AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He sucked her toes, tickled her foot and sent kisses slowly up her calf. “Anticipation is such a great part of sex.”
“Won’t get you any points,” she warned in a husky whisper.
He slid his fingers into her and spread tender kisses up her thigh. “I should never have walked out of here last night.”
She moaned way back in her throat. “If you’d had any points, you would have lost them.”
He moved up and swept his tongue into her cleft. “You’re too wet to play hard to get.”
“No, I’ll leave being hard to you.” Their playful game blurred by desire, she raised her arms above her head and slid her legs over his shoulders. He created the most luscious warmth that rolled down her legs and left her too lazy with joy to offer another teasing word. When he crawled over her to claim her for himself, she welcomed him into the last quivers of her orgasm and sought the joy of his. He pushed the night into a magical realm, and when he left with the dawn, she uttered a small sigh in protest.
Luke seldom went into Lost Angel on Sundays, but he did that day. He checked his messages, then went looking for Dave. When he found him sitting on the front steps reading the comics with the kids, he nodded for him to follow.
Dave handed the newspaper to Polly, then caught up to Luke. “You got something for me to do, boss?” he asked.
“No, I just want to talk with you. Come on in my office.”
“I’d rather stay out here. The grass is doing pretty well, don’t you think?”
The side yard did look a whole lot better than it had just a few weeks prior and Luke nodded to acknowledge Dave’s work. “Fine, let’s talk out here. Catherine Brooks is a remarkable woman—”
Dave began to back away. “If that’s all you’ve got to say, then we’re through.”
Luke swore under his breath. “She can’t be the first woman you’ve wanted who liked someone else better.”
Abruptly ending his retreat, Dave came back toward Luke with a long, menacing stride. “No, but she’s the first woman since my life went to hell who looked at me as though it didn’t matter. She claimed she wasn’t interested in dating anyone, but I sure as hell thought that when she was, it would be me.”
“I’m sorry you were hurt. Neither of us meant for that to happen.”
“You and Cathy talked about me? What did you do, laugh about how stupid I was to dream of dating someone like her?”
“No, of course not.” Luke shut his mouth before admitting that he couldn’t have successfully fought his attraction to Catherine had he tried. “Look,” he began again, “Catherine is not only beautiful but bright as well, and any man would be interested in her. Had she wanted you, she’d be sharing your basement apartment, but damn it all, she chose me.”
“Yeah, like she had a choice,” Dave shot right back at him. “Well, what are you going to do now? Do you plan to marry her and have some little red-haired kids, or will you just brush her off once you’ve had your fill?”
Luke couldn’t even think of marriage without feeling sick to his stomach, but he couldn’t imagine his life without Catherine either. Torn, he feared Dave was uncomfortably close to the truth.
“We haven’t been dating long,” he said. “It’s too soon to make plans for the future.”
“Like hell. At least I’m open to marriage and kids, and when Catherine realizes you’re not, I may be her choice after all. Now, I won’t be coming to you for therapy any longer, and unless you’ve got work for me, stay out of my way. A job offer should come through for me soon, and I’ll move out the very next day.”
Dave’s hands were clenched in tight fists, and Luke could see he was close to taking a swing at him. While they might be an even match, Luke didn’t want to fight him when it would prove nothing and provide the very worst kind of lesson for the kids. He walked away rather than argue, but Dave had forced him to consider what he did have to offer Catherine. Afraid it wasn’t much, he drove down to the beach, yanked on his jogging shoes, and ran until he was too tired to do more than sleep.
Monday morning, Violet hid in the bushes until she saw Catherine drive into the Lost Angel parking lot. Then she came stumbling out into the sunshine, a heavy backpack slung over her shoulder.
Had it not been for her flowing blonde hair, Catherine wouldn’t have recognized Violet when her blackened eyes hid their pretty blue color and her mouth was too swollen to smile. “Oh, my God,” she cried.
Violet raised a hand to keep Catherine from coming too close. “Please, I’ve got bruises all over and if you touch me, they’ll just hurt worse.”
Catherine took the backpack as a hopeful sign Violet had left Ford Dolan, and she gestured toward the office. “At least come inside and sit down. Luke will know what to do.”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Violet mumbled.
Pam Strobble took one look at Violet’s battered face and hit the intercom to summon Luke. “We need you out here.”
Luke immediately came through his door, but he stopped when he recognized Violet. He watched as she slowly eased herself down into a padded chair, then sent Catherine a questioning glance.
“She was waiting for me outside,” Catherine explained. “But I knew you were the one who’d know what to do.”
