Free When the Sun Goes Down by Gwynne Forster Page B

figure-hugging coral-silk dress, knee-length and sleeveless. Nobody had to tell her that she looked great. Her hair touched her shoulders. Marcasite earrings dangled from her ears, and a diamond sparkled at the edge of her cleavage.
    “Good Lord,” Gunther said after emitting a sharp whistle. “Whoever the guy is, he’s definitely in for trouble. You’ve come up a few notches since you moved out of Father’s house.”
    “It wasn’t difficult. He cramped everybody’s style.” She had not planned to let Gunther stand between her and that door when the bell rang, but he’d managed it, and she knew he did it intentionally.
    “I’ll get it,” he said, already halfway to the door.
    “Hello, Carson. How are you?”
    “Fine. How’s it going? Is Shirley at home?”
    “Yes, I am. And I would have opened the door for you, if my big brother hadn’t beat me to it.”
    He handed her a dozen red roses. “I’ve met a few brothers in my day. Protectiveness of their sisters seems to be in their DNA. Shall we go?”
    “Yes. Thanks for the flowers. I love American Beauty roses. I’ll be ready as soon as I put these in the dining room.
    “Good night, Gunther,” she said, knowing that she had aroused his curiosity with that remark. She couldn’t help grinning at the expression of shock on his face.
    “I think you upset him,” Carson said as they settled into his BMW. “I take it you didn’t tell him that you were having dinner with me.”
    “He wormed it out of me.”
    “Didn’t you want him to know?”
    “I didn’t mind, but I’m trying to change his perception of me as the family baby.”
    A deep laugh rumbled out of Carson. “But you are, and both of your brothers will always see you that way. You look beautiful. Stunningly beautiful.”
    “Thank you. You’re practically breathtaking.”
    She loved his laughter, and he treated her to a good dose of it. “Be careful about saying such things. You wouldn’t like me to wreck this car, would you?”
    “You said you liked things cut-and-dried, and I hate looking for acceptable synonyms and euphemisms. I belong to the tell-it-like-it-is school.”
    “That is not true. The second occasion on which we worked at your father’s house, you spent the entire time doing precisely the opposite. If you’d said what you were thinking and feeling, we’d be talking about something else right now.”
    “I didn’t get any help from you. Do you think I’m stupid enough to stick my neck out?”
    “No. But I thought you were smart enough to see what had to be as clear as spring water.”
    She turned to face him fully. “Are you saying—”
    “Right. The same bug that bit you, bit me.”

Chapter Four
    As he drove along Old Dominion Pike, he reflected that Shirley hadn’t responded to his admission that he was attracted to her. He hadn’t imagined that she played her cards so close to the chest, and he still didn’t believe it. “You haven’t asked me where I’m taking you,” he said, deliberately changing the subject.
    From his peripheral vision, he saw her draw a fortifying breath. Then she turned so that her back was to the passenger’s door. “Carson, I would trust you with the life of my newborn baby, not to speak of my own life. And from the look of you tonight, I think I’d be foolish to question your taste.” She then resumed her previous position. “Where did you grow up?”
    “I was born in Washington, D.C. I’m thirty-six, divorced, and childless.”
    “Let me guess. You were born between mid-July and mid-August.”
    “Yeah. I was. July thirty-first. How’d you figure that out?”
    “Because you’re the epitome of a Leo. Alpha male from your head to your toes. Where’d you go to school to learn how to be a detective, if you don’t mind my asking.”
    “Hmm. How soon they forget. I don’t mind at all. I have a bachelor’s in criminology and a JD from Howard. Four years practicing law was as much as I could stomach, and after four years