Naked, they wrapped themselves in each other’s arms. Kasey ran her hands up the muscles of his back, along his neck, and threaded her fingers through his thick hair. Their lips met in a long thorough kiss, and she thought that this was the way love should be. Two people in total harmony, giving and taking, sharing themselves.
There was nothing in Kasey’s memory of her life’s experience that could compare with the feelings that coursed through her as their naked bodies entwined.
His erection pushed against her; their groins rubbed together, and his legs wrapped around hers. Standing together, they were closer to making love than it was possible to be and still not be joined.
Suddenly, Will reached down and scooped her into his arms. “I’m taking you back to bed, Kasey. Any objections?”
She covered his mouth with hers, and when the kiss ended, whispered just one word, “Hurry.”
* * *
THE AFTERNOON SUN broke through the clouds and bathed the room in a soft hazy glow. Will awakened first and lay quiet, not wanting to disturb Kasey. A strand of her golden hair lay across his shoulder; he could feel her warm breath against his skin. She slept deeply, her face relaxed, her lashes dark shadows against her cheeks.
She looked young and vulnerable, yet the soft line of her hip and the fullness of her breasts that curved against his body were womanly and seductive. What a mix Kasey was, both an innocent and a temptress. As soon as he thought he knew her, another layer of her personality was revealed, piquing his desire to know more.
She was more caring than anyone he’d ever known. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and that was a part of her charm—honesty and candor in a world of cynicism and lies. Ask anything of her and she’d be there to give, to help. He thought of their new neighbor, who had already discovered that Kasey was an easy touch. Kasey would probably be running frequent errands for the old gal.
But that was only one facet of Kasey’s personality—the desire to reach out to everyone. He was discovering a secret side of her, something wild, free and unexpected that smoldered with fantasy and imagination.
He’d been blown away by her responsiveness from the first time they’d made love. Her passion and intensity had matched his, and together they’d reached a level of intimacy that he’d never felt before. He’d even let her shave his beard, although he knew that was risky. But it was what Kasey had wanted, and he’d been happy to oblige.
Will touched her face lightly with his finger, loving the feel of her skin, soft, creamy and utterly kissable. She stirred, and he was sure he saw a smile curve her lips. He wondered what she was dreaming about. He wanted to know all her dreams and fantasies; he wanted to be part of them.
Will closed his eyes and thought about his life and the games he had recently been forced to play. Everything was growing more and more complex. And Kasey was part of the complication. He needed to tell her everything that had happened before they met, everything that was happening now. And what could happen next.
But when—and how—could he tell her? God, he was a bastard, but he’d warned her of that the first day they’d spent together. He’d told her in the park that he was selfish and spoiled. He’d put her off and tried to stay away from her. But she’d ignored all the warnings. She’d come to him, open and loving, and for all his resolve, he couldn’t keep away from her.
As Will lay beside her, listening to her soft, even breathing, feeling the delicious warmth of her body, he knew that he couldn’t let her go. But he also knew that he had to tell her what was going on. And he would. Soon.
8
KASEY’S BODY still glowed with the warmth of Will’s lovemaking when she reached the newsstand the next morning. Her face was still flushed with the memory as she picked up her afternoon paper. But halfway to Walk-by-Windows, something else grabbed her attention. That something was Mattison Monroe.
Before she reached Columbus Circle, Kasey had opened the paper to the restaurant section and stopped in her tracks. There it was—Mattison’s review! She waited at the light and skimmed the article, looking for superlatives and finding them. It was a rave.
She bought three more copies of the paper at the newsstand on the corner outside Windows and dropped one of them on the reservations desk under Judy’s nose.
“We’re a hit,” she declared. “Have you seen this? Page six, second section. He loved it.”
“Who? What?” Judy thumbed through the paper.
“Mattison. The lobster.”
Judy caught on and squealed with glee. “He loved it?”
“Absolutely adored the dish and said some nice things about the restaurant, too.”
