Free Project Daddy by Kate Perry Page B

high school, I heard some girls in the locker room giggling about sixty-nine. Like an idiot, I asked Luc what that meant. He drew me a picture. A very detailed one.
    The way he gazed at me, I knew he was remembering the same incident. Except instead of the amused light I expected to see, he looked like he was considering something.
    “I see a man over there I need to go meet.” I gestured behind me, hoping there actually was someone. “Be back soon.”
    I rushed off, trying to calm myself. I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but it felt significant. Something that felt like panic welled in me. I pushed it back and strode toward the first man I saw.
    He wore a leather jacket and had an elaborate tribal tattoo down one side of his neck. His hair was long and tangled but at least it looked clean. I couldn’t tell what color eyes he had because of the sunglasses perched on his long nose.
    I was beyond caring about the criteria. I took a deep breath and stopped right in front of him. Smiling professionally, I asked, “Do you wash your whites separately, or do you throw everything in together?”
    He slid his glasses down and stared at me from above the rims. I think I heard him growling too, but it might have been the hum of his dryer.
    Not that I was taking chances. I backed away—very slowly. “Good boy. Down.” I wished I had a treat to throw at him. I wondered if a box of dryer sheets would be an appropriate substitute.
    I bet if I tossed him a pair of black lace panties he’d heel. Maybe that’s what Luc was talking about. I made a mental note to buy a pair of black panties to keep in my purse. For emergency situations like this.

Chapter Seven
    I met Gary at his flat Sunday morning, eleven o’clock sharp. I would have liked starting earlier, but in retrospect eleven was good. Spending the entire night out was wearying.
    Okay, Luc and I weren’t out the entire night. I guess not even half the night. But after a couple days in a row it seemed like all night.
    Though last night was pretty mellow. We went to a reading at a bookstore.
    Now—standing in front of Gary’s door and reflecting on the night before with Luc—a happy, warm glow infused me. I was still smiling softly when Gary opened the door.
    “Katherine! You’re just in time.” He grabbed my arm and yanked me in. “The light is absolutely perfect right now. Come, come.”
    He guided me through his house so quickly I barely had time to register the enormous canvases lining the walls, floor to ceiling. Or the plush white furniture and rugs. I glanced down at my shoes and hoped they weren’t muddy.
    “Nice place,” I commented as Gary dragged me up a narrow staircase.
    “Thanks. My parents left it to me when they passed on.”
    If only I had parents who left me a cottage in Sea Cliff. I wouldn’t be able to afford a closet in this neighborhood, much less a house.
    Jealous? Me ? Never.
    I craned my neck to look up where we were headed. “It’s pretty big, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah, but I rent out the bottom floor. It affords the luxury of working on my art. And the whole house is too big for just me and Jeremy.” He glanced back at me. “That’s my boyfriend.”
    Right—the slight, bookish man at the gallery opening.
    We reached the top of the stairs and Gary pulled me through a doorway into a room of light.
    “Oh wow,” I murmured reverently.
    Gary laughed, the deep belly laugh I was beginning to recognize as part of who he was. “It is spectacular, isn’t it?”
    “Understatement.” Half the roof was glass as well as one entire wall, letting light stream in unfiltered. He had canvases in various stages of production propped up all over, an easel standing in the middle of the room. In one corner, there was a long lounging couch. It made me want to go drape myself across it dramatically, like in a faint. “It’s fabulous.”
    “Thanks.” He grinned at me. “But we’re wasting time.”
    “Okay.” I couldn’t help it. I went to