by Janet Dailey
Nervousness made her say, “It’s a lovely evening, isn’t it?” The ambience seemed too romantic for her peace of mind.
“Yes, it is,” Luck agreed, and waited until she was inside before closing the door.
Her gaze followed him as he walked around the car and slid behind the wheel. When he started the motor, Eve faced the front. Her nerve ends quivered with his nearness, making the silence intolerable.
“How did your business go today?” she asked, to make conversation.
“Fine.” It was a noncommunicative answer, but Luck made it easier by asking, “Did Toby give you any trouble today?”
“None,” Eve assured him. At this time of night there was no traffic on the road to her parents’ lake cottage. They had it all to themselves. “We played catch — and didn’t break a single window,” she added with feigned lightness.
“You’re luckier than I am.” He slid her a brief glance, one side of his mouth lifting in a half smile, his voice dry with amusement.
“We were careful about the area we picked,” she explained, relaxing a little under the humorous overtones of the subject matter.
It was a short drive to the cottage. Part of her regretted the quickness with which they covered the distance, and another part of her was relieved. When they drove in, Eve noticed her parents had left the porch light burning.
“I hope they weren’t worried about you,” Luck commented as he stopped the car.
“I doubt it,” she replied. “They’ve accepted that I’m a big girl now. My hours are my own,”
Letting the engine idle, he shifted the gear into the park and half turned in the seat to face her. “How much do I owe you for staying with Toby?”
She stiffened at the offer of payment for her services. “Nothing,” Eve insisted.
“I didn’t ask you to stay with Toby with the intentions of getting a free baby-sitter. If you hadn’t come, I would have had to pay someone else,” Luck reasoned.
“Please don’t ask me to take money for this,” she appealed to him, not wanting to be paid for something she had done gladly. “Just consider it a favor from a neighbor.”
“All right.” He gave in reluctantly. “I won’t argue with you.”
“Thank you.” Eve looked away to reach for the door handle, but she was kept from opening it by the staying hand that touched her arm.
Almost against her will, she looked back at him. The sheen of the moonlight bronzed the masculine angles and planes of his face, giving them a rugged look. A hunger rose within her that she couldn’t deny.
“Thank you for staying with Toby.” His voice was pitched disturbingly low, vibrant in its rich tone.
“You’re welcome,” Eve whispered the reply, too affected by his touch and his nearness to speak normally.
Nor could she draw away when his head bent toward hers. She trembled under the possession of his hard lips, her resolve shattering into a thousand pieces. His hand spanned her rib cage just below the uplift of her breast and silently urged her closer.
Eve arched nearer, trying to satisfy the hunger she tasted in his kiss. The blood pounded in her ears with a thunderous force as she let him part her lips to savor the completeness of her response. A soft moan came from her throat at the ache Luck aroused in her.
He was everything. Her senses were dominated by him. The feel of his rock-hard muscles excited her hesitant hands, which rested lightly on his chest, warmed by the heat generated from his male body. That combination of scents-tobacco smoke, musky cologne and his own male scent — filled her lungs with its heady mixture. And the taste of him was in her mouth.
The world was spinning crazily, but Eve didn’t care — as long as she had him to cling to. Kissing him was both heaven and hell. But regardless of the consequences, she seemed to be condemned to loving him.
Luck dragged his mouth from her lips and let it moistly graze over her cheek, trailing fire her breath was so shallow, it was practically nonexistent. He combed his fingers into her hair as if to hold her head still.
“And thanks for waiting up for me, Eve,” he murmured thickly against her sensitive skin. “It’s been a long time since anyone has done that. I can’t explain how good it made me feel.”
“Luck, I…” But she was afraid to say the words. Then he kissed her again and she didn’t need to say anything.
But this time it was brief, although she had the consolation of sensing his reluctance when it ended and he drew away.
“I’ve got to get back. Toby’s alone,” Luck said, as if he needed to explain.