Judy found the article and read it quickly. “Nothing about service! Why would the color of the tablecloths be more important than the quality of the service?”
“You are absolutely the most pessimistic person I know,” Kasey said. “Reviews aren’t all that long, Judy. A food critic can’t cover everything. Besides, judging from this praise, he’ll want to come back and try other dishes.”
“Hmm.”
“Besides, he didn’t say the service was bad, did he?”
Judy grinned. “Nope, he didn’t. I guess that’s a plus I can pass on to the staff. As for Albert and Fred, they’ll be out of their heads with joy. Albert will forgive you for the lobster debacle, and Fred will be ecstatic. This will be good for you, too. After all, Mattison’s rave happened on your watch.”
“Which is almost over, thank God. Fred’s due back in two days, and then I’m free. Maybe I can get some time off.” She pulled Judy over to their predinner table. “Can I tell you something?”
Judy was still lost in the review. “Sure. But we need to have this laminated and framed before Fred gets back. We can hang it in the entranceway, and—”
“Judy, listen to me, this is important.”
“I know, that’s why we should get it framed today, tomorrow at the latest.”
“OK. I’ll take care of it. Now sit down.” Kasey pulled her friend into a seat and brought her chair up beside her.
“This is about me, not Windows,” she said.
“Oh?” Judy leaned toward Kasey. “Tell all.”
“If you’ll listen and not overreact.”
“Me, overreact?” Judy rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “I can’t imagine why you’d say that.”
Kasey sighed deeply and signaled for Mack to bring their usual ice tea. “Because I’m talking about me—and Will.”
The corners of Judy’s mouth turned down. “Surprise, surprise.” She gave herself a little shake. “Sorry. I said I’d listen and I will. You look very serious.”
“I am very serious, Judy. I’m falling in love—no, that’s not true. I’m already in love with him. Wildly, totally. He’s the most wonderful, the sexiest... You should see him now, Judy. I shaved off his beard—”
“You what?”
“Shaved his beard,” Kasey said, accepting her ice tea from Mack and taking a sip.
“What kind of games are you two playing?”
Kasey didn’t even blush. “Lovers’ games. And this is for real.”
Judy’s usually mobile face was suddenly serious, her brown eyes shaded with worry. “I might as well admit that I’ve been expecting this—and worrying about it. Why?” She answered her own question. “Because you know practically nothing about him.”
“I know all I need to know.”
“Oh, yeah?” Judy asked doubtfully, sitting back and sipping her tea. “Specifics, please.”
“He’s wonderfully supportive. I feel safe with him.” When Judy didn’t react, she added, “After the subway incident, I was really dependent on Will, and he was there, protective and—”
Judy put up a warning hand. “Slow down. What subway incident?”
“Oh, it was nothing, really. When we left your party, we ran into a crazy crowd of partiers on the subway platform. When the train came, I was bumped and almost fell on the track. At the time, I thought someone had pushed m
e.”
“My God, that’s awful!”
“But Will grabbed me and pulled me away. If it hadn’t been for him, well, I hate to think what would have happened.”
“Someone pushed you?”
“I thought I felt a hand on my back, and for a moment I teetered there on the edge. But now I’m convinced it was accidental.”
“What changed your mind?”
“Frankly?” Kasey thought that over for a moment. “I believe it was Carl’s move to California. Before I knew that he was on the other side of the country, I thought he might have done it. Remember, I was sure Carl made the phone calls.”
“And screwed up things here,” Judy reminded her.
“But it turns out that he couldn’t have been responsible. And now I believe everything was in my mind.”
“Yeah.” Judy studied Kasey with narrowed eyes. “I guess so. But doesn’t it seem weird to you that all those strange things happened recently?”
“Well...”
“You really believe it’s coincidence?” Judy prodded.
“As Will says, there are a lot of crazy people out there.”
“And all the crazy people seem to be hanging around you. But they’ve only been hanging around for the past week or so.”
