LITMIR.BIZ

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she said. “I’m glad you did.”

      “Come back to the hotel with me,” he said, pulling her into his arms and burying his face in her neck. “We can play in the hot tub again, and then see what else the kitchen can come up with for our dinner.”

      Libby made a little humming sound deep in her throat. “That sounds divine, but…”

      He lifted his head. “But what?”

      “I just hate to leave Doug alone this evening.”

      “Is he ill?”

      “Oh, no. Nothing like that. The man’s healthy as a horse. It’s just that we’re working on this wonderful idea, and there’s so much to discuss.”

      “What sort of idea?” he asked.

      “Well…”

      Just then Doug walked around the rear corner of the office, jingling a set of car keys in his hand. “I’m off to see Elizabeth now, Libby. I’ll probably stay there and have supper with her while I tell her about today. If you don’t need me back here, I’ll just go on home afterward, honey.”

      “Give her my love,” Libby said. “And let me know what she says, Doug, will you? As soon as you can.”

      “Will do.” He appeared only a bit stiff and awkward as he angled into the driver’s seat of his old Pontiac. “Nice meeting you, David,” he said just before turning the key in the ignition.

      “Hope to see you again, sir,” David responded before he smiled down at Libby. “Looks to me like somebody’s a free woman this evening.”

      The free woman laughed, a luscious sound if ever David had heard one, then took his hand to lead him around the office and into the center of the pebbled drive. The place was deserted. As it should have been, David thought.

      Libby made a broad and sweeping gesture with her arm.

      “Pick a cabin, my dear. Any cabin,” she said. “Or choose a number between one and six.”

      “What?”

      “Choose a cabin, David. We’ve got the whole place to ourselves.” She grinned up at him. “My personal choice would be Three, since it’s my lucky number, not to mention the fact that the shower in there still works pretty well.”

      David decided that his brain was probably operating inefficiently because his bloodstream was shunting its contents below his waist at the moment. She wanted to make love here, in this squalor, rather than in the silk sheets and wall-to-wall splendor of the Marquis across the street? Make love here? Was she nuts?

      Maybe the better question from David’s point of view was could he even perform here under the circumstances, knowing he was making a concerted effort to acquire the crummy Haven View in order to tear it down.

      Early this afternoon, after going through the paperwork, he’d sent Jeff, in the guise of a real-estate investor, to pay a visit to Libby’s aunt Elizabeth in the rehab facility, where he had offered the woman whatever price she wanted for the place. “Name your price,” Jeff had told her mere seconds before the old lady called the front desk to have this shady weasel escorted from her room.

      Having struck out with Aunt Elizabeth, David then opted for plan B, and had directed Jeff to prepare a statement for the municipal council, requesting this acreage to be officially designated as blighted, and thus eligible for condemnation and immediate demolition.

      The proposal to the municipal council also included the Halstrom’s promise to develop the condemned property, its subsequent usage to be determined at a later date. Jeff was probably working on the document right this minute, dotting i’s and crossing t’s.

      David let go of a long sigh. It wasn’t that he didn’t know he was working at cross purposes with Libby, but suddenly his deception hit him quite physically. He could feel his erection withering at the mere thought of Libby’s reaction to this news. She’d hate him for it. And the sad fact was that she’d have every right to hate him.

      “I need to make a quick call,” he said, reaching for his phone, then flicking it open and hitting Jeff’s number. “This will only take me a minute.”

      She was still smiling when she said, “Well, you better make it fast, mister, or else I reserve the right to choose the cabin.”

      He tried to smile back, but his face felt nearly frozen. When Jeff picked up the call on the third ring, David said simply, “Stop working on the current project. I’ll get back to you about it later. Understand?”

      Jeff uttered a surprised, almost strangled yes, then David snapped the phone closed and dropped it back into his pocket.

      “Project?” Libby’s lovely face was turned up to his, curiosity sparkling in her blue eyes. “Are you working on another hotel, David?”

      “Something like that,” he said, finally managing to smile. “But at the moment, my love, I’m working on something much more important.”

      “What?” she asked.

      “This.”

      He gathered her up, held her closely against his chest, and said, “Show me the way to lucky Number Three.”

      Libby lingered in the shower, almost too embarrassed to leave the bathroom and face David. Had she ever had a worse idea in her entire life? Why would anyone ask the man responsible for the mirrored and glorious piece of architecture across the highway, the man who’d wined and dined her in its glorious penthouse, to even set foot in this chamber of horrors? What had she been thinking?

      The door had opened with a long, drawn-out squeak comparable to a Boris Karloff movie, and then, as they stepped inside, the powerful odor of pine and Lysol had smacked both of them in the face. David, bless his heart, had tried not to cough, but it wasn’t possible. Libby herself had had an immediate sneezing fit before running into the bathroom and locking the door.

      Now, the fluorescent light over the sink was making an odd, erratic buzzing sound and the toilet, just to the right of the tub, gurgled every once in a while even though she hadn’t used it. The plastic shower curtain, with its sand dollars and starfish and various ocean flora, looked so pitiful hanging there that Libby had to keep her eyes closed most of the time she was in the shower.

      For one grim and painful moment, she decided that tearing this whole wretched place down was the obvious and only solution. Surely she could make her aunt Elizabeth see that.

      But then she knew it was impossible. Aunt Elizabeth, as always, would stand her ground—this ground—her precious turf—the same way she always did when she insisted that Uncle Joe would soon be coming home. Libby couldn’t make her change. Lord knew Doug hadn’t been able to change her in all their decades together.

      When all was said and done, there really wasn’t much Libby could do other than go with the flow. And the flow right now, coming down from the shower head, seemed to be welling up in the tub because of a drain that wasn’t working properly. She swore under her breath, then yanked the faucets off, hardly caring at the moment if she broke them or not.

      She grabbed a towel—thin from years of wear and washing—and did her best to dry off. After raking her fingers through her damp hair, she wrapped the ratty towel around herself and opened the door.

      David was sitting on the edge of a twin bed, leaning forward to change channels on the small television, something he probably hadn’t done in years.

      “Welcome to 1970,” Libby said only half in jest. “Do you feel like you’re in a time warp? Like you’ve been transported back several decades?”

      “Nope,” he answered as he punched off the television, then reached out his arms toward her. “I feel like Prince Charming waiting for his Cinderella.”

      “David,” Libby said softly, hugging her towel tightly around herself. “I’m truly sorry that I insisted on this. I have no idea why

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