Read Home for Love for Free Online

That's where the excitement is."
    Kate listened to the enthusiasm in his voice. She wanted to ask him more about his plans, but she didn't like the part about wrapping things up here. Her reaction was disturbing. She ought to feel relieved that he might be leaving.
    "I'll probably send you off to sleep with all this talk," he said gruffly.
    "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "It's not that. It's just… I'm the one taking your time." She dropped her notepad back into her briefcase, trying to act as businesslike as possible. "You probably have another meeting to go to. Mrs. Adler said you were very busy—"
    "Kate, you know we have to talk about it. Our kiss last night." He said the words so matter-of-factly. Kate stiffened.
    "Really, Steven, there's nothing to talk about. Not a thing." She clutched her briefcase.
    "I think there is." He ran a hand over the veneer of the tabletop. "I wanted to apologize for what happened. It was…a mistake. I think we both realize that."
    Kate nibbled her lip. He didn't have to be
quite
so apologetic. But he was right; she did agree that the whole thing had been a mistake.
    "I'm sure it won't happen again," she said. "It was unprofessional, to say the least."
    "I'm glad you see it the same way," he remarked.
    "Well, it's never a good idea to get involved with a business associate." Kate relaxed her hold on the brief-case. "Besides, I enjoy my life just the way it is. I'm not looking to get involved with anyone. I'm a very independent person."
    "So I've noticed," he said wryly.
    "A woman has to be," she declared. "Take my mother, for instance. She adored my father, but he was so domineering. He tried to manage her, just like she was one of the kids. Even now she can't see what he did to her."
    "I take it he couldn't manage
you
too well."
    "We had our differences," Kate admitted. "But he did care for me. I remember him staying up late one Christmas Eve to finish building a dollhouse, which became very special to me. I still have it, in fact, stored away in my closet."
    Steven smiled at her. She felt a pleasurable warmth seeping through her. She liked being able to speak so frankly with him.
    "So…I didn't want you to have any bad feelings about last night," he said.
    "Oh, I don't. Not anymore. I'm glad we cleared the air. I really am."
    "It won't happen again."
    "No. Of course not."
    They gazed at each other. Steven's eyes looked almost blue now, very clear and deep. Kate glanced hurriedly at her watch.
    "Um, I think I'd better be going now," she said.
    Both of them stood up at the same time. Steven paid the tab and escorted Kate outside. He started hailing a taxi.
    "Don't you have your car?" Kate asked.
    "In the shop for maintenance."
    Kate shrugged. Her own car only went into the shop for emergency repairs, never anything so prosaic as maintenance. She waved the taxi on.
    "I'm giving you a ride," she announced. "No, don't argue with me. Anywhere you'd like to go." She was feeling very kind toward him now that everything was straightened out between them.
    "Actually, I have to go back up to the house," Steven told her. "I'm due at a fund-raiser tonight, and one of my clients is sending someone to pick me up." He rubbed his neck. "I'm not looking forward to it, but
I
have to keep my clients happy."
    "That's what I always say," Kate remarked blandly. She opened the passenger door of the Bug with a flourish. "Here you are."
    Steven peered doubtfully inside.
    "You've got to be kidding," he said.
    Kate reached over and dumped all her rolls of wallpaper into the back seat, on top of the boxes of tiles. She couldn't see out the rear window anymore, but she was good at using her intuition.
    "I'll take that flowerpot so you'll have a place to put your feet. All clear!"
    Steven still looked doubtful, but he folded his rangy frame into the car beside Kate, his knees poking up at odd angles. She stared straight ahead, aware of how close she was to one of his broad shoulders. As she pulled out into traffic, a gauze