by Phoebe Conn
Luke sat back while their waiter placed steaming bowls of wonton soup in front of them. “There’s a great deal to be said for living in the moment, especially when confronted with something as delicious as this.”
Disappointed he was again sidestepping an important issue, she released his hand to pick up her spoon. “I can’t wait for the fortune cookies,” she exclaimed, but while she could understand his desire to avoid contemplating the future, it didn’t make it any easier for her.
Love was widely believed to conquer all, but it had not been enough to preserve Luke’s family, and Catherine preferred silence to a debate on the subject. Either a person was open to love or he wasn’t, and in her view, it was plain were Luke stood. He was an extremely attractive man, even with his emotional scars, but she wasn’t so foolish as to believe she could ever change him. He would have to want to change on his own.
The wonton pillows were stuffed with shrimp, and Catherine savored every bite. “I can’t even remember the last time I was hungry, but then I eat so many meals alone, that one blurs into the next. I used to plan our meals for the week, but now, more often than not, I just open a can of soup.”
“You need to take better care of yourself,” Luke scolded gently.
“If one lives in the moment, there’s no reason to worry about health. After all, I’m perfectly fine tonight, and that’s all that really matters.”
He sipped the last drop of his soup and set his spoon aside. “You’ve made a good point, if we don’t look after our health today, we may have no marvelous moments to enjoy tomorrow.”
She nodded thoughtfully, and having scored a point for her side, she wisely smiled and waited silently for the rest of their meal to be served. When their waiter placed all the delicious dishes on their table, she blotted her mouth with her napkin rather than drool.
“I don’t know where to begin,” she murmured.
“What about alphabetical order?” Luke teased. “We could begin with the beans and work our way across the plates to the walnut shrimp.”
“A logical plan, but I love the walnut shrimp and don’t want to postpone it another minute.”
“Then you’ve answered your own question. I’ll begin with the spareribs.”
The walnut shrimp was so incredibly good, she took two servings before moving on to the bright green string beans. She picked up one in her fingers and bit off the tip. “Crisp perfection, just as I predicted.”
Luke waited until she’d finished that bean, and then before she could wipe her hand on her napkin, he licked off her fingers. “I don’t know. These spareribs are awfully good, but you taste even better.”
Catherine leaned over to kiss him. “I wonder if they have apartments available for rent upstairs.”
“They might. Are you thinking of moving in and ordering take-out every night?”
“Well, it would certainly beat a can of soup.”
“Maybe it’s the company,” he replied.
They teased each other throughout the meal, licked each other’s fingers, and sat for a long time just sipping tea rather than open their fortune cookies. Finally Luke broke his with a loud snap. He read his fortune but refused to share it until Catherine had read hers.
She broke open her cookie and then smiled. “Your fondest hopes will soon be realized.”
Luke tossed her his. “That’s inspiring. Mine claims recognition comes through hard work.”
“What?” Catherine read it for herself. “That’s almost snotty.”
“Yeah, but it happens to be true. Are you ready to go? I thought we might walk around a while and soak up the atmosphere.”
“I’d like that.” She took his hand again, and in the other he carried the bag containing the cartons of leftovers neither had expected to have. They peered in shop windows and admired the ornate architecture that gave China Town its magical flair. The night was clear, and the stars sparkled brightly overhead, while an occasional firecracker popped in the distance.
“Thank you again. This really has been a perfect evening,” Catherine exclaimed. “But didn’t you promise an incentive to leave?”
“How could I have forgotten?” Luke leaned close and kissed her ear, then the smoothness of her cheek before his mouth found hers. Oblivious to the others out enjoying the evening, he kissed her until she was so unsteady, she had to cling to him for support.
As they broke apart, Luke spoke to the middle-aged couple strolling past. “Sorry, I can’t take her anywhere.”
“Me? You started it.”
“I’d swear you requested an incentive all on your own.”
“A minor point,” she conceded. “Come on, let’s find the car.”
“Yes, ma’am, whatever you say.”
Catherine stopped while she was ahead, but once they reached her house and had stowed the leftovers in the refrigerator, she had another request. “Let’s dance. Do you mind?” She walked ahead of him into the living room, opened the cabinet containing the sound system and turned on the radio.
“I haven’t danced in years,” Luke responded.
“I’m not expecting Dimitri from Dancing with the Stars. Just dance with me.”
He sloughed off his coat and loosened his tie. “As long as you don’t have high expectations, find something nice and slow, and I’ll do my best not to trip over my own feet or yours.”
Catherine kicked off her new pumps and slowly turned the dial. When she found a Spanish language station playing a sweet, romantic ballad, she glanced toward him. “Will this do?”
“Sí, gracias,” Luke replied, and he drew her into his arms. She snuggled against him, swaying in time with the music, and he sighed softly against her hair. “This is indeed the perfect LA evening—Chinese food and mariachi music.”
“Sounds like paradise to me,” Catherine cooed softly. Despite his protest, he danced as gracefully as he moved, and she was having a marvelous time.
At that song’s end, the announcer broke in with a long string of dedications but they kept right on slow dancing into the next song and the next. Catherine’s hair slipped through Luke’s fingers in a silken shower, but she was almost too pliant.
