How Cat Got a Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

carried her back to the outer office.
    She had a date with Brock Leonetti.
    ****
    Brock’s hand pressed warm and heavy at the small of her back as he steered Cat toward his car, parked by the hotel entrance. Exhilaration soared inside her. Dalton had been right. She needed to get a life. Youth and looks wouldn’t be on her side much longer. She wanted to have some fun, play the field. Enjoy a taste of freedom after the years spent caring for the sick and the dying.
    “Are you expecting a call?” Brock nodded at the cell phone she’d been clutching in her shaking fingers while she waited for him in the lobby.
    “I was. From you. To cancel.”
    His brows lifted, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he opened the passenger door and took her elbow to help her into the black SUV.
    “You were out all day,” Cat said. She had to look up at him as he stood beside her. “I assumed you were avoiding me.”
    “I had a court appearance. Karen could have told you.”
    “It didn’t seem important. Either you’d turn up or not.”
    His eyes narrowed. “Have I done something to deserve that? I don’t have a reputation for being unreliable.”
    “No.” Cat bit her lip. Her new aim for honesty wasn’t turning out easy. “It’s just that I know that Dalton nagged you into asking me. I’m prepared to do anything to make him happy, but you might have preferred to back out.”
    Brock closed her door and walked around the front of the car. After he sat down, he turned to face her, one arm draped over the seatback. “I don’t do things I don’t want to. I may sometimes do things that I’m not thrilled about, but only when the alternatives seem even less appealing.”
    “Oh.” Cat couldn’t think of a reply.
    Brock studied her face, a long lingering look that drew heat to her skin. “Something’s different about you,” he said. After a pause he added, “Glasses. You wore them the first time you came into my office, but never again.”
    “They’re for long distance. I only wear them for driving and watching TV, or at the movies.” Her hand shifted, ready to sweep off the glasses that she didn’t like, but she conquered the urge. “I forgot to take them off that day after I parked the car,” she told him. The color in her cheeks burned hotter. Really, she’d worn the glasses on purpose, trying to look more serious and responsible after being caught in a student prank.
    “They suit you,” Brock said. The way his brows drew together, Cat suspected that he had seen through her lie.
    Then his searching gaze focused on her mouth.
    Her lips opened, and a little sound of alarm caught in her throat.
    Casually, without hurry, Brock leaned over and brushed a soft kiss on her lips. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day,” he murmured before drawing back.
    Without another comment, he straightened in the seat and started the engine. As they drove away, the rebellion that had simmered inside Cat since the morning fizzled out. In the office, she’d nurtured the heady sensation that they were playing a cat and mouse game, and for once she got to be the cat. With that long scorching look and the heady impact of the kiss, she’d shriveled back into a mouse.
    ****
    Brock pulled up outside the Victorian villa that housed the public library and an adjoining coffee shop staffed by volunteers. They’d driven through the town in silence. She hadn’t asked him where they were going. He liked that. Not as a token of trust but as a sign of confidence. Cat gave the impression that she could handle herself in any social situation. Her linen skirt and pale blue silk blouse and medium heels were smart without being overdressed, a perfect match for his slacks, sports jacket, and open-necked shirt.
    “They have a concert in the garden on Thursday evenings,” he told her as he unclipped his seat belt. “It’s chamber music today.”
    She waited for him to circle the car and open the door for her. That was another thing he liked.