A Heart's Endeavor Read Online Free PDF

her mind. Not a wise thing to be thinking about. Not at all. She had to get a grip. Her mind was constantly on sex whenever Jack was around.
    She started babbling. By the time she was finished wrapping his sandwich, she had told him how her entire day had gone so far. “Is there anything else?” she asked.
    “No, that’s it. Are you going to check me out?”
    Now how in the world was she supposed to respond to that question without tripping over her tongue and making a total fool out of herself? Mel managed a nod and went to the sink to wash her hands. Oh, man, now she was growing warm all over and it wasn’t a hot flash. She doubted tingling nipples were a sign of going through the change. All she had been doing was checking him out and it had to stop. A man of his caliber wouldn’t want a mental case hanging on him. After she finished washing her hands, Mel met him at her register.
    “Are you off tomorrow?” he asked.
    She placed his hoagie in a plastic bag and threw in some napkins. “Yes, and I could sure use a break. I haven’t worked outside the house for a while so I’m just getting back into the swing of things.”
    “How about we do dinner? There’s a restaurant down the road that makes killer hamburgers. I can pick you up at seven.”
    Mel’s mouth hung open. She shut it quickly before she started drooling. Did he just ask her out on a date? “Um, I don’t know.”
    “Come on, nothing fancy.” His coaxing smile was her undoing.
    “All right, I guess so. I’ll have to call security first so they let you inside.”
    “You live at The Lake, right?”
    She nodded.
    “The guys know who I am. Just tell him it’s Dog.” With that said he was gone.
    Mel’s elbow was grabbed in a grip so tight she winced. “Oh my God, a state trooper just asked you out. Aren’t you excited?” Stacy’s eyes shined with excitement.
    Mel tried to remain nonchalant but couldn’t hold back a smile at the girl’s excited chatter. “For Pete’s sake, Stacy, out of uniform he’s the same as any other man.” Now if she could make herself believe that line of garbage everything would be hunky-dory. She counted out some money to throw into the safe. Stacy stayed glued to her side. Obviously, the girl was fishing for something. “Now what?”
    Stacy waggled her brows. “Are you going to get him out of his uniform and check that theory out?”
    Mel didn’t have an answer for that.
     

Chapter 4
     
    Mel stood in front of her closet and stared at her clothes. What in the world should she wear on her date with Jack? She expelled a loud harrumph. She never imagined that at her age she’d be dating again, but here she was, forty-one and acting like a lovesick teenager. Okay, so she wasn’t ancient, but geez. She was positive she had started menopause which made her much closer to death than birth. Sure, Jack wasn’t exactly young either, but men aged far better than women. Time seemed to be a lot easier on men. Mel’s gaze landed on the clock. Speaking of time, she’d better get ready or she’d be meeting Jack at the door in her birthday suit. And she wasn’t so sure that could be considered a good thing.
    It was late June and humid so jeans were out. She eyed a pair of shorts, but advertising her chunky thighs wasn’t a good idea so she settled on a lavender sundress with narrow shoulder straps and a flared bottom skirt that brushed her knees. It was her favorite dress. The bodice had a built-in bra. She’d do anything to get away from stuffing her breasts into a brassiere when it was this hot outside. Her underarms could use some toning, but at least her skin didn’t flap back and forth like bat wings when she waved.
    Jack knocked on her door at seven o’clock sharp. Once they were outside, he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her into the passenger seat of his black Durango. His hands lingered a little longer than necessary, but she wasn’t complaining. His touch felt…nice.
    Fifteen minutes