by Linda Wisdom
Yet, at the office she was the perfect receptionist. Nothing in her manner indicated she was definitely one wicked woman. But then she’d pass him in the hall or hand him a chart and he’d see a glint in her eye or something in the curve of her lips that would remind him of something she’d said the previous night.
“You are so pathetic.” Gwen sniffed as she walked past him outside the exam rooms. “If you were a dog you’d be out there biting her neck.” She indicated a dog’s mating ritual.
“Hey, I’m not the one who comes in with hickeys all over her neck,” he defended himself.
“That hasn’t happened since I was dating Curry.”
“Who names a kid after a spice, anyway?”
“It’s a family name.” Gwen glared at him. “Go pick on Kristi and Jeremy. They’re dating now.”
“They are? Since when?”
“For about the last two weeks,” Lucy said as she joined them in the hall. Magnum walked beside her. “Where have you been?”
Logan looked at the two women and saw the same amused expression on their faces as if they shared the same secret.
“Why do I feel outnumbered when I’m around you two?”
“Because you are,” Gwen said.
Logan glanced at his watch. “Anyone still waiting out there?” he asked Lucy.
She shook her head.
He kept his eyes on her. “Gwen, why don’t you go to lunch?”
She didn’t miss a beat. “I’m on my way.”
Lucy looked around. “Just us and the critters,” she said.
“Yep.” Logan walked over to the phone. “Barbecue or Chinese?”
“Chinese. And this time don’t forget the wonton.”
Twenty minutes later they were in Logan’s kitchen, Lucy seated cross-legged on the table while Logan sat on the counter closest to her. Magnum and Domino had followed them over to the house and sat patiently, hoping for handouts.
“I’ve seen bigger closets,” Lucy said, digging into her lemon chicken. “Not that your kitchen doesn’t have charm,” she added hastily. “And it’s very clean.”
“Probably because I don’t spend a lot of time in here.” Logan fumbled with his chopsticks. He swore under his breath and tossed them into the sink. He leaned over, dug a fork out of a drawer and returned to his broccoli beef.
“I thought you promised to give the chopsticks a try.” She easily used hers to scoop up pork fried rice.
“I did. They sucked.”
“Now you sound like Nick.”
“You can play with your chopsticks. I’ll stick with a fork.” Logan picked out a piece of broccoli and tossed it at Magnum who, at the speed of light, dropped the phone, snapped up the treat and had the phone back in his mouth. Logan dug back into the carton for another piece.
“Why do you order the broccoli beef when you don’t like broccoli?”
“Because I’m an adult and I don’t have to eat the broccoli now.” He set the carton to one side and eyed her chicken.
“Don’t even think about it.” She hugged it to herself protectively. She eyed Domino who hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “Do you think he’ll always have one ear up and the other down?”
“Probably. Gives him character.” He watched her lean down and hand a bit of chicken to the puppy then offer a larger piece to the husky. “How come you never scratch me behind my ears?”
“For the same reason I don’t rub your belly to see if I can get your leg to shake. I start doing either and you turn into a sex maniac.” She pointed her chopsticks at him.
He grinned. “That was fun.”
Lucy couldn’t help grinning back because Logan was right. It was fun. During some of their lunch breaks they talked, sometimes they made love and all the time they laughed.
When did things change? she asked herself. When did she start falling in love with Logan?
The words might have been spoken silently, but they still sounded as loud as a shout bouncing around inside her brain. The idea was frightening because she told herself this was an affair, nothing permanent. She didn’t want a marriage that ended in sorrow again. This time it was more than her heart in danger. She knew she had to think of Nick also. He admired Logan a great deal. How would he react when the time came for her and Logan to part? Not to mention how would she react?
That didn’t stop her from looking at Logan as if he was the best thing in her life. Maybe she should just take what she could get. Enjoy the moment and not worry about what might happen tomorrow.
If Scarlet O’Hara could do it, so could Lucy.
Due to an emergency at 3:00 a.m., Logan had been working nonstop on very little sleep. His jeans looked as if he’d picked them up off the bedroom floor and his T-shirt was badly wrinkled. He hadn’t shaved that morning and his beard looked reddish-blond against his tanned skin, while his hair was as rumpled as his clothing. She wondered what he would think if she told him that he looked pretty darn cute in his glasses. She knew enough to look beyond the exterior to the man who, even with little sleep, was patient with the humans along with the animals.
Lucy put down her container and stood up. She walked over and rose up on her toes so she could loop her arms around his neck.
“You don’t really want that fortune cookie, do you?”
He looked at the plastic-wrapped cookie he’d just picked up then back at her. “I don’t?”
She shook her head. “I can tell you your fortune.”
“Really?”
She nodded solemnly.
“What does Ms. Lucinda Jeanette Stone Donner see in my future?” Logan asked.
Lucy rose up again and whispered in his ear. After she told him his future, Logan didn’t waste any time in dropping the cookie in the sink and hopping off the counter.
“Magnum, keep an eye on Domino,” he ordered as he swept Lucy up into his arms.
