* * *
Katie couldn’t understand why Luke appeared so pleased by the prospect of fighting with her. He had to know that she wasn’t going to let this little incident pass without comment. Calling a meeting without telling her about it had been a sneaky, underhanded thing to do. Thank heavens for Robby! Even though he hadn’t understood exactly what the discussion was all about, he’d reacted to everyone else’s panic. He’d had no trouble convincing the hotel desk clerk to call Katie for him.
The walk back to the boarding house was made in silence. Katie could hardly wait to get her indignation at Luke’s latest high-handness off her chest, but Main Street was no place to do it. On that much at least, Luke apparently agreed. He hadn’t even wanted Robby as a witness. He’d sent his son off to Peg’s for the night.
Obviously, though, he was spoiling for a fight. He had to have known that calling that meeting would infuriate her and yet he’d deliberately gone ahead with it. Clearly, he hadn’t learned a blasted thing from their conversation in the diner that morning. He intended to control her life, take over her boarding house and leave her with nothing to do.
As they neared the house, Katie’s steps began to falter. Her temper cooled a fraction. She compared what Luke had done to what she had plotted behind his back that very afternoon. He didn’t know it yet, but they were probably just about even. He might even have a slight edge when it came to justifiable outrage.
The timing was lousy for her to make her announcement, but a glance at her watch told her there was no way around it. She figured she’d better make it while they were still on the sidewalk in front of the boarding house, in plain view of the neighbors. This was one time when witnesses might save her hide.
“Luke?”
He scowled at her. “I don’t want to get into this out here. We’ll discuss it inside.”
“In a minute. First, there’s something you need to know.”
“Fine. Tell me inside.”
She stopped right where she was. “I’d rather tell you out here.”
He met her gaze, his expression suddenly wary. “Why? What’s this about?”
“I just thought you ought to know...” She swallowed hard as she met his glittering blue eyes. “I’ve done something.”
“What?”
She plastered a bright smile on her face. “I’ve invited Tommy for a barbecue,” she blurted out.
Luke couldn’t have looked more stunned if she’d announced that she was pregnant with triplets.
“You what?” he asked slowly, as if her words hadn’t been perfectly clear.
“Your brother’s coming over.” She glanced nervously at her watch. “In about an hour.”
“Oh, no, he’s not,” Luke countered. “Call him and cancel.”
“I can’t. I don’t know where he is.”
“You found him to issue the invitation. You can find him to cancel it.”
She shook her head. “Actually, he came into the diner for lunch.”
He stared at her with an expression of complete bafflement written all over his face. “Why would you do this? How dare you meddle in something that is none of your business?”
Katie couldn’t believe her ears. “Excuse me? You self-righteous son of a hound dog. Who was it who just called a meeting of my tenants without telling me? If you want to talk about meddling, let’s talk about that!”
“Not out here,” Luke said tightly.
“Why the hell not?”
“Because half the neighborhood is hanging on every word.”
“So what? Witnesses might not be such a bad idea.”
“That’s enough, Katie.”
Luke’s voice carried a low warning that she ignored. “Enough? It’s not enough by a long shot. I have plenty to say about that stunt you just pulled at the hotel.”
Before she could even formulate the first thought, though, Luke tucked one arm under her knees, another under her bottom and scooped her into the air. She landed against his chest with a whoosh.
“You low-down, rotten...” she began, kicking futilely in an attempt to cause him to lose his balance as he strode up the walk toward the house.
She heard a distinct, low, rumbling sound coming from Luke’s chest that silenced her. She gazed into his eyes and saw sparks of pure mischief suddenly dancing in the blue depths.
“You’re laughing,” she accused.
He swallowed hard and tried for a sober expression. Unfortunately he couldn’t seem to keep his lips from quirking into a smile.
“How dare you!” she said indignantly. “This is not a laughing matter.”
Inside the boarding house he headed straight for the living room, seemingly oblivious to her protests. He settled onto the chintz-covered sofa, keeping Katie pinned firmly in place in his lap. Having his arms around her was beginning to have a neutralizing effect on her anger. It was hard to stay furious when every single part of her anatomy was tingling with awareness of the man who held her. It was absurd, really, how easily Luke was able to distract her.
Of course, she decided thoughtfully, he didn’t seem as upset, either. In fact, he seemed to have forgotten all about his brother’s impending arrival. He seemed much more interested in her bare midriff, where her blouse had ridden up. He was tracing a lazy pattern across the skin that had her insides trembling.
“Um, Luke,” she said breathlessly. “This is a bad idea.”
He ignored her and began tracing the neckline of her blouse which she’d left open about one button too far. Maybe two buttons too far. She probably should have sewn the damned thing together, given the way her pulse was kicking up.
“Luke, please,” she said, trying to swat his hand away.
Without a word, he captured her hand and planted a deliberately provocative kiss against the sensitive palm. Katie’s resistance melted. Another thirty seconds of this sweet torment and her blood would be sizzling. She wriggled in a half-hearted attempt to get free, but immediately realized that wriggling was a very bad idea. It had a prompt and unmistakable effect on Luke, that did not bode well for lowering the out-of-control heat rising between them with anything short
