Remember the Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

laps. She didn't know which had been worse, the fact that he had suggested the very thing she had just been thinking about, or his infuriating grin as he watched her struggle up the hill after him.
    A half an hour later, her hair smoothed in its usual neat knot and a pale blue turtleneck tucked into her beige wool slacks, Toni followed the smell of freshly brewed coffee into the kitchen.
    Madeline—the pear-shaped little woman Toni, in a rush because she'd overslept, had literally run into on her way out the door Wednesday morning—stood at the stove stirring a pot of something that looked delicious.
    "Morning." Toni smiled, tossing her wool jacket over one of the chairs at the table. She stopped and gingerly rubbed the back of her leg.
    "Morning," the matronly woman returned. Her warm brown eyes crinkled in a smile as she handed Toni a steaming cup of coffee. "You look like you could use this."
    Toni gratefully accepted the proffered cup. "It shows, huh?"
    Madeline arched her graying eyebrows and, with an empathetic nod, turned back to the
    stove.
    Toni figured that Kyle was already at his office. When she had worked for him, he'd always spent his Saturdays there. So it was more for the sake of conversation that she asked, "Where's Kyle?" Then, not waiting for the expected response, she added, "And what are you making? It smells wonderful."
    The creases in Madeline's round face deepened with her beaming smile. "Kyle's having a party in a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd freeze up a couple batches of Swedish meatballs now and make more canapes next Saturday. I don't like having to do it all at once." She frowned at the pot, and with a shrug of her ample shoulders she dropped in a couple of cloves of garlic. "And," she continued, "Kyle's downstairs working out in the weightroom. He said I wasn't to disturb you. Guess he thought you'd want to sleep in this morning. But now that you're up, I'll go get your sheets and towels and throw 'em in the laundry."
    Madeline had seemed to accept Toni's presence without question, something that had puzzled Toni until Kyle had remarked the night before that he'd told Madeline "all about her"— whatever that was supposed to mean. Toni had been too busy conserving her labored breath to ask many questions. During their little "walk" she'd let Kyle do most of the talking.
    Now a perverse little smile tugged at Toni's mouth as she sipped her coffee. So Kyle wasn't at his office. That could only mean that he must be sore this morning, too, and needed to work out the cramps in his muscles. Serves him right, she thought, all too aware of the knots in her legs. Even her knees had cramps in them.
    "Does Kyle know that you're headed out somewhere this morning?" The gray curls around Madeline's face bounced over her brow as she nodded toward Toni's jacket on the chair-back. Toni shook her head, wondering why Madeline had even asked. It wasn't like she had to check in with Kyle before she went about her business.
    Madeline had a funny look on her face as she wrung her hands on her calico apron.
    "What are you doing up so early?" At the sound of Kyle's voice, Toni glanced up. She was just about to take another sip of coffee, but the cup hung suspended in midair for one heart-stopping second before she carefully lowered it.
    His large frame filled the arching doorway. A pair of gray sweatshorts clung to his lean hips, and he had a thick white towel slung around his neck. His chest and shoulders were covered with a fine sheen of perspiration, and as he raked his fingers through his tousled hair she couldn't help but notice the hard line of his muscled biceps.
    Oh, come on! she chided herself as she mumbled, "Good morning," into her cup. Just because he's half-naked and looks so ... so male isn't any reason to get nervous. This is Kyle! Remember?
    Kyle's eyes slid carelessly over her slender form, starting at the toes of her calfskin pumps. When his inspection reached the coil of her hair, he frowned.