Artist's Dream Read Online Free PDF Page B

smile. “I wasn’t expecting payment.”
    Cassie gave a short laugh. “No. I mean, I’ve got things in the van that need to be refrigerated.”
    Luke cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “Well, lucky for you, I have a refrigerator.”
    She leaned between the seats, and Cassie pressed herself against the door, her nerves on edge, this woman’s nearness immediately causing her senses to reel.
    Luke turned back around with an umbrella in her hands and offered it to Cass ie.
    Cassie stared at it silently for a moment, then looked up into dark eyes. “I don’t really see the point,” Cassie murmured, lifting one corner of her mouth in a smile as a raindrop ran down her nose. She hurried back into the storm, putting into one bag the things that would spoil and rushed back to Luke.
    “I’m so sorry… your seats,” she said, trying to wipe the rain off of the leather.
    Luke took the canvas bag from her and put it in the back. “Don’t worry about the seats. Now, strap in,” she said, motioning to the seatbelt.
    Luke turned down a dirt road only a few hundred yards past Cassie’s stranded van, a road Cassie had passed hundreds of times before. Luke wiped at the windshield with her hand as they splashed through the mud, jarring them in their seats.
    “Hell of a storm,” Luke said, almost to herself.
    Cassie nodded silently, wondering what in the world she was doing riding with Luke Winston, going to her house, no less! She kept quiet, hoping that Luke could see the road because she could not. The wipers tried frantically to keep pace with the rain, and Cassie glanced at the woman beside her, noting how strong her hands seemed as they gripped the steering wheel. Her fingers were long and smooth with neatly kept nails, and Cassie’s eyes were glued to them. She felt a strange sensation travel through her body as she watched those hands. She pulled her eyes away, closing them briefly as she listened to the rain pound the vehicle.
    She was surprised when the sound subsided, and found that
     
    they were under what appeared to be a carport of sorts. Luke cut the engine, and they sat for a moment, staring at each other.
    “I didn’t know you lived out here,” Cassie said carefully. “I’ve
    never seen you around town.”
    “I’ve been building,” Luke explained. “I just recently started staying here.”
    It wasn’t actually a carport, Cassie noted when they got out. It was more of a covered shelter built into the side of the building. She looked around as Luke reached in the back for her bag. It looked more like a barn than a house.
    “Come on.”
    Cassie followed her inside, pausing to remove her muddy shoes by the mat before entering the most unusual house she had ever seen. She stood there, arms wrapped around her chilled body, and glanced at the large expanse of the building.
    “You need to get out of those wet clothes,” Luke was saying and Cassie brought her eyes back to the woman standing before her.
    “In there,” she said, gently pushing Cassie toward a door. “Take a hot shower. I’ll bring you some clothes. Afterward, I’ll give you the nickel tour if you want.”
    Cassie nodded silently and opened the door to the bathroom, much larger than her own. She slowly turned a circle, looking at the impeccably clean room, wondering if it had ever been used before. Then she faced the mirror and groaned. Her hair was plasŹtered to her head and her wet shirt and shorts clung to her body. She looked frightful.
    She turned from the mirror and stripped off her wet clothing, putting them all in a neat pile on the floor. The walk-in shower had no door and she stood at the back of the tiled enclosure, lookŹing at the three shower heads with a slight frown. There was only one knob. She turned it, surprised that water fell from all three shower heads. Neat. She stepped into the hot spray, thinking that Kim would find all of this very amusing. She smiled. Actually, she found it quite amusing herself. Here