by Linda Wisdom
She reminded herself what had happened the last time she’d gone astray. The divorce may have been civilized but it had still been traumatic for her.
“I eat pretty much anything. Nick is the same except that he won’t eat sushi,” she said. “I have to take Domino home first and make sure Luther is all right.”
“He’s improved his eating habits?”
“He’s stuck to his senior low-fat kitty food,” Lucy said. “He hates it, but he knows he won’t be getting anything else.”
“How about I pick the two of you up at seven?”
“Fine.”
Logan drummed his knuckles on the desk surface then walked away.
Lucy felt a stir in her stomach as if she was free-falling from a great height.
“It’s only dinner and Nick will be with us,” she whispered to herself.
“WHY DO I have to go with you guys?” Nick asked, when Lucy informed him of their dinner plans with Logan.
“Because you were invited and I’m not leaving you home alone.”
“I’m old enough to stay by myself for a couple hours and there’s no way Logan would want his date’s son along,” he argued. “No offense, Mom, but that’s really gross.”
“You’re invited, you’re going,” she said firmly. “So go put on a clean shirt.”
As she turned to go to her room and dress, she tossed him another mandate over her shoulder. “Do me a favor and take Domino out,” she instructed. “We haven’t had an accident in more than a week and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Nick got up from the floor and headed out of the bedroom with the puppy running behind him.
With one eye on the clock, Lucy changed her clothes and applied makeup. She couldn’t even recall the last time she’d been out on a date.
“Consider this a test run,” she told her mirrored self. “Dating was never good for you. Maybe now things will change.”
There was that insurance broker who’d come into the clinic with his black lab last week, she recalled. He’d learned she was single and wanted to get to know her better. He’d suggested they get together for coffee sometime. So why didn’t she take him up on his offer? Because he had a habit of not looking at my face, she reminded herself. She’d felt as if he could see all the way to the label on her bra.
Or maybe she just imagined he acted like that. Wasn’t it easier to put a man in the wrong before she got hurt? What would she end up doing next? Was she going to turn into one of those mothers who hung on to their children for as long as possible? That was a picture she didn’t want to consider. At this rate the world would be telling her to get a life.
Lucy quickly shook the thoughts out of her head. “Self-analysis never gets you anywhere,” she said, then returned to her bedroom to dress.
NICK WAS in the front yard when Logan drove up.
“Cool car!” Nick gazed with covetous eyes at the red BMW convertible.
“It has a lot less dog hair in it than my truck does,” Logan confided, reaching down to pet Domino as the puppy ran to him.
“You really don’t have to worry about me coming along and ruining your night,” Nick said as Logan picked up the puppy. “I can stay home.”
“I think he’s afraid we’ll embarrass him,” Lucy said, coming out of the house.
Logan looked up and froze. A light left on inside the house sent sparkles through the etched-glass panels in the double front doors, surrounding her with a magical aura of light.
She wore a flirty-looking skirt and her hair had been styled in loose curls that were swept back behind her ears. The only makeup he’d ever noticed her wear at the clinic was a tinted lipgloss. Tonight her eyes were highlighted with a taupe eye shadow and dark mascara and blush brought out her cheekbones. Her shimmery warm red lipstick brought his gaze to her lips then down to her bare toes sporting the same color. He suddenly had a vision of her wearing that lipstick and nothing else.
Good enough to eat.
Logan shifted uneasily. Not exactly the best thoughts to cross your mind when you were standing next to your date’s kid.
“How does Mexican food sound to you two?” he asked quickly.
“All the guacamole I can eat?” Nick asked hopefully.
“Until you turn green.”
Nick whooped with joy and ran into the house with Domino. He was back outside in moments.
“There’s a reason why I’m afraid to take him to an all-you-can-eat buffet,” Lucy told Logan.
Nick climbed into the back seat and settled back.
“Have you been to the Hacienda Inn?” Logan asked as he started up the car.
“No, but I’ve heard good things about it.”
“I want my food to burn the roof of my mouth off.” Nick draped himself over the top of the front seat.
“What do you think you’re doing? You do not take off your seatbelt,” Lucy scolded her son.
He grinned at her as he sat back and pulled his seatbelt across his chest and clicked it in.
“You’ll really like this restaurant, Nick,” Logan said. “Their salsa is hot enough to start a fire.”
“Cool!” Nick’s enthusiasm was infectious.
“One thing he’ll never be is the blasé teenager,” Lucy told Logan.
“Yes, I’ve noticed.” He grinned.
As Logan had hoped, Lucy was suitably impressed with the restaurant, which was designed to resemble an old California mission. They were seated at a table on the patio surrounded by cactus and exotic flowering plants.
Nick started to reach for the bowl of salsa and companion bowl of warm tortilla chips but quickly subsided when his mother shot him a warning look.
“So I guess this means no margarita for me?”
“Not for another eight years,” she told him.
“Trust me, they would have carded you,” Logan confided to Nick out of the corner of his mouth.
Lucy was grateful for her margarita to cool the heat generated not only by the fiery salsa but by her nerves. No matter how much she told herself not to be, she was nervous about this evening. How many men were willing to take a woman’s son along with them on a date? None of the men she had dated in the past—not that there were all that many—had asked Nick to come along with them. In fact, many of them had offered to pay for a baby-sitter.
