“Your wish is my command.” She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was humoring her, but she didn’t mind.
“I like the sound of that,” she teased.
“Tomorrow, Katie. Sleep well.” The other end of the line went dead, but Katie wasn’t concerned. In many ways, his abrupt manner reminded her of Lucas.
Hanging up the phone, she gathered her warm chocolate and cookies, and strolled down the hallway to the bathroom. She would need to figure out what to wear tomorrow night. Something casual, yet pretty.
Taking a sip of her drink, she then laid it on the side of the tub for easy access. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed the open tin of cookies next to her mug. Turning on the taps to the tub, she pondered her choices while she ran hot water and added bubbles. When the tub was full, she stripped off her clothes, and dumped them in the hamper.
Slowly, she eased into the tub, sliding beneath the mound of fragrant lavender bubbles. She took a face cloth and dumped it in the water before slapping it over her forehead. The heat felt good against her throbbing forehead. Reaching out her hand, she patted the side of the tub until she reached her mug. Carefully, she lifted it and took a sip before returning it to its original position. Taking a deep breath, Katie slid down further in the tub and contemplated her unexpected dinner date.
Chapter Seven
Squeezing a glob of shampoo into her hand, Katie quickly lathered her hair and stuck her head under the showerhead. Sputtering a little as soap ran into her eyes, she valiantly ignored it and squirted some body wash into her sponge and began to scrub her body. When soapsuds covered her from head to toe, she ducked back under the showerhead and allowed the hot water to wash away the dirt and grime of the day.
Why did she have to be late getting off work today of all days? It was if the fates had conspired to keep her rushing around all day. For the first time ever, her alarm clock hadn’t gone off and she was late for work. And she hated being late. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried she never quite caught up.
Then a regular customer had called late in the afternoon, pleading with Lucas for several dessert trays for an emergency meeting at work. What could she do? She could not desert Lucas. Laughing at her own choice of words, she jumped from the shower, grabbed a towel and started drying herself.
Katie couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anything resembling a real date. She was more excited than she’d thought she’d be. Wiping the steam from the mirror, she peered at her reflection. There wasn’t much to be done with her hair so she just ran her brush through it. Her cheeks were flushed from the shower, but she looked pale.
She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before coming to a decision. Rummaging under the bathroom sink produced the little yellow zippered pouch she was looking for. Taking a deep breath, she pulled back the zipper and peered inside. Makeup. She loathed the stuff, but had worn quite a bit of it while dating Kent. He’d encouraged her to wear it, to play up her assets.
Poking around inside the bag, she produced a tube of mascara and a tube of pale lipstick. While opening the mascara she prayed that it wasn’t completely dried up and was rewarded when the wand came up with stuff on it. Squinting, she applied mascara to her lashes. When she was finished, she grabbed the tube of lipstick and slicked some over her lips. Surveying her reflection in the mirror was not an encouraging sight. She looked like she was wearing bad false eyelashes they were so clumped together and come to think of it, the lipstick wasn’t quite the same shade it used to be.
Giving up in disgust, she grabbed a face cloth, ran it under some warm water and scrubbed at her face until the mess was gone. It took longer than she’d hoped as, rather than coming straight off, the mascara made nice little gray rings around her eyes. She wasted another five minutes just getting herself back to the state she’d been in when she’d gotten out of the shower. Sighing, she wrapped herself in a towel and hurried into the bedroom.
Grabbing a bottle of unscented lotion from her dresser, she slathered some on her body. As she rubbed her legs, she thanked the dating gods that she had shaved them last night. There was no way she would have had time to do it tonight. She tugged on a pair of stretchy lace underwear and a matching bra. She really didn’t need a bra, but it was the principle of the thing. It was a set, so she would wear both pieces.
“Oh, no.” A quick glance at the clock showed her that it was exactly half past seven. A knock came on her front door. She stood frozen for a moment, staring at the clothes that she had picked out last night. Nothing looked right for tonight. Another knock echoed up the hallway. This one more insistent.
Grabbing her robe from the hook behind the door, she tugged it on as she hurried down the hall. Making sure it was belted tight, she pulled open the door and then promptly slammed it again. Putting the chain on the door, she opened it a crack.
“Can I help you?” Katie knew that her actions were erratic, but that was exactly how she felt right now. Who the heck was this guy? She didn’t have time to deal with whoever this was. Cain would be here any minute.
The stranger covered his shock at her strange behavior, drew himself upright and replied in a dignified manner. “The car is here for Ms. Wallace.”
Katie looked at him suspiciously. “What car?”
The uniformed man, who looked to be in his late fifties, took off his hat and tucked it under his arm. He raised his head for a moment and Katie couldn’t be sure if he was asking for divine intervention or was studying the cracks in the ceiling. She thought it was the former. She took the moment to check him out. He was few inches taller than her and built like a bulldog with short graying hair and a nose like a beak. The artist in her noticed that his eyes were almost the exact same shade as his gray hair.
His eyes twinkled with humor as he looked back at her. “Mr. Benjamin has sent a car for you. Please feel free to call him and confirm.” He rattled off a phone number that she assumed was Cain’s.
“Just a second.” She closed the door in the man’s startled face for the second time in under a minute and hurried to the phone. Dialing the number the stranger had given her, she tapped her foot and waited as it ran three times before it was abruptly answered.
“Benjamin.”
Katie was taken aback by the harshness of his answer and it took her a moment to find her own voice. Cain lost patience with the silence and snapped again. “Who is this?”
“Katie.”
“Why aren’t you here?” She could hear the impatience in his voice and her own temper snapped.
“I’m running late and I’ve got some strange guy at my door saying he’s here to pick me up and I’m not ready yet.” She stopped when she realized not only was her voice getting shriller, but she was rambling. Rubbing her fingers across her forehead, she hoped that this wasn’t going to become the date from hell. It was certainly starting out that way.
There was silence on the other end for a moment before the sound of Cain’s booming laughter filled the line. She’d never heard him laugh in quite this uninhibited way before and she had a feeling that it was something he didn’t do very often. Even though it was at her expense, she found she didn’t mind at all. Just listening to his unrestrained laughter made her smile.
“I’m sorry, honey.” He coughed and sputtered as he obviously did his best to get his wayward humor under control. “I thought I was the only one panicking over this evening. It’s nice to know otherwise.”
She was both mystified and charmed by his answer. He seemed so self-assured all the time and so curiosity prompted her to ask, “What do you have to worry about?”