“You falling asleep on me?” he asked.
She smiled up at him. “No, I was just enjoying the moment.”
“I’m glad, but I’d like to go on upstairs before they play La Bamba and I make a complete fool of myself.”
“Oh, Luke, I doubt that’s even possible.”
“Let’s not take the risk.”
He’d just given her the perfect opening to discuss the real risk of the evening, but when they’d had such a good time together, to voice her fears on a condom’s effectiveness struck her as absurd. It wasn’t deceitful, she swiftly convinced herself, it was simply too soon for “what if” discussions when they might cause Luke needless pain. She also knew the best time to discuss sex was when it wasn’t the immediate option.
Her decision reached easily, she made a mental note to call her doctor first thing Monday morning and request a new prescription for birth control pills. Then any child they might conceive would have been planned by them both. Relieved to have found such a sensible solution, she laced her fingers in Luke’s, shut off the radio and turned toward the stairs.
“The cat,” she recalled suddenly. “I need to put the cat to bed.” Smoky appeared the instant she opened the back door, but he stopped there and eyed Luke suspiciously. “Do you like cats?” she inquired.
Smoky’s whiskers were twitching and Luke swore the little beast was sneering at him. “Yeah, I like them fine, but yours doesn’t appear to think much of me.”
“I once owned a marvelously affectionate tomcat who would climb into a stranger’s lap and make himself at home, but Smoky is a bit more reserved. He’ll get used to you soon enough.”
She took a can of cat food from the refrigerator and spooned out Smoky’s dinner onto a paper plate. With Smoky dancing around her feet, she carried it out onto the back porch and then clos
ed the door to shut Smoky in for the night. She washed her hands and winked at Luke as she dried them.
“Now I’m ready for dessert,” she nearly purred, and he followed most willingly. As they moved up the stairs, she peeled off her jacket, tossed it over her shoulder, and he caught it.
She was ecstatic they’d been able to converse the whole evening without once mentioning Lost Angel. She’d hoped Luke would relax and enjoy himself, and it certainly appeared he had. She was the first one to disrobe that night, and he stopped so often to kiss her that it took him a very long time to remove the last of his clothes.
He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her close. “I’d forgotten how warm and soft a woman feels.”
She bit her tongue rather than ask if he were recalling a variety of women, or only Marsha’s petite figure. “As long as you remember me, I’ll be content.”
“Good, now let’s make love for hours, and then get up and eat Chinese food, and then take a bath together.”
“A bath? That sounds wonderful. Do you like bubbles?”
“Of course, gobs of them.” He tightened his hold to lift her off her feet. “Do you need a nap first?”
She licked his shoulder. He wore only a subtle trace of cologne, but it was an incredibly seductive scent. “No. Do you?”
Luke answered with a playful growl and pulled her up onto the bed. They stretched out, their arms and legs tangling as he kissed her with a passion that deepened with each hastily drawn breath. When the telephone on the nightstand rang, it was a jarring reminder of the real world, and Luke pulled back slightly.
“Do you want to answer?” he asked.
“No, you’re here, and there’s no one else I’m even remotely interested in speaking with. I’ll let the machine answer, but could it be for you?”
“No, I’m not on, on the weekends.”
“Then come back here.” She laced her fingers in his hair to lure him back into another lengthy kiss.
The answering machine gave a soft click and whir, and then Joyce began to speak in a frantic whisper. “It’s late, and there’s a strange car in your driveway. I don’t know what to do, call the police or send over a bottle of champagne.”
Highly amused, Catherine reached over to pick up the telephone. “Thank you for the Neighborhood Watch alert, but I’m fine and need neither the police nor champagne. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night.”
Catherine hung up before Joyce could reply and ran her fingertips down Luke’s side. “It’s nice to know the neighbors are watching out for me.”
He slid over her. “Yes, but what about your reputation, Mrs. Brooks? Should you be entertaining gentlemen callers overnight?”
She spread her thighs to welcome him. “Only one gentleman,” she stressed. He began to tease her with his fingertips and lips, and she was lost in a grateful surrender.
Chapter Nine
Joyce scooted her chair closer to the patio table. “Tell me more, tell me more,” she begged, singing the tune from “Grease”.
It was Sunday afternoon, and Catherine was comfortably seated with Smoky napping in her lap. She tickled his ears, and he stretched to encourage more lavish attention. “It was a memorable evening from beginning to end.”
“It must have been, and yet when I went out to get my paper early this morning, Luke was already gone.”
Catherine was deliciously sore, but she wouldn’t confide such a trifling consequence of Luke’s tireless loving. “We had a great time together. There was no need for him to hang around until noon.”
Joyce sat back and toyed with her beautifully manicured nails. “Perhaps not, but it says something about a man when he splits at dawn.”
“I’d say it’s what happened before he left that counts.”
“That’s obvious from the width of your smile, but be careful. Don’t let him take advantage of your good nature.”
“Hasn’t it crossed your mind that I might be taking advantage of his?”
Joyce nearly bolted from her chair. “You wouldn’t!”