“I guess. Maybe a little longer.”
“Only since you met Will Eastman.”
Kasey opened her mouth to reply, but Judy kept on talking, her voice deadly serious. “Item one, you met him under suspicious circumstances on the elevator. Just over a week ago, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Fate,” Kasey replied.
“Later, you were locked in the storage room with him.”
“Fate again. Wonderful, romantic fate.”
“The lobster screwup wasn’t so romantic,” Judy said.
“That had nothing to do with—”
“But it happened in the same time frame, Kasey,” Judy reminded her. “So did the reservations mess, the phone calls and the subway push. All since you met Will Eastman.”
Kasey couldn’t help getting angry. She took a deep breath to avoid a confrontation with Judy and spoke evenly. “Why would Will harass me like that? It makes no sense.”
“Unless...” Judy was thoughtful. “Unless he was playing a game with you.”
“Not Will—”
“Give me a chance to explain, Kasey.”
“All right, but you’ll never convince me.”
“Let’s say he harasses you, gives you a hard time. You get nervous, uptight. Then he steps in to save you. Mr. Wonderful, offering to make everything right.”
“Will didn’t—”
Judy leaned forward and faced Kasey directly. “That’s what happened, isn’t it?”
Kasey thought back to the first time they’d made love. After the subway incident. She’d been keyed up, on edge and desperately vulnerable. And he’d been there for her. “Those may be the facts,” she admitted, “but they don’t mean a thing.”
“I think they do, Kasey. I always had a strange feeling about the guy, and his pursuit of you proves I was right.”
“Ha!” Kasey said victoriously. “There you’re wrong. I was the one who pursued Will. I wanted him, Judy. I asked him to lunch in the park. I invited him to your party. I knocked on his door—”
Judy gave a dismissive shake of her head. “That’s the oldest come-on in the book, and you know it. He plays hard to get, and you go after him. He’s messing with your head, Kasey. I think he’s dangerous.”
Kasey didn’t reply immediately, and for a good reason. The word dangerous had got to her. She remembered the feeling of fear that had overcome her during those first moments on the elevator with Will. Danger. It had been her first impression of him. She’d felt it again in the storage room. Getting to know him, she’d shed her apprehension. But first impressions could sometimes be lasting ones.
Kasey came to her senses. “This is ridiculous, Judy. Whatever I thought of Will when I first met him doesn’t matter. I know him now and he’s nothing like your description. You make him sound like some kind of nut case when he’s really a wonderful, intelligent and loving man—”
“Who lurks around dark corners, doesn’t show his face in the daylight, runs from TV cameras and has tons of money but no job.” Judy sat back, gloating. “I rest my case. And add another thought to it. Maybe he’s a psychopath.”
“Judy, this is insane.”
“You could be living next door to a mental case, and falling in love with him!” Her eyes lit up. “I know! Let’s hire a private detective to check him out.”
Kasey burst into laughter. “Hire a detective? Absolutely not.”
Judy shrugged and finished her tea. “It’s not so crazy. Lots of women hire detectives.”
“Not me,” Kasey said decisively.
“If you won’t hire a private eye, then let’s get my uncle Paul.”
Kasey was laughing again.
“No, listen to me. He’s at the Department of Motor Vehicles. He can run a check on Will. Or what about this—my friend Rachel’s husband is a cop. He could look into the records—”
“No, no, no. You’re the crazy one now, Judy. First, you were sure that Will’s ex-wife was harassing me. Now you’re sure Will himself is the harasser.”
“If not Will or his wife, then who, Kasey? Who has it in for you?”
“Could be anyone. Some disgruntled patron...”
“Yeah, sure. Someone whose soufflé fell flat. Those people usually resort to harassment,” Judy said sarcastically.
“Maybe that redheaded woman,” Kasey offered. “She’s been causing problems.”
“Oh, get real. A customer never would go to such extremes.”
