Free Lady Be Good by Nancy Martin Page B

front there’s no way I’m going to—er—stamp your passport? Would you still want to spend a whole day driving me across the state?”
    He shrugged. “Nothing ventured, right?”
    “Luke —” Grace stopped. She heard an odd note in her own voice. The way she’d said his name sounded different as soon as it popped out of her mouth--almost too intimate, too soon.
    He said, “I like you. You’re smart. You’re funny in a nice way. And you look great this morning. Like you’re still warm from your bed. I love your mouth. If I wasn’t sweating like a horse right now, I’d be trying to kiss you.”
    Grace blinked at him. “I thought that you…”
    “That I hadn’t noticed?” Luke smiled. “I noticed. You’re beautiful. Without getting your face injected with stuff and false eyelashes and everything else that other women do to themselves nowadays. And you’re a little sexy when you aren’t acting like Queen Victoria in a truss.”
    Grace sat up straight and summoned a glare. “I realize that I might be a bit chilly from time to time, but—”
    “Chilly? Princess, you’re Frigidaire’s biggest competition.” Luke dried his hands on the towel. “I’m intimidated as hell, in fact. But I’d kinda like to know if you’ve got a warm spot under all that good manners routine, you know?”
    “And if I don’t?”
    He smiled. “I think it’s worth a shot. So what about it? Think you can spend a little more time with me?”
    “Are you asking if I’m attracted to you?”
    “Okay, if you want to be blunt about it, yeah.”
    Grace took her time responding. She liked his smile. She liked that he changed tires for stranded motorists. She liked that he signed autographs no matter how many times he was asked. And those shoulders. The way he moved. If she blushed every time she looked at him, it was probably because her body temperature went up a few degrees.
    But she kept it simple and said, “I’m willing to give it a shot.”
    He laughed. “See? You’re funny.”
    “They say a sense of humor is the first element of sexual chemistry.”
    “Whoever ‘they’ are hasn’t gotten laid in a long time.”
    Grace laughed, but thought a few steps ahead and finally frowned. “Wait a minute.”
    “Second thoughts already?”
    Sternly, she said, “Are you offering to drive me all the way to Philadelphia because you want to see me naked, as you so charmingly put it yesterday? Or because you think I’m going to start asking people questions about Jake Kendall’s death and get into trouble?”
    He cocked his head and squinted. “Is there a right answer to that question?”
    “Are you worried about me?”
    He shook his head. “I think you can take care of yourself. How about it? Can you be ready to leave in half an hour?”
    “You’re giving me thirty minutes to get ready to spend the day with you?”
    He laughed. “We could save some time and shower together.”
    “Somehow, I don’t think that would save time at all,” Grace said with a smile she hoped looked more composed than she felt. “And it’s definitely premature to start thinking about showers.”
    “Your loss. Be ready in half an hour. Twenty minutes would be even better.” With a grin, he got up from the counter and headed for the stairs. When he reached the upper hallway, Grace heard him start to whistle.
    She sat for a moment eyeing the dripping chunk of grapefruit in her fingers.
    She popped the grapefruit into her mouth and savored the tart and the sweet.
    Did Mama’s book tours go this way?

6.
    A man in a pickup truck was plowing Luke’s driveway when they went out to load their luggage into the red sports car in his garage. He waved, and Luke walked outside to shout pleasantries with him over the roar of the truck’s engine.
    Then Luke came back and lifted her suitcases into the trunk of a vintage Jaguar. His own duffle didn’t take up much space next to Grace’s bags.
    “Okay,” Luke said when he closed the trunk. “Before