Wanna ? nd out?”
Dev rested her hands lightly on Natalie’s waist. Natalie looked good. She
smelled good. She felt even better. Dev’s body tightened and throbbed. Her
breathing ratcheted up. “If we’d just met, I’d be all over you right now.”
Natalie’s eyes widened. “I wouldn’t stop you. I’m not stopping you. God, Dev,
I’m so crazy hot for you.”
“Ditto,” Dev gasped, willing her hips to stay nailed to the seat.
What she wanted to do was pull Natalie down and grind against her.
She wanted to press her face between Natalie’s breasts and lick the sweat from
every inch of her skin. She wanted to fuck her. And that was the problem.
Gently, she guided Natalie off her lap and back to the bench. “Somehow things
sort of slipped past the point where I can have a casual fuck with you, Nat. I’m
sorry.”
“You bastard,” Natalie said, half angry, half laughing. “How am I supposed to
complain when you say something like that?” She groaned and ran her hands
through her hair. “What if I told you I just wanted a nice friendly affair?”
“I’d say I had to think about it.” Dev got up and pulled two more beers from the
cooler. She popped the caps and handed one to Natalie.
“When you weren’t sitting in my lap and I wasn’t turned on so bad I couldn’t
put two sentences together.”
“You really are a pain in the ass, Dev,” Natalie chided, sipping her beer.
“So I’ve been told.”
Natalie patted the bench. “Sit down. I’m not mad, just horny.”
“Sorry.” Dev sat.
• 117 •
RADCLY fFE
With a sigh, Natalie turned on the seat so her back was against Dev’s shoulder
and her legs stretched out in front of her. “Do me a favor, okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m a big girl, and I know what I’m doing. So just think about it.”
“Okay,” Dev said softly. “I can do that.”
v
Dev pulled into the Lakeview parking lot right behind a big, shiny black Jeep
Cherokee. When she saw Leslie get out, she walked over to her.
“Nice ride.”
Leslie grinned. “Wait’ll my father sees it.”
“How is he?”
“So far, things look really promising. They ? nished just after eleven this morning
and the orthopedic surgeon thought the nerves were just traumatized—not
permanently damaged.”
“That’s terri? c.”
“Yes. We’ll know more in a few days.” Leslie locked the truck and started
toward the lodge with Dev. “I called you once he was in recovery, but I got
voicemail. Did you get the message?”
“Sorry, I was out on the lake when you called and didn’t get in until just a few
minutes ago.”
Leslie cocked her head. “You look like you got some sun.
Working?”
Dev shook her head. “No. Natalie came by the lab and we took her boat out
for a couple of hours.”
“Oh,” Leslie said. “That’s nice.” She stopped on the porch. “I can handle things
here tonight, Dev. You’ve done enough already. Thank you.” She turned her
back and opened the door.
Dev caught the edge of the door with her hand and followed her inside. “I
checked in four more guests this morning before I went to the lab. There’s a
pretty full house tonight.”
“My mother has always been able to handle it. I should be able to.”
Leslie pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen and turned,
exasperated, when Dev followed. “Let me see if I can be clearer. Go away.”
• 118 •
WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE
“I won’t help. I’ll just watch.” Dev folded her arms and leaned against the wall.
Leslie stared at her, resisting the urge to grind her teeth. Then she stalked to the
refrigerator and pulled down the menu marked for that day. She groaned. She
hated making salad. “Fine.” She wrenched open the refrigerator door and
reached inside. “Here.”
Dev caught the ? rst head of lettuce effortlessly. The second was a bit more of a
challenge with one hand already full. The third and fourth left bits of green
hanging from the collar of her shirt as she scooped them against her chest. “No,”
she shouted as Leslie drew back to pitch the ? fth.
Laughing, Leslie stopped in mid-throw. “Oh my God. I can’t believe I’m
throwing lettuce in my mother’s kitchen like I’m ? fteen.
What is it about this place?”
“Something in the air,” Dev said, understanding perfectly.
“It must be.” Leslie set the lettuce gently on the table, then went to Dev to
relieve her of the others. “I’m sorry. Let me take those.”
“I’ve got them. You go ahead and deal with the rest of dinner. I’ll take care of
these.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.” As Dev checked the cabinets for a colander, she said, “So tell me
about the truck. When the hell did you have time to do that?”
“It’s amazing how quickly things go when you walk onto the lot knowing what
you want. Once you eliminate the barter, the process is surprisingly simple.”
Leslie shrugged. “When you don’t entertain alternatives, it’s easy to close a
deal.”
Dev recognized the tone of someone who was used to going up against
opponents quite a bit more daunting than car salesmen and winning. “I think I
feel sorry for them.”
“Who?”
“The attorneys who square off against you.”
Leslie laughed. “Most of the time they grossly overestimate the strength of their
cases because they fall for their own rhetoric and believe their own frequently ?
awed statistics. It’s not that dif? cult to challenge the majority of the regulations
once you move beyond the emotion to facts.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that we’re destroying the planet?”
Leslie slid the ? rst of three tins of lasagna into the oven. “I think you just made
my point.”
• 119 •
RADCLY fFE