“Let’s see whose fortune comes true first,” he said, carrying her toward the bedroom.
The insistent pressure of his mouth soon silenced Lucy’s giggles. They parted long enough to pull Logan’s T-shirt off, then her sweater, before working on each other’s jeans.
He exhaled a sigh when he saw her red lacy underwear.
“You really know how to drive a guy crazy,” he muttered, tracing the narrow lace band.
“I try,” she said modestly, but she had other things on her mind and intended to show Logan just what. “Remember that night at the Mañana?” she whispered in his ear.
“In living color.”
“Let’s see if we can recreate that, shall we?” She trailed her hand downward until she found his erection. Her fingers were cool as they slipped around the hot skin.
“Just remember I need to be coherent this afternoon for the patients.”
Lucy hooked one leg around his calf and pulled him down to her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”
“I THINK you crippled me,” Logan whispered in Lucy’s ear as he brought out medication for an arthritic Siamese cat named Clementine.
She smiled. “And you’re complaining because…?”
“Who’s complaining? I’m just making a statement of fact. I know it’s short notice, but I thought I’d see if you were free for dinner tonight and maybe a movie afterward.”
“I’m sure Nick could stay with Cathy and Lou. Unless you’d rather he go with us,” she teased.
“I like your idea better.” He tapped the prescription bottle on the counter and handed it to her before he returned to the back.
“Logan is a sweet boy,” Mrs. Bennett, Clementine’s owner, a silver-haired woman in her eighties, confided as she paid the bill. “And single. It must be difficult for you having to raise your boy on your own.”
Lucy smiled at the woman’s pointed look. “Actually, I think my son does the raising.”
“I understand he’s doing well working for Logan.” She patted Domino’s head since the puppy was sprawled asleep on the counter. “It isn’t good to be alone in your later yea
rs. I should know. My Ian has been gone for twenty-six years. The man irritated the hell out of me with his incessant clearing of the throat, but do you know, after he was gone, I found I missed that.” Her lined face, highlighted with a bright pink blush, appeared pensive. “It’s an odd thing to miss, isn’t it, dear?”
“I’m sure there are other things about him you remember,” Lucy said as she handed the prescription bottle to her.
“Well…” Mrs. Bennett leaned over the counter and lowered her voice. “The man was an incredible lover.” She smiled and patted Lucy’s hand. “Clementine and I have to get home for ‘Murder She Wrote.’ Remember what I said, dear. Dr. Kincaid looks to be in excellent health, so he should last you.” She picked up Clementine’s carrier and walked to the door.
Lucy winced as she watched Mrs. Bennett back her ancient Mercedes out of a parking space and barrel out of the lot.
“It’s better to get off the road when you see her coming,” Gwen said, carrying Beau over to his cage. Beau’s cat followed them and settled in his bed. “She’s a sweetheart, but I’m afraid they’re going to take her driver’s license away soon.”
“At least she’s in a heavy car that will protect her,” Logan said. “Last patient?”
“She said you look healthy,” Lucy said, scooping Domino up and setting him on the floor. “Someone who will last into his senior years. It seems her Ian didn’t.”
“She told me that Ian was a wild man in bed,” Gwen said.
“No! Do not say any of this!” Logan groaned. “That’s like listening to my grandmother talk about her sex life. We’re talking word pictures that have now been burned into my brain.”
Lucy and Gwen exchanged a look only another woman could decipher.
“Logan, you do realize that your parents had sex at least once,” she said.
He threw up his hands and muttered something about sadistic women. “You know there are impressionable kids here.” He nodded toward the back.
Gwen snickered. “That’s men for you. Doing it is fine, talking about it is scary.”
“Nick nearly ran screaming out of the room when I gave him the talk.” Lucy started straightening up papers on the counter. “One friend of mine told me her son took notes.”
“This is why I don’t have children,” Gwen announced.
“Only because your species is known to eat their young,” Logan said.
They turned when the bell over the door tinkled.
“Hey, guys!” Brenda walked in with a baby carrier in one hand.
“Hey, Brenda.” Gwen bounced up and hugged her. She glanced in the carrier. “I’m sorry, Bren, but babies are ugly until they start looking human.”
Brenda shook her head. “Good thing I’m used to you, Gwen.” She turned to Lucy. “Thanks so much for helping out. Logan tends to leave things until the last minute.”
“No problem.” Lucy felt a sinking in her stomach that started the moment she saw the young woman walk in. She’d known from the beginning that her work here was temporary, but somewhere along the way she’d forgotten that. She’d found something new that she enjoyed, and even with her doubts about having a relationship with Logan she still saw him in a whole new light. That was what she considered her real perk. Not their shared lunches or what went on after lunch. It was their conversations, the easy way they could talk about almost everything.
She made a point of not looking at his face. For all she knew, he might be happy to have Brenda back. Lucy wasn’t used to feeling uncertain when it came to a man, but she felt unsure with Logan right then.
She kept a smile on her face as she went over to look at the infant. As she held the baby girl, she felt a tug down deep that she hadn’t felt in some time.
Talk about proof your biological clock hasn’t slowed down.
