“You were watching me and Lucas?” Outrage filled her. “Lucas is more than just my boss and my friend. He’s all the family I have, and I’ll spend as much time with him as I want. I have a life and what I do is my business.” There, that ought to put him in his place. She got nervous as the silence on the other end grew. While she wanted to assert her independence, she didn’t want him to walk away from their budding relationship. With all the changes in her life, she didn’t know if she was coming or going, but she knew she wanted to spend more time with Cain.

A deep sigh filled the line. “I know, but I still didn’t like it. I want your life to be my business. I want to be part of your life.”

It was said so reluctantly that Katie took pity on him. “We just went out to supper to discuss some business matters.” She perched on the back of the sofa and took a quick sip of hot chocolate. The pounding in her head was getting worse.

“So, it was business, nothing personal.” He sounded relieved by her admission.

“It sure feels personal,” she muttered.

“Business is never personal.” Having made that pronouncement, he deftly changed the subject. “I’m sorry I didn’t call yesterday but I got tied up with some business. I’d like to make it up to you if you’re willing.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night. I have to go out of town for a few days after that, but I want to see you before I go.”

Katie was itching to ask where he was going and what he did for a living, but she hadn’t quite worked up the nerve to do so. Something about him was so closed and reserved. Chewing on her bottom lip, she considered his invitation. It might give them a chance to really talk to one another. This could be her chance to learn more about him.

“It’s just dinner, honey,” his voice, laced with humor, filled her ears. She hadn’t realized she’d been quiet for so long.

Drawing on all the courage she possessed, she made her decision. Deep down, she knew her acceptance would suggest agreement to more than a simple dinner. She was making a commitment to at least explore this connection between them. “All right, I’ll have dinner tomorrow night.”

“I’ll send a car for you after work.”

“No, I want to come home and change first.” There was no way she was going out to dinner in jeans and a shirt she’d worked in all day. “How about half past seven?”

“Your wish is my command.” She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was humoring her, but she didn’t mind.

“I like the sound of that,” she teased.

“Tomorrow, Katie. Sleep well.” The other end of the line went dead, but Katie wasn’t concerned. In many ways, his abrupt manner reminded her of Lucas.

Hanging up the phone, she gathered her warm chocolate and cookies, and strolled down the hallway to the bathroom. She would need to figure out what to wear tomorrow night. Something casual, yet pretty.

Taking a sip of her drink, she then laid it on the side of the tub for easy access. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed the open tin of cookies next to her mug. Turning on the taps to the tub, she pondered her choices while she ran hot water and added bubbles. When the tub was full, she stripped off her clothes, and dumped them in the hamper.

Slowly, she eased into the tub, sliding beneath the mound of fragrant lavender bubbles. She took a face cloth and dumped it in the water before slapping it over her forehead. The heat felt good against her throbbing forehead. Reaching out her hand, she patted the side of the tub until she reached her mug. Carefully, she lifted it and took a sip before returning it to its original position. Taking a deep breath, Katie slid down further in the tub and contemplated her unexpected dinner date.

Chapter Seven

Squeezing a glob of shampoo into her hand, Katie quickly lathered her hair and stuck her head under the showerhead. Sputtering a little as soap ran into her eyes, she valiantly ignored it and squirted some body wash into her sponge and began to scrub her body. When soapsuds covered her from head to toe, she ducked back under the showerhead and allowed the hot water to wash away the dirt and grime of the day.

Why did she have to be late getting off work today of all days? It was if the fates had conspired to keep her rushing around all day. For the first time ever, her alarm clock hadn’t gone off and she was late for work. And she hated being late. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried she never quite caught up.

Then a regular customer had called late in the afternoon, pleading with Lucas for several dessert trays for an emergency meeting at work. What could she do? She could not desert Lucas. Laughing at her own choice of words, she jumped from the shower, grabbed a towel and started drying herself.

Katie couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anything resembling a real date. She was more excited than she’d thought she’d be. Wiping the steam from the mirror, she peered at her reflection. There wasn’t much to be done with her hair so she just ran her brush through it. Her cheeks were flushed from the shower, but she looked pale.

She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before coming to a decision. Rummaging under the bathroom sink produced the little yellow zippered pouch she was looking for. Taking a deep breath, she pulled back the zipper and peered inside. Makeup. She loathed the stuff, but had worn quite a bit of it while dating Kent. He’d encouraged her to wear it, to play up her assets.

Poking around inside the bag, she produced a tube of mascara and a tube of pale lipstick. While opening the mascara she prayed that it wasn’t completely dried up and was rewarded when the wand came up with stuff on it. Squinting, she applied mascara to her lashes. When she was finished, she grabbed the tube of lipstick and slicked some over her lips. Surveying her reflection in the mirror was not an encouraging sight. She looked like she was wearing bad false eyelashes they were so clumped together and come to think of it, the lipstick wasn’t quite the same shade it used to be.

Giving up in disgust, she grabbed a face cloth, ran it under some warm water and scrubbed at her face until the mess was gone. It took longer than she’d hoped as, rather than coming straight off, the mascara made nice little gray rings around her eyes. She wasted another five minutes just getting herself back to the state she’d been in when she’d gotten out of the shower. Sighing, she wrapped herself in a towel and hurried into the bedroom.