“Yes.” This time he made no move to stop her when she opened the door. “Good night” she murmured as she stepped out of the car. “Good night, Eve,” he responded.
She seemed to glide on air to the lighted porch, conscious that Luck was waiting to make sure she got safely inside. Opening the door, she turned and waved to him. She watched the red taillights of his car until they disappeared onto the road.
It would be so easy to read something significant into his kisses. Eve tried desperately to guard against raising false hopes. Thinking about the photograph of his late wife helped. That, and the memory of the time when he had intimated he was lonely.
As she undressed for bed, Eve berated herself for being such a fool as to let herself love him. It was very difficult to listen when she felt so good.
THIS TIME there were no lights burning to welcome him home when Luck entered the cabin. He didn’t bother to turn any on as he made his way down the hallway in the dark.
“Dad?” Toby’s sleepy voice called out to him.
“Yes, son, it’s me.” He paused by the doorway to his son’s room.
“Did you take Eve home?” Toby asked.
“Yes. I just got back,” he explained. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” There was the rustle of bedcovers shifting. “How was granddad?”
“He’s fine,” Luck assured him. “It’s very late. You go back to sleep, Toby. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Okay, dad,” he replied in the middle of a yawn. “Good night.”
“Good night, Toby.” Luck waited until he heard silence from the room, then entered his own.
The moonlight shining in through the window illuminated the room sufficiently, allowing, him to undress without the need of turning on the bed lamp. Unbuttoning his shirt, he pulled it free from the waistband of his pants and shrugged out of it to toss it into the clothes hamper.
He sat down on the edge of the bed to take off his shoes. The moon laid its light on the framed photograph sitting on his dresser. Luck stopped to gaze at it.
“We had a good thing, Lisa,” he murmured. “But it was a long time ago.” There was an amused lift to his mouth, a little on the wry side. “Why do I have the feeling that you don’t mind if I fall in love with someone else?”
But she didn’t answer him, it had been quite a while since she had. Luck wasn’t haunted anymore by images from the past, and he didn’t feel any guilt that it was so.
Chapter Seven
THE AFTERNOON SUN burned into her oiled skin as Eve shifted her position in the reclining lounge chair. Dark sunglasses blocked out most of the glare, but the scarlet swimsuit exposed her body to the sun’s tanning rays. The straps were unfastened so that they wouldn’t leave any white strips on her shoulders.
When she reached for her glass of iced tea sitting under the chair in the shade, Eve held the bodice in position with her hand so that the top wouldn’t fall down when she bent over. The sip of tea momentarily cooled and refreshed her. She’d promised herself to walk down to the lake for a swim, but so far she hadn’t found the energy.
The front screen door creaked on its hinges and Eve turned her head toward the lake cottage as her mother stepped onto the porch. She saw Eve and smiled.
“There you are,” she declared. “I was ready to hike down to the lake. You’re wanted on the telephone.”
“Me?” She almost forgot about the untied straps of her swims
uit as she sat up abruptly. A quicksilver run of excitement sped through her nerves, “Who is it?”
“It’s Luck McClure,” her mother answered.
“Tell him I’ll be right there,” Eve urged.
Her fingers turned into thumbs as she tried hurriedly to knot the straps behind her neck. While she struggled with that, the leather thongs refused to cooperate with her attempts to slip her bare feet into them. She heard the screen door swing shut behind her mother.
The message was being passed to Luck that she was on her way to the phone, but Eve was afraid he’d get tired of waiting if she took too long. When she finally had the straps tied and the shoes on, she ran to the cottage.
The telephone receiver was off the hook, lying beside the phone on the table. Eve grabbed it up, mindless of the amused glances exchanged by her parents.
“Hello?” She was winded from her panicked rush to the phone — and the breathless excitement she couldn’t control.
“Eve? You sound out of breath,” Luck’s voice observed, and she closed her eyes in silent relief that he hadn’t hung up.
