Harbor Street (Cedar Cove #5)(83)

She wasn’t sure what he wanted to know. “Oh, you’re asking about Chad and me?”

Cal nodded.

“Chad did ask me to have coffee with him that one time—the day you were in the clinic.” She emphasized that this had happened only once. “He’s dating a friend of mine now. Well, actually, that’s a problem, too. Gloria’s apparently told him she’s not interested, but I know she is.” Linnette sighed. “Sometimes relationships get rather convoluted.”

He snorted softly.

Having said everything she could think of, she met his eyes and smiled boldly. “Now that I’ve explained, what are you doing tonight?” She felt a bit like Indiana Jones stepping into thin air.

“W-working.”

“Oh. Friday night, then?” She was working late, which meant they wouldn’t have dinner until most people were in bed, but she didn’t care.

“C-can’t.”

She was beginning to get the message. “I see.” That was pretty much what she’d expected. Linnette had given this her best shot and it hadn’t worked. She stood up, prepared to leave. But then…Linnette didn’t have a single excuse for her brazen behavior. Cal had more or less told her to go; he couldn’t have made it plainer. He wasn’t interested in seeing her again. So what did she do? What could she do?

She kissed him.

Judging by his reaction, Cal was as shocked as she was. At first he kept his mouth tightly closed and seemed about to push her away. But he didn’t. Instead he moaned in welcome and parted his lips as he settled his arms around her waist and brought her onto his lap. Then he gave himself over to the kiss. His hands were in her hair and a moment later they were sliding beneath her sweater. Linnette moaned between kisses at the way her ni**les instantly tightened at his touch. He continued kissing her as he found the clasp to her bra and unfastened it, groaning as his hands cupped her br**sts.

Breathing hard, Linnette broke off the kiss and raised her head. Her mind took a few seconds to clear. When it did, she saw Cal watching her. His eyes were warm with desire—no doubt a reflection of the desire in her own.

“I—”

“Sh-h,” he whispered back. He was still caressing her br**sts. “You’re beautiful. I knew you would be.”

“You’re beautiful, too.”

Cal grinned and kissed the side of her jaw. “You can apologize anytime you want.” His words were gentle and coaxing and fell sweetly on her ears.

“It would be very easy to let you take me to bed.”

“It would be easy for me, too.”

She wasn’t ready to make this commitment. Her body was, though, and she felt a little alarmed at how quickly he could lower her inhibitions.

“I can’t.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. “We know one thing,” he said after a while. “We’re certainly compatible in some areas.”

Linnette smiled to herself as he refastened her bra and tugged down her sweater. That was when she realized that Cal didn’t stutter when he talked to horses—or when he made love to a woman.

Forty-Two

Cecilia looked up from the computer screen, blinked and then reread Ian’s e-mail. According to her husband, the USS George Washington was coming back to Bremerton shipyard a full two months ahead of schedule. This was too good to be true!

All at once Cecilia couldn’t sit still. In her joy and excitement she hurried to the phone and dialed Cathy’s number. The line was busy but a computer voice informed her that for a mere seventy-five cents, it would ring through when her friend was off the line. Cecilia didn’t have the patience to wait nor was she willing to squander a single penny.

She paced and tried again five minutes later. The line was still busy. Because she needed to talk to someone and soon, she dialed Rachel Pendergast’s home number. It rang twice and then Rachel answered.

“Oh, hi, Cecilia,” she said. She sounded pleased to hear from her. “Have you had the baby?”

“Not yet.”

“You’re due soon, aren’t you?”

“Next week.”

“How are you feeling?”

The answer to that was pregnant. Very pregnant. But what she said was, “I feel great, better than great. I’m feeling fabulous. Do you know why? Ian’s coming home!”

This news was greeted by a short silence. “Just Ian? I mean, he isn’t arriving by himself, is he?”

“The entire aircraft carrier is on its way back to base.” Ian hadn’t told her why, Cecilia explained, but he probably couldn’t.

“In other words, Nate will be back, too.” Rachel had kept in touch with Cecilia, Carol and Cathy, even though she’d broken off her relationship with Nate Olsen.

“I thought I should give you a heads-up,” Cecilia said. She suspected from everything Ian had told her that Nate wasn’t going to drop this relationship without a fight.

Rachel sighed. “Thanks for letting me know, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I doubt I’ll be seeing Nate.”

“He might change your mind.” Cecilia hoped he did. She liked Rachel, and she’d only heard about Nate through her husband, but Ian spoke highly of the warrant officer. It was a shame that Rachel had let her insecurities come between them.