SHE’S GOT THAT LOOK women get when they see a baby and think about having one of their own.
Logan suddenly felt as if all the air had left the room.
Lucy was like him. She wasn’t looking for a husband just like he wasn’t looking for a wife.
They were living for the moment.
Did you tell her that? asked an inner voice.
Could things change that quickly?
“My mom has offered to watch the baby so I can come back to work,” Brenda said.
After that announcement, Logan remembered little. But he didn’t miss the looks Gwen shot him. None of them boded well for him.
“I vote to keep Lucy,” she muttered after Brenda left.
“Can’t be done and you know it.”
Probably a good idea, Logan. Those lunches with Lucy were getting a little too cozy.
“Go on home, Gwen. I’ll finish up,” he said.
She turned around and stared at him. “Do not do something stupid,” she said under her breath.
He ignored her and continued on to the back of the building.
THE FUNK HE WAS IN lasted through dinner and a movie. She’d even agreed to see an action/adventure film over the latest chick flick. Not that he paid attention to it.
“Cathy said they’ll drop Nick off at the clinic in the morning,” Lucy was saying as he drove up her driveway and parked in front of the garage. “He made sure he had his Adoption Day T-shirt with him.”
“Good,” Logan said absently.
“But I told him that he can only find good homes for the crocodiles,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“I really hope no one adopts the dragon,” she continued. “He’s so cute even if he breathes fire. Who knows, maybe I’ll take him.”
“Okay.” Then it hit him what she’d said. Logan winced. “I guess I wasn’t listening, was I?”
She unbuckled the seat belt and half turned in the seat. “Does that mean I can’t adopt the dragon?” she asked, batting her eyes.
“Fill out the paperwork and we’ll see.” He climbed out of the car and walked around the hood to open her door.
Lucy activated the garage-door opener. It raised barely six inches before it started down again.
“Enough, Luther! No treats for you!” She pressed the button again.
This time the door moved up without hesitation.
“I learned if I threaten him where it hurts most, he’ll behave,” she said as they walked through the garage. The flap of the cat door batted shut.
“Would you like some Irish coffee?” she asked, flipping on the kitchen light.
“Sounds good.” He leaned against the counter and watched her grind coffee beans and set up the coffee maker.
“Would you mind getting the whiskey out of that cabinet over there? It’s on the top shelf.” Lucy rummaged through the refrigerator and withdrew a can of whipped cream and a small container of shaved chocolate.
A plaintive howl reached their ears.
“Want me to rescue the pup?” Logan asked.
“I’m sure he’d appreciate it. He’s in my room,” she said.
Logan followed the sounds until he reached the end of the hallway and opened double doors. A lamp burned on a table in one corner.
“Hey, guy,” he said in a low voice, walking across the room to the crate and crouching down to loosen the latch. Domino pitched himself into Logan’s arms.
Logan straightened up with Domino still in his arms. He looked around; he hadn’t been in here before.
He could smell her perfume lingering in the air. The comforter covering the bed was a splash of pale colors. Pillows formed a soft sea at the head of the bed. French doors opened up onto the patio and he could see the pool lights twinkling outside. A man could roll out of bed and dive in for an early-morning swim, he thought.
He had a desire to spend the night in this room.
After Brenda had showed up that afternoon, Logan had had a variety of conflicting emotions roll through his mind.
What if Lucy decided she wanted more than an affair?
Ever since that night at Mañana, the word love had sneaked into his mind a couple of times, which
was damn scary.
Love meant marriage and marriage had proved to be a bad option. Once was enough for him.
He shut down his thoughts, hefted Domino, who crawled up him to drape himself over Logan’s shoulder, and left the room.
“Is he okay?” Lucy asked when Logan walked into the kitchen.
“He’s fine.” He set Domino on the floor.
Lucy poured the coffee, added a healthy shot of whiskey in both mugs then squirted whipped cream on top and a sprinkling of shaved chocolate.
“Since it isn’t real chilly tonight, how about sitting outside?” she suggested.
“It’ll go good with the Irish coffee,” he said, picking up the two mugs and following her out.
The twinkling lights highlighted the small table and two chairs in the middle of the gazebo.
“You need music out here,” Logan said, placing the mugs on the table.
“I do need something out here, don’t I?” She looked around. “Nick had talked about a sound system, but I think I’ve put it off since I know the music he prefers.”
“Kristi and Jeremy have introduced him to some new bands.”
She made a face. “Tell me about it.” She sat down and picked up her mug.
Logan sipped the hot coffee, enjoying the rich brew and the bite of whiskey sliding down his throat. ‘Whew, you don’t stint on the whiskey, do you?”
“That’s the best part.” She grinned. “You should see what I can do with hot chocolate and crème de menthe.”
He grinned back. “There’s that wicked woman again.” He almost jumped when he felt a foot braced against the edge of his chair. He dropped his free hand down and circled her ankle in a warm grip. He could feel the delicate chain against his palm. Funny how the ankle bracelet he’d given her had him feeling a little primitive as if the chain showed ownership.