“I was outside.” She swallowed in an attempt to steady her breathing,
“Your mother told me that she thought you were down by the lake,” he admitted.
“Actually, I wasn’t,” Eve explained. “I was out front, sunbathing.”
“Wearing a skimpy little bikini, I suppose,” Luck murmured.
“No.” She half smiled. “I have on a very respectable one piece bathing suit.”
“I should have guessed.” His voice was dry with contained amusement.
The reply stung her sensitive ego. She knew exactly what he was thinking. A one-piece suit was precisely what a brown mouse would wear. After all, they weren’t very daring creatures.
“Why are you calling, Luck?” She supposed he wanted her to stay with Toby again. It was really quite a bargain when baby-sitters could be paid with a kiss. After last night what else could he think?
“I called to ask you to have dinner with us tonight. Since you wouldn’t let me pay you anything for staying with Toby, I thought you might accept an invitation to dinner,” he explained.
If he hadn’t added the explanation, she would probably have leaped at the invitation, but he stole the pleasure from it.
“I told you last night that I was just being a friendly neighbor,” Eve reminded him stiffly, “I don’t expect anything in return. And you certainly aren’t obligated to take me to dinner. “
“I’m not asking out of any sense of duty,” Luck stated on a note of tolerance, “Toby and I want you to come over for dinner tonight.”
“Thank you, but I — ” She started to refuse politely for her pride’s sake, but he interrupted her.
“Before you turn me down, you’d better hear the terms of the invitation.” A faint thread of amusement ran through his voice.
“Terms?” Eve repeated with a bewildered frown.
“Ever since Toby got up this morning, he’s been bragging about what a great cook you are,” he informed her. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a home-cooked meal, so I decided to ask you over to dinner tonight and find out if Toby knows what he’s talking about.”
She was a little stunned by the implication of his reply, and faintly amused. “Do you mean you’re asking me to dinner and you’re expecting me to cook it?”
“Only part of it,” Luck assured her. “I’ve got some steaks, so I’ll take care of the meat course. The rest of the menu I’ll leave to you.”
“You have a lot of nerve, Luck McClure.” But she couldn’t help laughing.
“What do you say?” he challenged, “Is it a deal? Will you come tonight?”
“What time?” she asked, and smiled at the mouthpiece of the receiver.
“I’ll pick you up at six o’clock. Is that all right?” he asked.
“That’s fine,” Eve nodded. “I’ll be ready.”
“I’ll see you at six,” Luck promised, and rang off.
Her smile lingered as she replaced the receiver on its cradle and turned away from the phone. She happened to glance at her father and caught the merry twinkle in his hazel eyes.
“I take it that you’re going out to dinner with Luck,” he guessed from the one side of the conversation he’d heard. “You’ve been seeing quite a bit of him lately. Maybe I should have a chat with him when he comes to pick you up tonight and find out his intentions.”
He was only teasing, but Eve reacted just the same. “Don’t you dare,” she warned, and he laughed.
AS PART OF HER NEW IMAGE to rid herself of the brown-mouse label, Eve wore a white blouse of eyelet lace that scalloped to a vee neckline and buttoned down the front. With it she wore a pair of cornflower-blue slacks in a clingy material.
Promptly at six o’clock, Luck drove up to the cottage, accompanied by Toby. Ready and waiting, Eve bolted from the cabin before her father had a chance to tease her further by carrying out his threat to “have a little talk” with Luck.
Toby whistled like an adult wolf when he saw her. Eve flushed a little. She hadn’t thought the different style and color of clothes made that much difference in her appearance — enough for an eight-year-old to notice.
When Toby hopped into the rear seat so Eve could sit in front beside Luck, she was subjected to a wickedly admiring rake of his blue eyes. Her cheeks grew even warmer.
“Not bad,” Luck murmured his approval.
