Lucy snorted.
Temple set the sack aside. “Honestly, why don’t the two of you just go to bed together and get it over with?”
Panda’s forkful of mushy broccoli stalled in midair. Lucy nearly choked. Panda recovered first. “You’re way off base.”
“Am I?” Temple propped her bent elbow on the table and tapped her chin with her fingers. “I’ve made a successful career out of reading people, and the chemistry between you two is hot enough to be embarrassing.”
“Your imagination,” Panda said. “What you’re picking up is hostility. Two different people with two different outlooks. One of us is a hardheaded realist. The other isn’t.”
That was such crap that Lucy couldn’t stand it. “We had sex, Temple. It wasn’t that good.”
“I knew it!” Temple chortled in triumph. “He’s one of those selfish lovers, isn’t it? Only out for his own pleasure.”
“I am not!”
“Totally selfish,” Lucy said. “Over in a flash. Once was definitely enough.”
Panda’s plate rattled as he dropped his fork.
Temple ignored him. “I’m surprised. He has amazing stamina during our workouts. Maybe…”
“That’s enough.” He shot up from the table. “More than enough. End of discussion.”
As he stalked toward the back door, Lucy took the seat he’d vacated. “I’m not sure workout effort translates into the bedroom.”
“It should,” Temple said. “All that blood flow.”
The door slammed behind him, and the porch floor reverberated from the blunt trauma of his footsteps. Temple’s voice became an urgent whisper. “Did you get my muffin?”
“It’s in a sack under the sink in my bathroom.”
“What kind?”
“Chocolate.”
“Perfect.” She eyed Panda through the window, assessing how far he was from the house. “Was he really a bad lover?”
“I guess not.” Lucy pushed his plate of barely eaten food away. “He said it was me. He said I wasn’t that good.”
Temple’s dark brows arched. “He actually told you that?”
Lucy nodded.
“Interesting,” Temple said. “Maybe you should try again?”
“Are you serious?”
Her cat’s eyes grew thoughtful. “Panda is a fascinating man. I’ll admit I put out a few signals when I first met him, but he ignored them. Then I met someone else…” Her expression clouded. “A disaster. I should have tried harder with Panda.”
Lucy wondered if this “disaster” was at the root of Temple’s weight gain.
Temple checked the window view one more time, then rose. “I’m going after that muffin. If he comes back inside, keep him occupied.”
“How exactly am I supposed to do that?”
“Take off your clothes.”
“You take off your clothes,” Lucy retorted.
But nobody was taking off any clothes because Panda had reappeared. “If you’re done with your girlie chat,” he sneered from the doorway, “let’s get back to work. Or maybe you think those pounds are going to melt away by themselves?”
“Prick.” Temple cut a resentful glare toward Lucy’s bedroom, then followed him down to the cove.
AS LUCY WAITED FOR THE bread to finish baking, she caught glimpses of Temple and Panda kayaking. Unlike Lucy, Temple deliberately steered the boat into the current. Panda paddled nearby, guarding his client against potential attack by a roving band of Great Lake pirates.
Between the doughnut and French fries, Lucy wasn’t hungry, but she couldn’t resist cutting the heel from one freshly baked loaf of oatmeal bread and drizzling it with some of Bree’s honey. She hid both loaves on the porch behind the new plants she rearranged on the baker’s rack. Panda could figure out where to store the leftovers.
She’d baked with the windows open, then camouflaged the lingering aroma by partially melting the lid of an old plastic Cool Whip container over a gas burner. When Temple came back inside, she was so frantic to get to the muffin hidden in Lucy’s bathroom that she didn’t notice the noxious fumes, but Panda noticed. He shot Lucy a look that clearly asked if this was the best she could do. Then his gaze settled on the ceramic pig she’d retrieved from the garage and set on top of the refrigerator. He took in the hangman’s noose she’d hooked around the pig’s neck, a rope-tying skill she’d picked up from Andre but intended to attribute to HGTV if he asked.
He didn’t.
Temple pulled off her ball cap and stretched her arms. “I’m going upstairs to take a nap. Wake me in an hour.”
“Great idea.” Panda was as anxious to get to the bread as Temple was to retrieve her muffin.
Temple pretended to work out a kink in her neck. “Lucy, can I borrow that magazine you were reading? Nothing like celebrity gossip to put you to sleep.”
“Sure.” Lucy didn’t have a gossip magazine. What she had was a hidden chocolate muffin, and she didn’t feel guilty about it. One small muffin wouldn’t kill Temple, and the Evil Queen needed a reward for the torture she was putting herself through.
As Temple set off for Lucy’s bedroom, Panda headed for the porch. Lucy was feeling a little sick from everything she’d eaten, and she rubbed her stomach.
“
It was time to make herself invisible.
“
At the sound of Panda’s ominous roar, she quickly reviewed her options. Escape by car or by water?
She chose escape by car, but before she could reach the front door, Panda was storming toward her through the living room with Temple at his heels. “Do you think this is a joke?” he exclaimed. “You deliberately sabotaged her. Don’t you get it? This woman’s career is at stake.”
“It really wasn’t well done of you, Lucy,” the Evil Queen said haughtily. “I thought you understood how much I need a supportive environment. Obviously, I can’t count on you to be there for me.” Lifting her head, she bounded up the steps.
Lucy stared at her, then opened her mouth to unload, but Panda’s hand shot up. “Not now. I’m way too pissed off at you.” He headed for the porch.
No way was she putting up with this. She stormed after him.
He’d already found the bread.
She stomped across the porch. “If you think for one minute-”
“Damn…” He said the word like a prayer. “It’s still warm.”
She stared at him as he lifted the first loaf from behind the plants. He took in the missing heel but didn’t seem upset about it… Or about anything, for that matter, including the smuggled muffin. “I don’t suppose you have a knife,” he said. “Oh, hell…” He ripped off a chunk and sank his teeth in. “Honest to God, Lucy…” He swallowed. “This is the best thing I’ve had to eat all week.”
“Never mind about that. I’m not going to let you-”
“We need to find a better hiding place.”
She splayed her hands on her hips. “Obviously not under my bathroom sink!”
“Maybe that desk in the den? Watch the door. Make sure she doesn’t change her mind and come back downstairs.” He took another bite. “And try not to let her get to you again.”
She threw up her hands. “You two deserve each other.” And then… “What did you do with the muffin?”
