LITMIR.BIZ

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you. I will. Because to walk out on my job and my life and my career in California would be—it would be unforgivable.”

      “I’d forgive you,” he said softly. “Your mother would forgive you. Emily would forgive you.”

      “Maybe so, but I wouldn’t forgive—”

      She bit off her words and glanced at him over her shoulder. It was too dark to read her expression but her tone said back off.

      He couldn’t. “Forgive yourself, right? That’s what you were about to say.”

      “So what? The bottom line is, I don’t want to come home—I mean back to Colorado. To stay I mean.”

      “Aha!” He had her now. “I heard you the first time. You called this place home.”

      “A mere slip of the tongue.”

      “No way! You were born and raised here and it is home. I feel the same way. I never intended to practice here, but here I am. You, my girl, want to do the same thing. You’re just not ready to admit it quite yet, but you will.”

      They turned right on Heavenly Lane automatically, engrossed in the conversation. She said, “You don’t know me well enough to be so sure about what I want. In fact, you don’t know me at all as an adult, just as a goofy kid.” She gave him a triumphant glance.

      “You were never goofy,” he said with total conviction. “Trust me on that.”

      “After what I did?”

      “What you did was wonderful.” He spoke from the heart. “Your timing was goofy, not what you did.”

      “Oh, Luke.” It was a helpless moan. “I made such a fool of myself and I hate looking foolish. I’ve regretted it ever since.”

      “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. He stuffed his hands deep into his pant pockets to keep from touching her. “Everybody looks foolish at one time or another. Believe me, I’ve been there and done that. You had a great idea, honey, but—you know, yada yada.”

      “Too young, too old, too you-name-it,” she recited.

      “Right. But bad timing is no reason to treat me like a pariah. You’ve avoided me from that day to this.”

      “I’ve hardly seen you from that day to this. I simply went on with my life and tried to forget it had ever happened. I went away to school, got married—”

      “Got a divorce.”

      “It happens.” She walked stiffly for half a block, then said, “At least I tried marriage. You didn’t even do that.”

      “That’s true,” he agreed. “I was engaged, though. Fortunately, she came to her senses in time.”

      “I should have been so lucky. The fact that my marriage didn’t work out—” All the bluff and fire went out of her. “The fact that it didn’t work nearly killed me. I tried, Lord knows I tried. He tried, too, but after three years it seemed wiser to cut our losses and call the whole thing off.”

      “Was he a nice guy?”

      “That’s a funny thing to ask.” She seemed to consider carefully. “Yes,” she said finally, “he was a very nice guy. He’s an attorney with an independent movie company. Loves his job, is good at it, works very hard. He worked hard at his marriage, too. We just grew in different directions, I guess.”

      “I’m sorry,” he said. “But I’m glad.”

      “Glad? I must say, that’s the first time my tale of woe has met with that particular response.”

      “That’s because I’m glad you came home, and you wouldn’t have if you were still married. Or if you did, you’d bring him and that would be a problem.”

      “For whom?”

      They’d reached Lorraine’s house, dark except for the soft glow of the porch light. They turned up the walk and halted at the foot of the steps, pine needles crunching beneath their feet.

      He rocked back on his heels. “It would be a problem for me.”

      “I don’t see why.”

      “Sure you do.” Giving up the fight, he put a tentative hand on her shoulder. She stiffened but didn’t step away or otherwise react.

      “I don’t.” She sounded slightly breathless, as if she’d been running. Which she hadn’t.

      “Then I’ll spell it out.” He lifted his other hand to tilt her chin up. “Because if you’d come home with a husband, I couldn’t have done this with a clear conscience.”

      And leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers.

      4

      SHE COULDN’T BELIEVE he would kiss her, just like that.

      She couldn’t believe she would kiss him back, either, which is exactly what she did. Flinging her arms around his neck, she pressed her body against his and kissed him with so much enthusiasm that it shocked her.

      This would never do! She tried to dredge up enough self-control to pull away, but unfortunately, her self-discipline seemed to have vanished. Only when a sweep of headlights passed over them did she manage to find the willpower to push herself out of his arms.

      Lorraine braked in the driveway beside them and jumped out. “Oh, it’s you,” she said, as if surprised.

      Luke chuckled. “Who’d you expect to find making out at your front door?”

      “Nobody, actually.” With a wave, she sailed past. “Take your time.”

      “Mother!”

      “You, too, Thalia. Don’t let me rush you.” She disappeared inside the house.

      Luke moved to take Thalia in his arms again. “Where were we when we were so rudely interrupted?” he murmured seductively.

      “Stop that!” She batted his hands away. “I was just about to slap your face, is where we were.”

      His laughter sounded incredulous. “What for?”

      “For—for—” She swallowed hard. “For taking me for the kind of woman a guy can just grab and kiss on the spur of the moment.”

      “Are you kidding?” He stared at her in obvious disbelief. “That wasn’t spur of the moment. I’ve wanted to do that ever since I declined the honor of being your first.”

      She groaned. “Will you kindly stop referring to that? It’s not a memory I want to relive.”

      “I do, if I can change the outcome.”

      She took a hasty step back. “Too late.”

      “Says who? Now that age is no longer a factor—”

      “Are you kidding?” She stared at him. “Age be damned! You had your chance and you blew it.”

      “That’s a bit inflexible. Everybody deserves a second chance.” He edged toward her.

      She continued to retreat. “I wouldn’t get mixed up with you again for—for a million dollars. You always were a fun-and-games kinda guy, Luke Dalton, and you obviously haven’t changed a bit. Well, this time you’re barking up the wrong woman.”

      “How do you know what I’m after?”

      Her heels hit the bottom step. “I wasn’t born yesterday, you know.”

      “You’re acting like you were.”

      “After what happened, how do you expect me to act?”

      “Like a grown-up.”

      “I am,” she insisted desperately. “You’re

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