Compliments from him were something she couldn’t handle, so she tried to turn it aside with a self-effacing remark. “You mean, it’s not bad for a brown mouse,” Eve corrected.
“No, not a brown mouse anymore. A blue one,” he declared with a glance at her slacks. After checking for traffic, Luck reversed onto the road.
“Did dad tell you we’re going to have steaks tonight?” Toby leaned over the top of the front seat.
“Yes, he did,” she admitted.
“How do you like yours cooked?” Luck asked.
“Medium rare.” Her sensitive nerves felt just about that raw at the moment, ultraconscious of the man behind the wheel.
“I guessed you were the red-blooded kind.” He allowed his gaze to leave the road long enough to send a mocking glance at her. The innuendo seemed to hint she had a passionate nature, which only served to heighten her awareness of him.
“That’s the way we like ours, too, isn’t it, dad?” Toby said, unconscious of any hidden meaning in the talk.
“It sure is,” Luck agreed, a smile playing at the edges of his mouth.
“You have to watch him, though,” Toby told Eve. “Or he winds up burning them.”
“Now wait a minute,” Luck said in protest. “Who’s the cook around here?”
“Eve,” his son was quick to answer.
A low chuckle came from Luck’s throat. “That’s a point well taken.” He slowed the car as they approached the drive to the cabin.
Preparations for the evening meal became a family affair. Luck started the grill in the backyard and cooked the steaks, while Toby took care of setting the table and helping Eve. She fixed a fresh spinach salad and wild rice to go along with the steaks. There were enough strawberries left over from the previous night’s shortcake dessert to add to other fruit for a mixed fruit sauce as a light dessert.
When they sat down at the table, the meal seemed flawless. Eve wasn’t sure whether it was the food or the company that made it all taste so good, but all three of them ate every bite of food on their plates.
“Didn’t I tell you Eve was a good cook?” Toby stayed at the table while they lingered over their coffee.
“You certainly did,” Luck agreed. “And you were right, too.”
“Your father deserves some of the credit,” Eve insisted. “I don’t know about yours, but my steak was perfect.”
“Thank you.” Luck inclined his dark head in mocking acceptance of the compliment. Thick strands of rich brown hair fell across his forehead, adding to his rakish air.
> “Mine was good, too,” Toby assured him, then took away the compliment.
“But all you had to do was watch them so they wouldn’t burn. Eve really did the cooking.”
“And an excellent job, too.” He didn’t argue with his son’s summation. The magnetic blue of his eyes centered on her, lazy and disturbing. “You certainly know the way to a man’s heart.”
All her senses went haywire at that remark, throwing her into a state of heady confusion. She struggled to conceal it, quickly dropping her gaze and busying her hands with the dessert dishes still on the table.
“Don’t bother with the dishes,” Luck instructed. “We’ll just stack them in the sink for now.”
“Nonsense.” There was an agitated edge to her voice that betrayed her inner disturbance. “it will only take a few minutes to do them and they’ll be out of the way.”
“In that case, we’ll all help.” He pushed out of his chair. “You can clear the table and stack the dishes by the sink, and Toby can wash them while I dry.”
They seemed to get them done in record time. Eve finished wiping the stove, table and counter tops a little before Toby and Luck were through.
As the trio entered the living room, Toby turned to walk backward and face them. “Why don’t we start a fire in the fireplace, dad?”
“It’s summer, Toby,” Luck reminded him with an indulgent look.
“I know, but it would be fun,” he shrugged. “We could toast marshmallows.”
“You can’t still be hungry,” Eve laughed.
“No, but I’ll eat them anyway,” he replied, and she understood that most of the pleasure came from toasting them, rather than eating them. “Please, dad. Just a little fire.”
“Okay,” Luck gave in. “Just a small one.”
While Toby dashed back to the kitchen for the bag of marshmallows and a long-handled toasting fork, Luck built a small fire in the stone fireplace. When it was burning nicely, the three of them sat on the floor in a semicircle around the hearth.
