Raising the Stakes

“No.”

“Me, neither.” Cassie tapped a finger on the tabletop. “How about that baseball game last night? That incredible ninth inning? Did you see it?”

Dawn looked at her. “No.”

“Yeah.” Cassie sighed. “That makes two of us.” She hesitated. “Well, as far as I can tell, there’s only one topic worth conversation. Let’s talk about your knight.”

“Give me a break, will you? There’s nothing to talk about. Can’t I convince you of that?”

“No, you can’t. Let’s see… For openers, what’s his name?”

“I don’t know.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“No.”

“He didn’t offer?”

“No. And this is silly. He’s just a man. He helped me out. End of story.”

“Humor me, okay? If he didn’t have warts, a potbelly and ears that flap, what’d he look like?”

“I don’t know.” Dawn set the pot aside for the morning and took a box of cookies from the cupboard. “Want one?”

“What about the diet?”

She shrugged. “These are the low-fat kind.”

“And probably good for the complexion.”

The women munched their cookies in companionable silence.

“He’s tall,” Dawn finally said. “Maybe six-one, six-two. Dark brown hair. Blue eyes. Light blue.”

“Matthew McConaughey-blue?”

“Uh-huh.” Dawn ate another cookie and licked a spot of icing from her finger. “Anything else you want to know?”

“Of course. You don’t think that’s a complete description, do you? Let’s see. We’ve got his height, his hair color, his eye color… How about his weight?” Cassie wrinkled her nose. “Don’t tell me. He was soft, like he spends a lot of time behind a desk.”

“Well, he probably does spend a lot of time behind a desk. He’s a lawyer. But—”

“Big-time lawyer? Small time? No time?”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “How do I know? Big-time, maybe. He’s from New York.”

Cassie sprawled backward in the chair. “Be still, my heart. A New York lawyer with blue eyes, hair and, I’ll bet, his own teeth! So what if he’s soft and pudgy? I can survive.”

“He isn’t. Soft and pudgy, I mean. He’s got great shoulders and a flat belly and these amazingly long legs…” Dawn fell silent. Color flooded her face. She stared at Cassie and then she closed the box, shot to her feet and jammed the cookies into the cupboard. “This is stupid.”

“Anything that makes me drool can’t be stupid. Go on. Did he have a nice face?”

Dawn closed her eyes and saw the man standing in front of her. He was leaning toward her, towering over her, watching her through those light blue eyes, looking at her in a way that told her he found her desirable. A knot formed in the pit of her belly. The last thing she wanted was to see desire in a man’s face ever again.

“Dawn?”

“Yes.” She turned and looked at Cassie. “You’re wasting your time,” she said in a low voice. The game had gone too far, and now it had to stop. “I know you mean well, Cass. But I’m not getting involved with anybody.”