldn’t help but laugh. “What would you do, call yourself Dr. Fist?”
He laughed, hugged her again and lifted her clear off her feet. “Say, I like that. Maybe I’ll wear black leather into court and tell them to call me Dr. Fist.”
He kissed her lightly, then still laughing, stepped back. “You distract me every damn time, lady, and you do it on purpose too.”
