StillWaters:Book4oftheSophieGreenMysteries (34 page)

“Hello.” Katie was hanging around by my left shoulder like a conscience-devil. “How are you?”

“Fine. I came to…” Cal clocked Katie and began to stammer. “I…I…you, yesterday…quite…upset.”

“Everything’s sorted now, just another misunderstanding,” I said smoothly. Well, I could have belched every word and next to Cal’s delivery it would have sounded smooth. “Cal, Katie.”

“Oh, so
this
is the guy with the lip action. Pleased to meet you, Cal.” And Katie turned round to face me and half-whispered, “Fuck me, Willow, you didn’t tell me he was such a
ride
. I mean, look at him.”

“Forgive my friend, Cal, she has a form of Tourette’s. We normally keep her locked up for her own good.”

Cal smiled broadly and Katie went “phwooooarrrr” in my ear. “Chuffin’ hell, will you look at the eyes on your man?”

“And she’s Irish. Happily married. Quite respectable.”

Katie leaned over the desk towards Cal. “But prepared to be unrespectable, if the offer’s right.” She pursed her lips and Cal’s smile grew slightly broader.

“Are you any good with goats?”

“Um.”

“So, that’s a ‘no’ then.” I hustled Katie to one side with my elbows. “It’s fine, Cal. I’ve spoken to Luke, he’s explained. It was something personal.”

“Anyway. The brother in Boston? I’ve got the phone number, if you wanted to ring and introduce yourself.”

“What a great idea.” Katie derailed the nearest elbow and slotted herself in beside me again.

“Have you got something in your eye?” I asked her suspiciously.

“No, I’m fluttering my eyelashes, can’t you tell?”

“I don’t think Cal’s impressed by fluttering eyelashes, Katie.”

“No, but I’m mightily impressed by anyone who can move my goat.”

Katie’s appraising stare narrowed. “Is that some sort of code, Willow? Is he chatting you up in code? Because if he is, that’s really unfair. No one chats me up in code, not even Dan—not that he chats me up anymore. Doesn’t even chat much, if you want to know the truth. He sort of grunts and points. I think he learned it off the twins.”

Cal and I shared a baffled shrug. “So, do you want to call him now? You can borrow my mobile.”

“Well, not right this second. I mean, I’m at work and everything and it’ll be the middle of the night in Boston, won’t it? Tonight. I’ll do it tonight.”

“Why are you putting it off?” He tipped his head on one side. “Are you worried about what he might say?”

“No! I told you, Luke and I have sorted everything out. If I ring James and he tells Luke that I called, then it looks as if I’ve gone behind his back and don’t trust him.”

“But you
don’t
, do you?” The words dropped into a clanging silence. I stared at Katie who didn’t even look ashamed of herself. “Come on, Willow. If you trusted him, he wouldn’t need to explain himself to you because the situations would never arise in the first place. I mean”—her voice became gentler—“you know I love you, Wills, but you can be a complete and utter zombo where men are concerned.”

“Is that a real word?” Cal asked.

“It is on Planet Katie,” I answered, a little bitterly. “Kate, you’re warping things again. Luke and I are fine. We…oh, sod the pair of you. Give me the number, Cal. I’ll call after lunch when it’s a civilised time in Boston. Katie can earwig all she likes to make sure I ask the right questions. There. Are you both happy now?”

The two of them agreed that, yes, in this instance they were fairly satisfied with my reply, and Cal left the office, Katie watching his every move. When she noticed his limp, her eyebrows almost twanged.

“Christ Jesus, he even manages to make
that
look sexy. Aw, do an old married woman a favour. Before you marry Luke, shag Cal just the once”—a libidinous look—“and tell me
all
about it.”

“
Katie!
I will do no such thing. Anyway, Luke’s sexy too, isn’t he?”

She stopped boiling over and switched down to simmer. “Yeah, he’s sexy, too. But it’s different with Luke. He’s macho sexy, all swagger and cock-first into a room. Your man there, you can tell he’s the kind who’ll make you wait, then lick you till you’re screaming.”

A pause while we thought about this.

“You really do need to get out more, don’t you?”

“Tell me about it,” she sighed.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

It’s all about the story…

Action/Adventure

Fantasy

Historical

Horror

Mainstream

Mystery/Suspense

Non-Fiction

Paranormal

Red Hots!

Romance

Science Fiction

Western

Young Adult

www.samhainpublishing.com