Page 32 of Too Hot to Sleep
"We're not engaged, if that's what you mean." Although if their relationship was progressing as she hoped, perhaps her mother could be reigning over wedding plans sometime in the near future.
"Have you ever been married?" he asked.
"No. You?"
"Absolutely not."
Okay. No ambiguity there. She was wasting the afternoon with a dead-end flirt when she should be consoling her ill boyfriend and exploring the new dimension of their relationship.
Sights and sounds and smells and touches descended all around Georgia, and suddenly she couldn't get out of there fast enough. The blue sky, the cool breeze, the children laughingin the playground—all of it a ploy, to make her think that she was in charmed company. She took another bite of the hot dog, thinking the faster she ate, the sooner she could escape.
"I see a lot of bad domestic situations in my line of work," he said. "I'm sure you do, too."
She nodded, gobbling her food.
"Makes you wonder how the people got together to begin with."
She nodded, washing down a large bite with a deep draw on her soda.
"I mean, of all the people in all of the world, how are you supposed to know when you meettheright person?"
She wet her lips. "You just... know, I guess."
"So Rob is the right person for you?"
His words lingered in the air between them. Her first instinct was to tell Ken Medlock it was none of his ma'am-ing business. But he was so intent, his eyes serious yet alight with friendliness. As if he were... concerned. "I think so," she said, the intimacies she'd shared with Rob so fresh in her mind. If he weren't the right person, what did that make her? Guilt and grease didn't mix well in her stomach.
Ken gave a little laugh. "The story of my life—a day late and a dollar short." He took another bite of his hot dog, just as if they weren't discussing...
Whatwerethey discussing?
This man, this virtual stranger, threw her off balance, made her feel as if her thoughts and her beliefs were up for negotiation. Such a charming, compelling personality, as large as his muscled body. He reminded her of someone... Her memory ticked backward until... She froze when the match fell into place.
Her father.Good-looking, with a winsome smile. So easy to love, so easy to forgive his faults. Her bedroom had been nextto her parents', so she'd overheard their late-night arguments over his infrequent, but hurtful, infidelities. Her mother would cry and be morose for days, but he would bring her gifts and eventually coax a smile from her by whispering sweet things in her ear and kissing her neck.
Georgia stood up. "I have to go."
He wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Already?"
"Yes. Th-thank you for rounding up your co-workers for the blood drive. Many of them signed up to give regularly."
"That's good," he said. "But I was hoping that you and I might have longer to talk today."
She brushed crumbs from her lap and fed her last bite to Crash. "Sorry, I still have to shop for a wedding gift for tomorrow."
"What about the pictures?"
With hurried hands, she removed the camera and took a couple of shots of Crash from different angles. "I'll mail them to you," she said as she crammed the camera back into the bag.
"I thought you were going to take some photos of the park."
"I changed my mind. Thanks for the hot dog."
"How about dinner?" he asked, standing. "Georgia, I'd like to get to know you better."
Her breath caught in her chest. Ken Medlock was too overwhelming, too... potent. She and Rob were intellectual equals, who now shared a sensual bond as well. She wasn't about to throw all of that away because she was physically attracted to a cocky self-proclaimed bachelor cop.
"I can't," she murmured. "Like I said, I'm seeing Rob."
