Free Big Three-Thriller Bundle Box Collection by Gordon Kessler Page A

girls.’”
    She raised her eyebrows again. “If you’re not at the Gold Mine Grill by twelve fifteen, I just might find another boy.”
    The diner she referred to was only two blocks from the store. I tucked the newspaper under my arm. “Yeah, but would he be as good a lover?”
    She gathered up the dishes and went to the sink. “You are always so sure of yourself.”
    “Yep.” I looked at her backside while she stood at the counter. I’d heard of some study claiming men have a sexual thought every couple minutes. I was having mine. “By the way, did we make love last night?”
    She turned and frowned. “You’re joking.”
    I thought about it, unsure if the concussion was a good enough excuse for spacing it out. “I mean, you asked earlier if I ever got enough. So I guess we . . . I don’t remember. Last night. Did we?”
    “You mean after seven years of marriage, it’s gotten that bad?” She flung the dishtowel at me, but I caught it before it covered my face.
    Looking at her petite but nicely rounded body, those feminine curves, the way the morning light shone softly on her tan face and black hair, I would have felt very cheated of such a sweet memory if we had made love. I had to know. “Sorry, sweetheart. Did we?”
    Her frowning eyes widened. “Poor darling,” she said and hurried to me with her arms out. “Of course we did. Don’t you remember? I drove us home from seeing Will. I helped you into bed even though Mr. Macho Man insisted he didn’t need me to. And I found out you really didn’t need any help — any help at all.” She gazed at me coyly. “I didn’t want to because of your head. But I gave in pretty quickly, Casanova.”
    I wasn’t pleased at being robbed of the reminiscence, but now, Casanova was a nickname I could live with. “I’ll make up for it tonight with a lovin’ neither of us will ever forget.” I lifted her off her feet and twirled her light body around one full swing.
    “Careful,” she said, “you’ll get dizzy.”
    I set her down, and we kissed.
    “See you at noon.” I handed back her dishtowel and started toward the front door in the living room.
    She patted me on the butt as I walked away.
    “And don’t forget — ” I began, and when I reached the door, I turned back to see her watching me with her hands on her hips.
    “There’s nothing wrong with my memory,” she said. She paused and then added, “Oh, by the way, Mike phoned while you were in the shower.”
    “Ah-hah! Your own brother. You almost forgot he called, didn’t you?”
    “ Almost doesn’t count. Anyway, he said you won the football pool. Ninety dollars. Said he’d be by later this morning to settle up.”
    “Cool.” I nodded. “And I already thought I was the luckiest man in the world.”
    “Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes. “So whatcha gonna buy me?”
    “How ‘bout a large Coke for lunch.”
    “Cheapskate.”
    I wriggled my fingers and smiled as I went through the doorway.
    But suddenly, when I stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind me, it was as if I’d entered another universe.
    I leaned back against our front door, staring out at the yard and the neighborhood, not understanding what was happening to me. My heart fluttered inside my chest, and a dizziness came over me like vertigo. What I saw was not the issue, it was how I saw it. The yard was my yard; the street, sidewalk, trees, neighboring houses — my neighborhood. But it seemed so open, so different. I felt the need to clutch the doorknob behind me for fear of falling into what suddenly appeared like a broad expanse of openness. Agoraphobia , I thought — fear of open spaces. Could that be it?
    I slowed my shallow, quick breaths, closed my eyes and breathed deeply. When I slowly looked again, nothing had changed, but I seemed to be adjusting. The concussion, I remembered — that was obviously my problem. But how bad of a problem was it? Should I wuss out, go back inside and tell Mish that I