Kasey thought hurriedly. “What about Glenna! You know, the woman on my floor. She’s very interested in Will. Maybe she’s jealous,” Kasey said, trying to remember that early-morning conversation with Glenna. “I got the first phone call just after I told her about Will and me.”
“Now look who sounds crazy,” Judy said. “The woman you’re describing is the one who’s never without a man, the one who goes away weekends and leaves you to baby-sit her cat. Be serious, Kasey. Does Glenna sound like a jealous lunatic?”
“No,” Kasey said honestly. “She doesn’t. Besides, she and I are friends. I’m just grabbing at straws, trying to come up with suspects to get you off Will’s case. But I don’t need to do that because Will has nothing—”
“Maybe not. But there’s a way to be sure,” Judy said excitedly. “You could turn sleuth yourself, get into his apartment, go through his stuff and find out what he’s all about!”
“I’d never do that,” Kasey said adamantly. “Besides, I’ve only been in his apartment once.”
“That’s strange, too. Look at me and Danny. I go to his place, he comes to mine. I know his folks, he knows mine. I’ve even seen his high school yearbook and met most of his friends.”
“And you’ve known Danny for a long time. Will and I are just beginning. All of that will come later.”
“Not if you don’t help it along,” Judy warned darkly. “You’ve got to find out about this man, Kasey. You owe it to yourself. But be very careful.”
* * *
BEING CAREFUL was one thing, spending extra taxi fare to go around the block every night was another. Kasey got off on the corner. All she had to do was cross the street and walk home. But instead of checking for cars and then dashing across when there was a break in traffic, as she usually did, she stood patiently on the corner, waiting for the light.
When the light changed, Kasey stepped into the street. Judy’s warning must have lodged in her mind because she found herself pausing again, looking over her shoulder before turning to check the side street.
That’s when she saw the car bearing down on her like a four-wheeled monster. With a shriek, she jumped backward out of its path, stumbled on the curb and fell in a sprawl on the edge of the sidewalk. The car skidded around the corner, so close that she coul
d smell the burning tire rubber.
“Oh, my God, lady, you were almost hit.” A young couple appeared out of nowhere. The man bent over to help her up.
“Be careful,” the woman cautioned. “She may be hurt. Are you all right?”
“I think so,” Kasey said shakily. She realized then that she was trembling all over, and her legs hardly seemed able to support her. She held on to the man’s arm and leaned against him, taking a deep breath to calm her pounding heart. She’d been inches away from death. “Nothing broken,” she said weakly as she tried to avoid collapsing.
The woman stepped over and took her other arm, steadying her. “These city drivers are insane. They never look where they’re going. I was almost hit just last week.” She spoke to the man. “Did you get the license number, honey?”
“No way,” he said. “That character was going too fast. I couldn’t even make out the car model. A dark sedan, and I’d swear there were no headlights.
“Probably burned out and not replaced. Too many clunkers on the street with uninsured, unlicensed drivers at the wheel. It’s a disgrace. The city ought to do something about it—”
“The police have their hands full with crime in the streets,” the man told her before turning his attention to Kasey. “Can we walk you home?”
“No, I can make it. I’m fine, thank you.” She was, except for her torn stockings, pounding heart and the embarrassment of falling flat on her face in front of an audience.
But the couple insisted on crossing the street with her and stood on the corner, watching until she reached Bartow Tower.
Curtis, another member of the building’s staff, was on duty when Kasey pushed through the lobby doors.
“Hi there, Ms. Halliday—hey, what happened to you?”
In the light of the lobby, she could see the damage her fall had done, not only torn stockings and scratched shoes but a black sooty stain across her skirt. Her hands were dirty and she imagined her face was, too.
“Nothing serious. I was dodging a speeding car and tripped on the curb.”
“I bet it was a taxi. Those damn drivers—pardon me, Ms. Halliday—but those darned drivers pay no attention to the law. Why, one almost took me out over on Broadway last week. Didn’t even slow down.”
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