LITMIR.BIZ

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resolve, she shut the door and returned to her computer. She was determined to focus on the work at hand even as images of her and Spence together, with her body wrapped around his, continued to battle for control of her senses.

      As Spence followed Dominique through the house, he took surreptitious looks around in the hopes of spotting Desiree. The house was relatively quiet aside from the faint sounds of music coming from one of the upstairs rooms, which he assumed was Justin.

      “So to what do I owe this surprise?” Dominique asked, leading the way to the back patio.

      “I decided to take the Mustang for a ride and wanted who else but my best girl in the passenger seat.”

      “You’re just the sweetest,” she cooed, turning to him and lifting up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. Her warm brandy-toned eyes moved slowly over his face. She used her thumb to gently wipe the lipstick from his cheek.

      Why couldn’t this be Desiree? he thought, taking her hand and kissing the inside of her palm. “Are you game?”

      “When have I ever not been game?” She flashed him a wicked smile. “Let me run up and change. Make yourself at home. You know where everything is.” She darted off and left Spence on the patio.

      He walked over to the railing and looked out onto the expansive lawn. The Lawsons lived well, he mused. They were part of the elite of Louisiana. Yet, each member of the Lawson clan was as ordinary as the next person. None of them were known for lauding their family name and using their clout to get what they wanted. They worked hard in their chosen fields and didn’t look for a free ride, although their name provided entrée into any door that they wanted opened.

      The sound of the sliding door opening behind him turned him in that direction. His nostrils flared as he drew in a short breath.

      “Hey,” said Desiree.

      “Hey, yourself. I didn’t know you were here,” he answered.

      “Tucked away in my office. Last-minute stuff. I thought I heard a car pull up.”

      “Yeah, I brought over the Mustang, which I’d been working on. Came to see if Dom wanted to go for a ride.”

      “Hmm.” She glanced at her sandals for a moment. “Well, you guys enjoy yourself. I’m going to get back to work. Good to see you.”

      She started to close the door.

      “How did you like the show last night? I didn’t get to see you afterward.”

      She was half in the door. “It was great. I had a wonderful time and, of course, the dinner was superb.” She smiled. “I dreamed about you—it all night.” Her face burned. Why did she say that?

      “So did I … I mean, I have these crazy dreams sometimes before a big … event.”

      She leaned against the door frame. “You don’t strike me as someone who gets … lets things get you all worked up … sleepless.” Oh, God, she was babbling.

      Spence gripped the railing behind him to keep from walking right up to her and taking her in his arms the way he’d been dreaming about when he finally did fall asleep. “You’d be surprised.”

      “I’m sure I would.”

      “You should come more often.”

      The air stuck in her chest. She knew good and well what he meant but her libido had taken charge. “Come?”

      “To the club.”

      She ran her tongue lightly across her lips. “I don’t get out as much as I should.”

      “All work?”

      “Something like that.” She ran her hand absently along the door frame. “Especially with the elections coming up and all of the local referendums.” She finally felt the floor beneath her feet again, having moved the topic to something that she could manage.

      “Yeah, the whole rezoning thing,” he said, nodding his head as he spoke. “I’ve been following you—it, in the papers.”

      Her eyes widened ever so slightly in pleasant surprise. “A very hot topic for the community. The rezoning will bring business but at the expense of much needed housing.”

      “There has to be a middle ground,” he said, his expression tightening in thought. “I know from experience the good, the bad and the ugly about gentrification.”

      “Experience?”

      He nodded. “Back in Memphis, where I grew up, the same thing happened. City claimed eminent domain and ran a highway through the neighborhood, pushed people out and built a mall.” He expelled a mirthless laugh.

      “I’m sorry, that must have been horrible. How old were you?”

      “Hmm, ‘bout fifteen. Old enough to be angry, but not old enough to do much about it.”

      “What did your family wind up doing?”

      “They gave my mother some money for our place.” He glanced off, back to that unsettling time in his life. “We moved into a walk-up apartment in a three-family house.”

      In all the years that she’d known Spence this was all a revelation. She knew he wasn’t born in Louisiana but had no idea that Memphis was home or that he was raised by a single mom. Desiree watched the montage of emotions crease his brow, tighten his casual body language and put a hard edge in his voice. That experience, she sensed, changed him somehow. Forced him to see the injustices of life, perhaps too soon.

      Spence blew out a breath and returned from that place he’d put behind him and smiled at Desiree. He opened his mouth to speak just as Dominique appeared behind her sister. Desiree stepped out of the way.

      “Good seeing you, Spence. Enjoy the ride!” She gave a short wave and walked away.

      Dominique slid her sunglasses on her nose. “Ready?”

      “Sure.”

      He walked alongside Dominique as they rounded the house from the back to reach his car on the driveway.

      “She sure is a beauty.” Dominique ran her hand along the high-glossed side.

      Spence glanced at the house and could have sworn he saw someone drop the curtain in the window. “Yeah, she is.”

      Desiree turned away from the window, mortified at the thought that she might have been caught staring. She felt as if he’d looked right at her—or through her. Why did she even care? He hadn’t come to see her. He’d come to see her sister. He never even asked if she wanted to come along. Why should he? She would have just been a third wheel.

      She pushed out a long breath. Yes, Patrice and Dominique were right. It was time she got a life and put a man in it. She reentered her office and shut the door behind her.

      “Where are we headed?” Dominique asked, leaning back against the cool leather as the warm Louisiana wind blew around them. She rested her elbow against the frame of the open window.

      He should have asked Desiree to come along. Although he was pretty sure she would have said no. She’d never seemed interested in whatever he and Dominique might be doing together, whether it was a day at the shore, going out for drinks with friends … parties. She always had “other plans,” which was why he was so surprised to see her last night. And seeing her had only stirred up all the desires he’d kept under a lid. She was the real reason he’d come to the Lawson home in the first place.

      “Are you listening to me?”

      “Huh?” He snatched a glance in Dominique’s direction.

      She pursed her lips in feigned annoyance. “I asked you where we were going. If you don’t have any place special in mind, I want to pop by and see Rafe for a minute. Is that okay?”

      “Yeah, sure. Not a problem.”

      “Is something

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