Free Suspicions of the Heart by Rita Hestand Page B

like you, too."
    "Maybe if we get to know each other a
little better maybe then..."
    "I'm sure we will in time," he agreed.
He pulled her unresisting body into his arms. She strained to be
closer. Her lips parted as his head bent to take the kiss she
offered.
    She was everything any red-blooded man
could ask for; warm, soft, inviting, and he was totally not into
it. He groaned as he pulled away. He must have given her the wrong
impression because she was pulling his head down for another
kiss.
    Joe pushed her gently away. He opened
his eyes and saw a Pontiac passing by. He recognized the old car
and the driver. It was Candy Arnold, he growled inwardly.
Deliberately, he put space between himself and the willing
woman.
    "Is there someone else?"
    He hesitated over the question. Was
there? "Goodnight, Debbie," he answered simply. He came around to
her side of the truck and guided her to her front porch.
    "Goodnight, Joe, and remember, if it
doesn't work out, I'm available!" She threw him a kiss and walked
inside.
    On the way home he wrestled with his
emotions, and the accelerator. Was there someone else?

Chapter Six
    A constant jangling of the phone woke
Joe the next morning and he stirred slowly to its annoying trills.
Not fully awake, he reached for the receiver, blindly knocking the
phone from the stand by his bed and onto the floor. He scrambled to
recover it, then lay still, slumbering across the bed, the covers
slipping in disarray. "Hello," he muttered hazily.
    "Good morning, Mr. Munroe." An angry
voice woke him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you supposed
to meet me at the south fence this morning?"
    Groggy, Joe wiped at the corners of his
eyes and rolled onto his back with a comfortable sigh. "Sorry,
Dumplin', I guess I overslept. What time...?"
    The irate crackling in Candy's voice
brought both his eyes open. "Dumplin'?" she screeched. "Now, listen
you, this is Candy Arnold, your neighbor. Not your Dumplin'. I
called to discuss business. The south fence, as a matter of fact.
Remember?"
    "Hmm…" he murmured with a humorous tilt
to his firm-set mouth.
    "Mr. Munroe, if you could get your mind
off your amorous date last night and concentrate on the business at
hand, we might get somewhere." Candy seemed perturbed by his aloof
manner. He grinned.
    "Really--where?" He deliberately
provoked her, knowing how beautiful she would look with the angry
glow of her temper showing. Something stirred within him, something
he hadn't willingly invited. Strange how the lower half of his body
seemed to respond to this obviously ticked-off neighbor.
    "Are you awake?" The voice sounded
suddenly perplexed when Joe didn't say anything.
    He held the phone away from him, eyeing
it with a quirked brow. "I'm not sure..."
    "I see." Her acid tone was beginning to
irritate Joe's morning disposition. "I thought ranchers got up with
the roosters. Or don't you have any work to tend to? I mean, I know
Longhorns don't have to be coddled, but surely there is something
you should be doing right now."
    He smiled indulgently, his voice
lowered to a husky note. "Nothing that won't keep."
    A quiet from the other end had Joe
perplexed until she blurted out, "I'm sorry to disturb your
company, but…" her voice trailed off as though she were at a loss
for words.
    Joe forced his laughter away. The lady
had reached her own conclusions. Candy was sure he was entertaining
a female in his bed, no less. So what could that hurt? Sounded kind
of nice, when Joe thought about it. And it certainly served her
right! Let her think what she wanted. It would do his ego a world
of good.
    "Not at all, Dumplin'. And I'd like to
apologize for keeping you waiting this morning. I'll have to
remember how punctual you are." He heard her gasp in dismay, and a
boyish grin spread over his face. He'd never had this much fun with
any woman before, not even Lisa. "As for the fence, I'd be more
than happy to take care of it for you, even though it's on your
property line. I believe in