Logan Kincaid, the man she considered a player, was the one who included her son. He’d treated Nick as an equal from the beginning.
Under the cover of lowered lashes she watched Logan as she sipped her drink. The patio lights shone down on him, turning his hair into a golden aura. She imagined she could even see the sparks of gold in his brown eyes that held warmth and laughter as he joked with Nick.
When their appetizer of chips with melted cheese and guacamole came out, they dug in with relish. The plate was clean when it was replaced with their meals.
“That looks good.” Logan eyed Lucy’s fajitas with a hungry eye.
“Back off, buster.” She waved her fork at him.
“You never get between Mom and food,” Nick chortled.
“Same here.” Logan easily blocked Nick’s covert movement to sneak a tacquito from his own loaded plate. “You try it again, kid, there will be no dessert for you.”
“Ha! I looked at the menu and no offense, but flan isn’t one of my favorites.” Nick returned to his heavily loaded chicken burrito and spooned a good portion of the fiery salsa onto it.
“You’re a chili fan, aren’t you?” Logan asked.
“I’m a growing boy,” Nick said around a mouthful of food. He winced when he caught the look of censure on his mother’s face that clearly said “Do not speak with your mouth full!” He quickly swallowed. “Sorry.”
She wasn’t surprised to see him not only finish his burrito but polish off the last of her fajitas.
“You’re right, he’d clean out an all-you-can-eat buffet,” Logan said.
“That’s my boy.” Lucy beamed. “The reason my grocery bills equal the Nationa
l Debt.”
“And here I thought the dogs ate a lot.” Logan met Lucy’s eyes. “Maybe that means he won’t want dessert.”
“Yeah, I want dessert. Just not flan,” Nick confessed.
“Then you’re in luck. We’re going to the kind of place that caters to everyone’s sweet tooth,” Logan confided.
“Mom’s got one of those,” Nick said. “We won’t talk about how she is once a month.” He ducked as she pretended to swat him.
Logan’s surprise turned out to be a large old-fashioned ice cream parlor complete with a soda fountain and jukebox playing rock-and-roll music.
When Nick spied some of his classmates, he asked permission to join them. He was gone before the word yes had barely passed Lucy’s lips.
“We’ll have your sundae sent over there,” Logan told his departing figure then turned to Lucy. He grinned at her. “Alone at last.”
She made a point of looking around her. “Bright lights, loud music, kids running all around. You’re right, we’re in a regular haven of solitude.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No.” Yes, it did. He’d kissed her a few times. She’d like to try it again, but there was no way it was going to happen here.
Lucy had a sudden mental picture of Logan stretched out on the counter with scoops of ice cream surrounding him. Bite-size pieces of fudge brownie were scattered across the ice cream then topped with thick super-rich hot fudge sauce, a coating of real whipped cream, a sprinkling of chopped nuts and a nice red maraschino cherry on top.
She could feel herself salivating and not just for the edibles.
“Lucy. Earth to Lucy.”
Judging by the tone of his voice, he’d said her name more than once. She jerked herself back to the present and found a teenage waitress standing by their table.
“Are you ready to order?” Logan asked.
Lucy’s smile spoke volumes as she scanned the menu. “Oh yes,” she practically purred.
Logan almost fell off his chair. If he didn’t know better he’d swear Lucy meant something entirely different than the fudge brownie sundae she ordered for herself or even the pecan praline sundae she ordered for Nick.
He’d come here before with dates, usually for a post-movie treat. But none had aroused him the way Lucy just did.
The lady was giving him X-rated ideas while they were sitting in a G-rated establishment.
He was never so grateful as when their sundaes arrived. He needed something good and cold to focus his attention on.
Lucy’s eyes gleamed as she dipped her spoon into the dish. The sound that escaped her lips as she took her first taste was almost sinful.
“This is the absolute best hot fudge sauce I have ever had.” She daintily licked the back of her spoon.
Logan watched the tip of her tongue appear. It was way too easy to imagine her savoring him the way she savored her dessert.
He wondered if Nick could find a ride home later. Much later.
“It’s going to melt.”
Lucy’s comment barely made a dent in his consciousness.
“Hm?”
“Your ice cream.” She pointed with her spoon. “If you don’t eat it at a fairly good speed, it will melt.”
“Mom, Sean asked if I could sleep over there tonight.” As if Logan’s wish came true, Nick appeared at the table. “His mom said it’s okay with her if it’s okay with you and she’ll drive me home in the morning.”
Lucy looked over and smiled at Sean’s mother, who smiled and waved at her. Then the woman’s knowing gaze shifted toward Logan. She nodded and waved back. She knew what the woman was thinking. She’d have to talk to her about the way her mind worked.
“All right.”
“Thanks for dinner, Logan,” Nick said before taking off.
“At least he remembered his manners without any prompting.” Lucy sighed with relief.
Logan grinned. “As I said before, alone at last.”
Chapter Eight
When Logan pulled up in front of Lucy’s house, motion detector lights flicked on, lighting up the area. When he shut off the engine, they could hear high-pitched barking coming from within.
