Free That Special Smile/Whittenburg by Karen Toller Whittenburg Page B

are topnotch. But I’m not the one who caused the damage and I don’t think I ought to be the one to fix it.”
    A subtle tension steeped in the silence and Sylvie willed Max to give her an excuse, any excuse, for telling him what was really on her mind.
    Instead, he picked up his tools, flipped the herringbone jacket over his arm, and walked to the end of the porch.
    “A simple no, thank you will suffice, Sylvie Anne.” He stepped over the balustrade and started across the yard.
    Moonlight caught at the midnight dusk of his hair and then she couldn’t see him at all. The door beside her opened and Juliette stood in the lighted hallway.
    “About that letter…,” she began hesitantly, looking anxious. “I’ll call that man tomorrow, but I just…. Well, I need to know what, exactly, is a lien?”
    “A lien on property is....” Sylvie tried to focus her attention on Juliette and the latest complication, but she couldn’t seem to pull her eyes or her thoughts from the darkness on the other side of the balustrade.
    She wanted to apologize to Max.  Felt she ought to apologize.
    Which was ridiculous since she’d done nothing to apologize for.
    He was the one who ought to apologize. He’d done all the teasing. He’d been goading her all evening with his flirty comments and seductive glances. He’d been the one to state an opinion that had been neither needed nor asked for.
    But the apology stayed on her tongue and would not go away. So, all right, she could admit she had overreacted – a little – but then Max didn’t understand about Juliette and how she handled things by not handling them and....
    “Sylvie?”
    “Hmm?”
    “The lien?”
    “I don’t know, Juliette.” Sylvie lifted her hand in a distracted gesture. “Look it up in the dictionary or something.”
    “I know what it is, Sylvie, I just don’t know what it means.” Juliette paused. “What’s wrong with you anyway? Why don’t you come inside? I’ve been holding this door for the longest time.”
    Sylvie turned in sudden decision. “I want to tell Max something. When I get back, we’ll talk about the lien, all right?”
    Juliette frowned uncertainly. “Do you want me to go over with you?”
    Sylvie shook her head. “I can handle Max.”
    “If you’re not home by dawn, I’ll know you did just that.” Juliette flashed her back-to-normal, saucy grin and closed the door.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Sylvie approached Max’s house with brisk confidence, but she had a sudden awkward feeling as the front porch came into view and she saw him sitting on the top step. The house behind him was dark, but the moon illuminated the porch and Max with a silvery, dusky light. She was struck by the very real, very masculine appeal of his dark hair and blue eyes, his strong facial features, and the secure confidence that was such an integral part of him.
    “Well, hello, Miss Congeniality,” he said. “Has she locked you out again? Or are you casing the neighborhood?”
    Sylvie pressed her glasses firmly against her nose and forced herself to offer him a smile. “No, I came to….” The apology she had felt she ought to offer was nowhere to be found, snuffed out, she supposed, by his snippy greeting. “I came to tell you, Max, that no matter how you feel about my sister, her business is none of yours. I’m here to help her set up the dress shop, and we do not need your advice or your opinions. I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that in mind.”
    He pursed his lips, thinking that if his hands hadn’t already been clasped, he would have put them around her neck.
    And kissed her senseless.
    “Sit down, Sylvie.” With a tilt of his head he indicated she should sit beside him on the steps. “I think there are a couple of points here that need clarification.”
    She stood stubbornly at the base of the stairs and Max decided to bide his time and see what developed. He didn’t think Sylvie would walk away from the chance to clarify anything.
    And if