“No, but when I doubt there’s much hope of a future with Luke, maybe I’m the one who’s leading him on rather than the other way around.”
“Do you want a future with him?”
Catherine dipped her head. Her passion for Sam had never waned, and she had no reason to believe it would ever fade with someone as affectionate as Luke. That wasn’t the issue, however.
“After a couple of dates, most people can tell if there’s any potential for more than a casual friendship. It’s definitely there with Luke. From what I’ve seen, he’s a man of character and depth, but I’d like a baby or two, and he might not.”
“Did he actually say so?”
“No, and it’s not a line of questioning I care to pursue just yet. We haven’t known each other long, and it’s much too soon to begin talking about marriage and children.”
“You don’t have to say, ‘Let’s get married and have a couple of kids.’ You can always just ask if it’s something he’d like to do someday with the right woman.”
Catherine nodded, but she hadn’t told Joyce how Luke had lost his daughter, nor did she intend to share his confidence with others. “Thanks, I’ll try and work it into our conversation soon. Now tell me about your night. How was the gallery opening?”
Joyce reached up to fluff her curls. “I’m so glad you asked. It was very nice, but there was such a huge crowd that it was difficult to get close enough to appreciate the artwork. Then I rounded a corner, and there was Shane Shephard, sipping a Perrier.”
“You’re kidding, Shane was there?”
“He sure was. He was dressed in a black silk shirt, black slacks and loafers, and he looked even better than he does in shorts. Someone had mistaken him for one of the artists, and he was laughing as he explained he’d merely provided the profusion of plants.
“Then he glanced my way and responded with a startled expression. He came right over to me and said if I’d been the Joyce who had called him, he was sorry he hadn’t gotten right back to me immediately. It seems he’d had several jobs that had kept him so busy he’d let his messages pile up, but he’d planned to answer all of them on Monday.”
“What did you say?”
Joyce shrugged. “My initial reaction was to deny I’d called him, but because he had my telephone number, he would have caught me in an obvious lie.”
“Please tell me you went with the truth.”
Joyce giggled. “Part of it, at least. I said what we’d rehearsed, that I wanted to begin incorporating plants into my decorating jobs.”
Catherine took a sip of iced tea and swore she could still taste Luke. It was such a distracting thought, she sat up and jarred Smoky out of his sleep. He leapt off her lap and went strutting away toward the camellias.
“He bought the story, didn’t he?” she finally had the presence of mind to inquire.
“Of course, although there was a hint of suspicion in his eyes. Did I mention he has the most beautiful blue eyes?”
“Yes, you did. Now go on. What else happened?”
“He complained the place was too crowded to talk and asked if I’d like to go down the street to get a cup of coffee. This time I said yes, and we sat at a tiny corner table at Starbucks for hours. They make a delicious Chai iced tea, by the way.”
“I’ll remember that, but I know you wouldn’t have stayed for hours if you hadn’t liked what you heard.”
“No, I wouldn’t. Cut your losses and escape the losers I always say. But while Shane may be young, he’s one of the most focused individuals I’ve ever met. His dad died when he was in his teens, and he took over the operation of his family’s nursery business before he’d graduated from high school.
“He earned a college degree in business by attending classes at night, and his firm is doing so well that his younger brother and sister, a set of twins, are at the University of California at Santa Cruz, also majoring in business. He believes a concern for the environment, as w
ell as our own well-being, just naturally increases everyone’s desire to fill their homes and offices with healthy plants.”
“He discussed the nursery business all evening?”
Joyce shook her head emphatically. “No, that was merely the beginning. We talked about all sorts of things, politics, world problems, where we wanted to be in five years. He’s such an open man, it was easy to confide in him.”
She hesitated briefly and with a small sigh grew thoughtful. “He said he hoped to marry soon and have at least two children. When I admitted I was afraid I might have missed my chance to have a family, he assured me that I hadn’t. He seemed so sincere, but it will take awhile to discover if that’s merely a pose, or the way he truly is.”
“What does your intuition tell you?” Catherine inquired.
“That he’s real, but that doesn’t mean he’ll fall madly in love with me.”
“It doesn’t mean that he won’t either. Did he ask to see you again?”
“Yes, he walked me to my car, kissed me good night, and I mean really kissed me, and said he’d like to take me to dinner tonight. I usually make a man wait a few days, but I didn’t even consider it with Shane. I just blurted out, ‘Yes!’, and thank God, he didn’t appear too startled.”
“He must have enjoyed talking with you and expected you to accept his invitation.”
“I suppose. Now all I have to do is hold myself together until tonight. Maybe I should suggest we go to China Town. When are you seeing Luke again?”
“I’ll see him Monday morning at Lost Angel. We hope to get the kids involved in painting a mural, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Wonderful, but didn’t he want to make plans for another date?”
“Frankly, I think he was too tired to plan more than driving home, but you needn’t worry. We’ll go out again.”
Joyce studied her friend’s confident smile. “I hope you’re right, but I’ve found if a man really likes me, he’ll ask me out again when he brings me home. It’s always the guys who say they’ll call, who vanish without a trace.”