“We keep Domino crated when we’re gone. More to protect him from Luther than to protect the rugs from him,” Lucy explained, pulling her key ring out of her purse and activating the garage-door opener. The door glided upward about six inches, froze for a moment and started descending. She uttered an exasperated sound and punched the remote again. Once more the door started up only to go back down again. “Dammit, Luther! Leave those sensors alone!” she yelled.
“Luther?” Logan asked.
She nodded as she jabbed the button again. This time the door was allowed to move up without incidence. “There’s a cat door from the kitchen into the garage and another one to the backyard. Luther likes to trip the garage-door opener sensors. He’ll do the same when we’re leaving so the door keeps going down. He only does it when he knows we’re running late.” She led the way through the garage. The sound of the cat door told them where the devious feline had escaped.
“Are you sure he’s not a troll in cat fur?” Logan asked as he followed her into the kitchen.
“I’m pretty sure the day will come when he’ll end up a fur pillow,” she muttered, noting the bowl that was filled with kitty kibble before she’d left was now scattered across the floor. She swore under her breath. “His special kibble. Can you tell he hates it?”
“I gathered that.” Logan grabbed a broom sitting by a counter and started sweeping the kibble into a pile. Lucy scooped it up and tossed it back in Luther’s bowl. “Another battle of wills?”
“And one more he’ll probably win, but not without a fight on my part. I have to keep Domino’s food practically locked up or Luther eats it.”
“At least he’s staying away from whatever gave him a bellyache that night,” Logan said.
“He hasn’t stopped his hunting. I still find dead gophers by the patio door.” She opened a cabinet and brought out a bottle of chardonnay. “Would you like a glass of wine?”
“Sure.” He put the broom back. “Here, I’ll do that for you.” He took the corkscrew from her and easily extracted the cork.
She poured the wine and handed him one of the glasses. A pitiful whine then a howl sounded from the back of the house. Lucy chuckled.
“Let me go rescue him. It’s a nice enough evening if you’d like to sit outside.” She nodded toward the patio door before walking toward the hallway. “Mommy’s coming, baby!” she called out.
Logan flipped a switch by the patio door and watched twinkle lights surrounding the patio cover come on. He picked up his and Lucy’s glasses and carried them outside. A throaty rumble to his left warned him Luther was lurking nearby.
“There’s plenty of field mice out there,” he called out to the cat as he settled on a cushioned bench and stretched his legs out in front of him.
An ear-splitting yowl was his reply.
Logan relaxed in the cool night air, inhaling the fresh scent from the lemon and tangerine trees planted along the back of the property. Twinkling lights like the ones on the patio cover also covered the roof of a gazebo set in one corner. Through the opening, he could see a small round table and two chairs. In the other corner was a windmill he gauged to be about six feet tall. The evening breeze moved the blades in a lazy circle. He couldn’t be sure, but he swore the blades had designs painted on them.
A swimming pool with a slide was the main focus, and a spa on the side, both set against a wall of rocks. It looked as if someone could climb up and jump off from the top if they wished. He sensed Nick had done just that more than once. He knew he would have at that age. Even the nearby barbecue appeared to be built out of rock in keeping with the pool and spa.
Lucy had done everything to make her house a home where a man could relax.
He was right. She was dangerous.
He turned his head when he heard the patio door slide open
then closed. He looked back around when he heard the sound of trickling water. Multicolored lights flickered on inside the pool and spa while a fountain spouted up from the middle of the pool.
“Very nice,” he commented.
“I call it magic,” Lucy said walking over to him. “It’s supposed to inspire relaxation. Probably why I spend a lot of time out here.”
An excited Domino ran over to him and tried to leap into his lap, but his short legs wouldn’t allow it. Logan picked him up, but the puppy soon had other things on his mind and tried to leap down until finally Logan took pity on him and set him down. He immediately ran toward the grass.
“He’s doing great with housebreaking, but we still have some issues with chewing things that don’t belong to him,” Lucy explained, sitting down next to Logan. She turned sideways to face him and tucked one leg up under her as she leaned against the side of the bench.
He noticed she was now barefoot. He handed her her glass.
“Thank you.” She sipped her wine. “And thank you for dinner and dessert.”
“You’re welcome.” He looked across the yard. “Your cat is stalking your dog.”
“Yes, he does that.” She heaved a sigh. “Luther doesn’t understand that Domino’s still too young to know fear, but it doesn’t stop him from doing his best.”
“I hate to think what that cat does for laughs.”
“That is what he does for laughs.”
“When did Nick become interested in that little blond girl?”
Lucy whipped around so fast she almost fell off the glider. “What?”
Logan swiftly leaned over and grabbed her wineglass before it fell from her fingers. He was amused by her reaction.
“The little blonde in the group of kids he was with. The whole time we were there he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Trust me, I know these things.”
Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. “That’s Brooke Taylor, Sean’s sister. Sean’s his best friend. Nick’s too young to look at girls.”
“He’s thirteen, Lucy,” Logan said gently, seeing the shock written on her face. “Before you know it Nick will be in high school and dating.”