Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
A untie Kat’s text showed up first thing in the morning. Can you squeeze me in? I only need fifteen minutes. I have something fun to tell you and I want to do it in person.
Tracy checked her appointments for the day. Her one o’clock might not take an hour but she wasn’t about to risk having Auntie Kat there when Adam showed up. Ethel Forbush, her ten o’clock, was her next best bet.
She texted back. If you can come at ten forty-five, I can probably see you.
I’ll be there.
Ethel wanted to switch which charity would inherit her estate if neither of her heirs were alive at the time of her death. Handling it took very little time, but the lady liked to chat, and it turned out she’d chosen Hearts & Hooves as her charity. The bell on the outer office door jingled at ten forty-five when Ethel was in the middle of a long episode concerning her dog Mitzi.
Tracy stood. “Excuse me, Ethel, but that’s probably Kat Bridger. She had something pressing so I?—”
“Oh, of course, of course. But I just wanted to tell you how that turned out for Mitzi. You’ll get a laugh out of?—”
“Sorry to interrupt.” Auntie Kat poked her head in. “Ethel, I thought I saw your SUV out there! So good to see you. It’s been ages. How’s Mitzi?”
“She’s great. At least now she is. I was just?—”
“Tell you what. I have some quick business with Tracy, but I would love to take you to lunch if you’ll wait in the outer office till we’re done. You can fill me in on Mitzi’s doings. She’s such a cutie.”
“Oh! Why, that would be lovely, Kat!” Ethel popped up from her seat like she was on springs. “I’ll be out there waiting. See you in a few.” She scurried out the door.
Kat closed it with a click. “Done.”
“She’ll talk your ear off.”
“Worth it, so worth it.” She took the seat Ethel had vacated. “First thing, Eli has invited Thelma and me to join the Polar Bear Club.”
“ No. ”
“Yes! Our first meeting as official members is this Friday.”
“Congratulations. Have you told Adam?”
“I need to ask Thelma if she wants him to know. I get the impression he might rather stay in the dark on this issue.”
“He doesn’t have to know. It’s a private club.”
“Right, probably better not to tell him although I’m proud of winning the fight and wanted to brag to somebody.”
“You should be proud. It was very brave.”
“And since we made our point, Thelma and I decided we’ll wear our bikini tops so we won’t run afoul of any folks on a decency kick.”
“I’ll bet Eli and his buddies will be disappointed.”
“That’s a bonus.”
Tracy grinned, honored to be the one who witnessed Auntie Kat’s smile of triumph. “Well done.”
“Thank you. Anyway, that’s not my main reason for dropping by. Is Adam paying you a visit again today?”
Her cheeks grew warm. “Yes.”
“Has he been here yet?”
“No.”
“Good.” Her eyes twinkled as she reached into her shoulder bag. “I bought these in New York years ago and never used them.” She handed over a velvet bag. “It’s rip-away undies, a bra and panties designed to be destroyed, made from flimsy material that shreds easily. Perfect for a mid-day rendezvous.”
Her face was likely red as a tomato. “Oh, I don’t think I’ll?—”
“Take them. I’m sure they’ll fit, at least well enough. It’s fun to get a little wild and crazy sometimes.”
“I guess so.” She took a breath. “But I’m not like you. I’d never have the nerve to go out to the water hole topless in broad daylight. I’ve never even gone topless at night.”
“You haven’t skinny dipped out there? I thought you had from what you said at the meeting.”
“Not me. I’ve only done one wild and crazy thing in my life and that had mixed results.”
“You didn’t have fun yesterday afternoon?”
“I’m not talking about that.”
“Inviting your lover up to your bedroom in the middle of a workday qualifies as wild and crazy.”
“Even if I’ve known him most of my life?”
“Ah, but you haven’t known him like this. Making love with someone allows us to strip away the veneer of civilization and behave like the animals we truly are.”
“It does?”
“Oh, sweetheart, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard a man growl.” She smiled. “Wear those undies and invite him to rip ’em off.”
“I appreciate the thought, but I can’t see myself wearing?—”
“Think about it. As some wise person said, you’ll end up regretting the things you didn’t do more than the things you did. ” She stood. “You have another client out there. I can hear Ethel bending his ear. I’d better go rescue him.”
Tracy left her chair and went around to give her a hug. “Thanks, Auntie Kat. I will think about it.”
“That’s all I ask.” She whisked out the door, greeting both people in the outer office as if she’d run into the King and Queen of England.
Tucking the velvet bag in a desk drawer, Tracy walked to the outer office and welcomed her next client, a man who was paying her to research a property line dispute. She had bad news for him. His neighbor was in the right.
Explaining it used up most of the hour, but the guy took it well. After he left, she made a quick sandwich upstairs and brought it down so she could check out some websites Adam had mentioned that had info on the lynx pair.
His text had been brief and professional. She wasn’t sure why. No one would ever see it but her. He could have added a cute emoji. Prior to their New Year’s Eve kiss-a-thon, he would have.
Okay, she got it. He’d thrown out some comments yesterday that he probably regretted, like wanting to run away with her and his recent discovery that he looked forward to having kids. He’d overcorrected by sending a businesslike text.
He really didn’t know how to conduct a fling that was all about sex. Neither did she. But obviously Auntie Kat did. She’d driven men to such lengths that they’d growled in a fit of primitive passion.
Abandoning her research on Canadian lynx, she carried the velvet bag upstairs along with her empty sandwich plate. After sticking the plate in the dishwasher, she walked into her bedroom. Good thing she had a good supply of sheets since she’d decided to change them again this morning.
She’d turned down the bed in preparation, but she’d left the blinds open the same as they’d been yesterday. Although making love in daylight had been fun, it hadn’t led to lustful growling. She closed the blinds on both windows and turned her bedside lamps to the lowest setting.
Better, but still not what she’d call seductive. She needed to drape them with something. Years ago she’d read about covering lamps with silk scarves to produce a sexy glow. She didn’t have any.
But she had some red napkins she used at Christmas. Good thing she had eight, because she ended up using a binder clip to hold four together. Then the light was too dim, so she turned it up to high. Aha. Her bedroom looked like a bordello. Perfect.
She made it downstairs for her one o’clock and managed to wrap up a quit-claim deed issue in forty-five minutes. That gave her time to get out of her clothes and into the black lace bits of nothing that she fully believed would come apart with the slightest tug. She had to be careful not to start the processor prematurely.
Climbing slowly into bed, she propped pillows against the headboard, leaned back and waited. At precisely two, the bell on the office door jingled.
“Adam?”
“It’s me.” The lock clicked and his boots hit the stairs, going fast.