He pushed them inside the heavy glass doors and they went toward her office. The crew of maintenance workers was congregated around the large fountain where she had left them.
“See you around nine.” He cuffed her playfully under the chin. “You go on and get rid of your coat and do whatever it is that takes ladies so long to do in the restroom. I’ll tell the gang you’re on your way.” He nodded toward the men waiting for her.
“All right, thank you for lunch. I’ll see you tonight.”
* * *
It was ten o’clock. The cake Leigh had baked had cooled. Sarah was already asleep in her crib. And Chad wasn’t there yet.
Her work at the mall had progressed well for the remainder of the afternoon. She had finalized plans for the Christmas decorations with the crew assigned to her. They would be ready to go to work on the following Sunday. Leigh didn’t anticipate too many problems.
Her meeting with the Saddle Club Estates group was another matter. Leigh had been approached by a committee of homeowners representing the more exclusive residential area of Midland. The committee wanted her to coordinate the exterior Christmas decorations for each house in the neighborhood, but they couldn’t agree on a color scheme. Leigh, ready to pull her hair out with impatience, had reminded them that time was running out.
“If you want any decorations up by the second
week of December, you’ll have to let me know by the end of this week.”
With their promise to do so, she had left the meeting to pick up Sarah. She had fed the baby, played with her until she grew fussy, then put her to bed. That allowed her time to take a bubble bath and reapply her makeup.
She giggled as she looked at her image in the mirror. It was ego-elevating to be dressing for a man. She didn’t remember having been this excited in a long time. Would Chad think she was trying too hard? Would he back off, thinking she was a lonely widow, pathetically eager for the first unattached male to pay attention to her? Would he think her avowal that she didn’t believe in casual sex was only a coy come-on?
Play it cool, Leigh, she cautioned herself. But it was hard to pretend indifference when every time she thought of Chad, she became as giddy and breathless as a teenager. And he was “rushing” her with a determination that was as flattering as it was disturbing.
But as the hours of the evening passed and he hadn’t even called, Leigh began to think she had been self-deceptively foolish. At lunch it had seemed that Chad had every woman in town panting after him. What did he need with her, whom he had met under the least erotic of circumstances, and who had an infant as well? His virility was too blatant to question. No doubt since this afternoon, when she had cautioned him that she wasn’t interested in an insouciant fling, he had had a change of heart. A reluctant widow, not to mention a baby, would surely cramp his style.
“You’ve blown it, big mouth,” she grumbled to herself. Why had she felt compelled to say anything? He had kissed her in broad daylight in a parked truck. He had almost touched her breast. So? Maybe it had been an accident. Maybe her kiss had robbed him of rational thought. Could a healthy man be held responsible for his actions when a woman kissed him back with the enthusiasm she had shown? Why had she panicked like some puritan maiden?
When she had felt his hand inching its way in oh-so-sensuous a manner toward her breast, why couldn’t she have merely tapped him playfully on the hand in teasing rebuke? Bubba’s wife would know how to say “no,” but leave room for a “maybe when we know each other better.” But she wasn’t Bubba’s wife, Leigh chided herself. She was what her mother would term “a well-brought-up young lady,” and she thought of sex as a commitment. She had been a virgin on her wedding night. She
The doorbell pealed loudly and Leigh bolted off the couch. Curbing the impulse to dash to the door, she took three deep breaths and walked at a more sedate pace to open it. Chad was standing with his arms spread, bracing himself against the doorjamb. Without moving anything but his head, he leaned down and captured her mouth.
For a moment she entertained the thought of resisting him, of demanding to know why he was an hour late, of reminding him that she wasn’t going to invite him to spend the night, but the power of his kiss banished such intentions from her muddled brain. His arms were lowered from the door frame slowly to enclose her in a tight embrace. Her feet instinctively scooted closer to his until they were touching chest-to-knees in one continuous, provocative line.
“I’m sorry I’m late. It couldn’t be helped. I promise,” he whispered seductively.
“I understand,” she heard herself saying. His kiss had reduced her to jelly. His hands were on either side of her face, stroking her lips with alternating thumbs.
“I like that… that… whatever that is you’ve got on.”
“I bought it today.” She had seen the long, embroidered caftan in a boutique window and had bought it immediately. It was just what she needed for quiet evenings at home… with Chad. Oh, stop it, stop it! She rebuked herself.
“I brought you a present.”
“You brought me a present?” she echoed, her heart racing.
He reached behind him and picked up two gift-wrapped boxes. “Open the big one first.”
She took the boxes from him and sat on the sofa while he took off his coat and crouched down in front of her. “Oh, no!” she exclaimed as she pulled the coffeemaker out of its package. “Let me guess what’s in the second box.”
“Right!” He snapped his fingers. “Three pounds of coffee.” She started laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, except you have a present, too. Come into the kitchen.”
Bemused, he followed her into the kitchen and then joined in her laughter when he saw a coffeemaker identical to the one he had just given her already plugged in on the countertop. Beside it was a can of coffee. “You did do some shopping today, didn’t you?” He took both her hands and held her at arm’s length as he asked, “Does this mean that you plan on making me coffee often?”
“Does this mean you want me to?” she replied teasingly.
His answer was to pull her against him with an eagerness that forced the breath out of her body on impact. Urgent fingers tangled in the chestnut mane she had left loose, and he pulled her head back for the full enjoyment of his kiss.