Grabbing a bottle of unscented lotion from her dresser, she slathered some on her body. As she rubbed her legs, she thanked the dating gods that she had shaved them last night. There was no way she would have had time to do it tonight. She tugged on a pair of stretchy lace underwear and a matching bra. She really didn’t need a bra, but it was the principle of the thing. It was a set, so she would wear both pieces.

“Oh, no.” A quick glance at the clock showed her that it was exactly half past seven. A knock came on her front door. She stood frozen for a moment, staring at the clothes that she had picked out last night. Nothing looked right for tonight. Another knock echoed up the hallway. This one more insistent.

Grabbing her robe from the hook behind the door, she tugged it on as she hurried down the hall. Making sure it was belted tight, she pulled open the door and then promptly slammed it again. Putting the chain on the door, she opened it a crack.

“Can I help you?” Katie knew that her actions were erratic, but that was exactly how she felt right now. Who the heck was this guy? She didn’t have time to deal with whoever this was. Cain would be here any minute.

The stranger covered his shock at her strange behavior, drew himself upright and replied in a dignified manner. “The car is here for Ms. Wallace.”

Katie looked at him suspiciously. “What car?”

The uniformed man, who looked to be in his late fifties, took off his hat and tucked it under his arm. He raised his head for a moment and Katie couldn’t be sure if he was asking for divine intervention or was studying the cracks in the ceiling. She thought it was the former. She took the moment to check him out. He was few inches taller than her and built like a bulldog with short graying hair and a nose like a beak. The artist in her noticed that his eyes were almost the exact same shade as his gray hair.

His eyes twinkled with humor as he looked back at her. “Mr. Benjamin has sent a car for you. Please feel free to call him and confirm.” He rattled off a phone number that she assumed was Cain’s.

“Just a second.” She closed the door in the man’s startled face for the second time in under a minute and hurried to the phone. Dialing the number the stranger had given her, she tapped her foot and waited as it ran three times before it was abruptly answered.

“Benjamin.”

Katie was taken aback by the harshness of his answer and it took her a moment to find her own voice. Cain lost patience with the silence and snapped again. “Who is this?”

“Katie.”

“Why aren’t you here?” She could hear the impatience in his voice and her own temper snapped.

“I’m running late and I’ve got some strange guy at my door saying he’s here to pick me up and I’m not ready yet.” She stopped when she realized not only was her voice getting shriller, but she was rambling. Rubbing her fingers across her forehead, she hoped that this wasn’t going to become the date from hell. It was certainly starting out that way.

There was silence on the other end for a moment before the sound of Cain’s booming laughter filled the line. She’d never heard him laugh in quite this uninhibited way before and she had a feeling that it was something he didn’t do very often. Even though it was at her expense, she found she didn’t mind at all. Just listening to his unrestrained laughter made her smile.

“I’m sorry, honey.” He coughed and sputtered as he obviously did his best to get his wayward humor under control. “I thought I was the only one panicking over this evening. It’s nice to know otherwise.”

She was both mystified and charmed by his answer. He seemed so self-assured all the time and so curiosity prompted her to ask, “What do you have to worry about?”

“The better question might be what don’t I have to worry about? What if you don’t like dinner? What if you don’t enjoy yourself? What if this evening makes you never want to see me again?” There was laughter in his voice as he answered her and although Katie thought he was only teasing her, it was nice of him to put her at ease. Because that was what his banter had done.

Feeling more relaxed than she had all day, she brought his attention back to her original question. “Cain, who is the guy at my door?”

“That’s Quentin. I use his services sometimes and I sent him to pick you up. Listen, you take your time and get ready. I’ll call him on his cell and tell him to wait for you.” His voice was husky and made her shiver as he continued. “Take as long as you need. We’ve got all night.”

That very thought gave her goose bumps, and her voice was shaky when she replied. “All right.”

“See you when you get here.” The line went dead and she hung up the receiver. A second later she heard the faint ringing of a phone in her hallway and heard a male voice respond.

Unable to stop herself, she padded back to the door and removed the chain before opening the door again. He was startled to say the least and eyed her warily as he finished his conversation with Cain. She waited until he was finished and then stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Katie Wallace. Pleased to meet you.”

He stared at her hand for a moment before his bemused eyes met hers. Slowly, he took her hand in hers and gently shook it. “James Quentin at your service.”

Katie smiled at him and motioned him inside. “You might as well come in and sit down while I finish getting ready.”

He dropped her hand and stepped back. “Ah, no thank you, miss. Mr. Benjamin would not approve.”

“Who cares? This is my home and I say please come in out of the hallway. I’ll never get ready if we stand here arguing about it.” When he still hesitated, she reached out and grabbed him by the uniform sleeve and tugged. Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be pulled inside.

“Have a seat, I’ll just be a couple of minutes.” As she headed back down the hall, she turned and called over her shoulder, “And call me Katie.”

Closing her bedroom door, she flung off her bathrobe and tugged on the brown wool pants she’d laid out last night. Her favorite silk shirt in a beautiful shade of oatmeal followed. She topped the outfit with a long-sleeved beige cardigan made of raw silk that she’d picked up at the thrift store for a song. The outfit not only made her look good, it made her feel good.