LITMIR.BIZ

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her husband.

      “I guess you have a point there,” she relented, wanting to avoid dissension at the moment. Surely he would relax more now that they were actually married, and his drinking would be unnecessary. She went along with him, seating herself on one of the tall stools. Neil went behind the bar and produced a bottle of Bourbon.

      “We have Bourbon and Bourbon,” he quipped. “What’ll it be?”

      “That’s a tough question. How about Bourbon?”

      He brought two glasses from the shelf underneath the bar. “Ice!” he demanded imperiously.

      “Ice,” she repeated and jumped down to hurry to the kitchen. She was back a moment later with a tray of ice and a pitcher of water. Neil poured the drinks, leaving little room, she noticed, for water.

      “Here’s to us.” He toasted her, handing her one of the glasses.

      Laura returned the toast and sipped the drink cautiously. It burned slightly as it went down. She was not much accustomed to drinking, and moreover she had eaten little lunch.

      The lack of lunch, however, did not seem to worry Neil. He downed his drink rapidly and poured himself a second before she had done more than taste hers.

      “Hey, you are celebrating, aren’t you?” She tried to make her tone light and joking, but in fact she was frightened by his intensity. It was as though he were determined to get as drunk as possible, as quickly as possible.

      In answer, he tilted his glass up again. Laura held her tongue, reminding herself that he had every reason to be nervous. If liquor would help to restore his spirits, there was probably no harm in it, and it certainly seemed to be doing just that. He was smiling pleasantly, his eyes gleaming perhaps a little too brightly.

      “It’s a rotten shame we can’t take a honeymoon,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

      Laura shrugged and allowed herself to relax a little. The drink helped her nerves also.

      “We’ll make up for it,” she told him with a smile.

      “You’re damned right we will,” he agreed loudly. “I promise you a first-class honeymoon next year. Where would you like to go—Paris? Rome? Say the word and your husband will take you there.”

      The word husband brought Laura’s tension back with a flurry. Her husband! Looking at him, clearly feeling the effects of his liquor, she realized once again that they were strangers to one another in a very real sense. Worse, they were without the all-important link that gave most couples the opportunity to comprehend and join with one another.

      She was spared the necessity of an answer by the doorbell.

      “We’ve got company,” she said aloud. “Our first visitors in our new home.”

      “It’s the back door,” Neil told her as she started toward the front.

      With a grin, Laura went in that direction, across the compact kitchen, to the door that opened to the patio in the rear.

      Her first impression of the woman standing outside the door was one of breathtaking loveliness. The stranger was taller than she, slightly more slender. Her age, Laura guessed, was somewhere between twenty and thirty-five. Gleaming black hair, cut stylishly short, framed a narrow face that was dominated by hauntingly dark eyes. The brightly patterned blouse and skin-tight capri pants she wore set off her trim, youthful figure to the best possible advantage.

      “Hello.” Laura greeted her visitor meekly. She felt almost unattractive in the presence of this sleek, striking creature.

      “Hello. I’m Eve Blair.” Her visitor returned the greeting with a flash of white teeth. “One of your neighbors. I saw you arrive and thought I’d better come over and welcome you to the underworld.”

      A strange way to describe the neighborhood, Laura thought, but she found the gesture flattering. It was comforting to know that she was among friendly people.

      “Come in,” she said, opening the door wide. “We’re just having a drink.” Then, thinking that this might create an unfavorable impression, she added quickly “We’re newlyweds.”

      “I noticed.” Eve Blair’s smile was not particularly pleasant, as though she were mocking everything that she saw or heard. Laura blushed, remembering how Neil had carried her across the threshold, announcing the newness of their marriage to any onlookers.

      That’s silly, she told herself, leading the way into the living room. There’s no reason to be ashamed of my marriage or embarrassed by it. But somehow, aware of Eve’s dark eyes on her as they walked, she had the impression that this beautiful woman could see through the sham they were putting up, could somehow know the truth about the marriage.

      Neil had already started on another drink when they entered the room. Laura saw his eyes take in their guest and glimmer even more brightly with appreciation. For an instant, she suffered a pang of jealousy. That’s ridiculous, she told herself, almost laughing aloud. That’s one thing I won’t have to worry about. Physically, at least, there was no likelihood that Neil would be unfaithful to her.

      “Neil, this is Eve Blair. She’s one of our neighbors, and she came by to wish us welcome.”

      “Now that’s what I call hospitality,” Neil said loudly. “I hope you’ll have a drink with us.

      “And that’s what I call hospitality,” Eve answered him, settling herself gracefully on the other stool. “You’ve talked me into it.”

      Laura watched with bitter amusement as Eve’s eyes took in Neil’s large, husky body, her admiration unconcealed. If only she knew, Laura thought to herself. What would Eve Blair have done, faced with the same decision? Would she have sacrificed her own physical needs for the sake of a man who was incapable of performing sexually. Studying the dark beauty, Laura found the prospect unlikely.

      Eve accepted her drink with a warm smile at Neil, and turned toward Laura. “I don’t suppose you’d consider loaning him out,” she said with a nod in Neil’s direction.

      “I don’t think so,” Laura answered, trying to keep her tone light and bantering.

      “That’s just what she says,” Neil commented.

      Laura blushed at the exchange. Surely Neil wouldn’t create embarrassment for them both by revealing the truth about their marriage.

      “Will I sound smug if I say I’ve got nothing to worry about?” Laura asked aloud, with a cold glance in Neil’s direction.

      He laughed again, but said nothing more. Eve Blair looked from one to the other of them, apparently weighing the situation. What conclusions she reached Laura could not guess, but of one thing she was certain: Eve had not been entirely joking when she made the suggestion. Everything about the woman was sensual, hinting at wanton desire for physical sensation.

      “Well, I imagine the two of you will keep one another quite well entertained for a while,” she said dryly.

      They sat for a moment in silence. Laura felt uncomfortable in the other woman’s presence, and was painfully aware that Neil was rapidly drinking himself into a stupor.

      “May I say, your husband is a very fortunate man?” Eve said finally, breaking the silence.

      Laura turned in Eve’s direction, flattered by the compliment, but the words of thanks caught in her throat as her eyes met the other, darker pair.

      The impression was gone at once, but the shock stayed with Laura, lingering in her awareness. Had she been mistaken, or had she seen in Eve’s eyes the same frank admiration, even desire, that had been directed a moment before toward Neil?

      Surely not, she assured herself. True, she had heard of such things. She knew, mostly from books she had read, that some women did have an attraction for other women. But certainly there was no reason to suspect Eve Blair of that sort of perversion. After all, the woman was married—or presumably

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