are two people, but being a single parent must be beyond difficult.”
“I agree.” Eli nodded. “Watching Justin and Lily with Ava has been a real eye-opener. Don’t get me wrong,” he added hastily. “I think she’s great, but, man, she wears me out.”
“I know what you mean. Ava has nonstop energy.” Frankie smiled with affection as she sipped her water. “I have a play date scheduled with her on Saturday morning and I’m wondering if I should increase my vitamin intake and start lifting weights to build my endurance.”
Eli grinned at her. “Might not be a bad idea. Aren’t you a little old to have play dates?”
“Absolutely not,” Frankie said emphatically. “I adore Ava and every third Saturday, we get together to go to the park or the zoo or a children’s exhibition at the Seattle Center. Of course,” she added with a twinkle, “I call it bonding, but Ava insists we’re having play dates.”
“Ah.” Eli nodded. “Makes sense. So what else did you do when you were a child?” Eli asked. “Besides go to movies on Sunday afternoons.”
“Skipped rope, rode bikes, played Monopoly with my sisters, and—” Frankie paused to sip her water “—volunteered at a horse rescue barn in Arlington.”
Arrested, Eli stopped eating popcorn, one eyebrow rising in query. “I didn’t know you were interested in horses. I thought you were a city girl, through and through.”
“I suppose I am to a certain extent,” Frankie agreed. “But I love animals, especially horses. When I celebrated my eighth birthday, Mom told me it was time for me to pick a cause to donate my time to and I chose abused horses.”
“Good choice.” Eli nodded, his eyes gleaming with approval. “When Granddad told us we were old enough to start giving back to the community, I picked Habitat for Humanity.”
“That’s a wonderful cause,” Frankie enthused. “I’ve considered signing up, but I don’t know anything about carpentry.”
“A lot of volunteers don’t when they start. Join my group,” he said. “I’ll make sure you learn how to swing a hammer and saw a board.”
“I doubt it’s that easy,” she said with a shake of her head.
He shrugged. “It’s not complicated—and professional carpenters team with new volunteers to supervise them.”
“If you promise to teach me enough about carpentry so my contribution doesn’t result in a house falling down, I’ll sign up,” she told him.
He laughed. “You couldn’t make a house fall down. Don’t worry about it.”
Before Frankie could respond, the house lights dimmed and the previews for upcoming movies began.
When the popcorn container was empty and napkins had wiped away any traces of salt and butter, Eli caught her hand in his, threading her fingers between his own. Startled, she glanced sideways at him, but he was focused on the screen, his profile lit by the flickering light from the movie.
There was something nice about sitting in the dark theater, Eli’s warm, callused palm pressed to hers, the hard strength of his shoulder against hers.
Frankie turned back toward the screen, deciding to enjoy the moment and not worry about what it might mean that her heart stuttered each time his thumb smoothed over the back of her hand.
Since they both had to rise early for work the following morning, Eli dropped her off just after ten-thirty, saying good-night with another kiss that left her breathless. Forty minutes later, as she climbed into bed and switched off the lamp, Frankie realized she hadn’t spent such a relaxing, thoroughly enjoyable evening in a very long time.
And it was entirely due to Eli’s company.
Part of her loved the thought—while another part dealt with the niggling worry that she liked his company far too much.
A wise woman wouldn’t tempt fate, she thought drowsily.
Chapter Six
On Wednesday morning, Frankie was in her office at Liberty Hall on the University of Washington campus. Since completing work on a museum exhibit in December, she’d been reassigned from her usual duties as a research assistant. She was now temporarily filling in for an English Literature professor who’d gone on emergency leave. Much as she loved the variety of her research work, Frankie welcomed the opportunity to teach in a classroom. The new responsibility challenged her creativity and gave her one-on-one contact with students, which wasn’t usually the case.
Since her next lecture wasn’t for another forty-five minutes, she planned to make good use of the time to catch up on a few non-classroom duties.
Her desk was littered with data reports, printouts of class grading curves and miscellaneous information. Deep in thought, she contemplated a possible change in her syllabus notes for the current lecture series on classic British authors of the twentieth century.
“Hey, Professor.” The deep male voice was soft, just above a murmur, but Frankie jumped nonetheless, startled, her gaze flying to the doorway.
Eli leaned against the doorjamb, one broad shoulder propped against the walnut edge. He was dressed for work in a blue-and-white plaid flannel shirt that hung unbuttoned over a white T-shirt tucked into the waistband of snug faded jeans. A black leather belt was threaded through the belt loops of the jeans, and dusty black boots covered his feet.
“Hey,” she responded faintly.
“Sorry I startled you.” He shoved away from the doorjamb and walked toward her, his stride easy. “I had to stop at a job site near here, and when I picked up coffee, I thought about you, probably stuck in your office, slaving away. So I brought you a latte—double shot, vanilla, right?” He held up two take-out Starbucks cups with lids.
Frankie beamed at him, delighted. “You remembered.” She took the cup and sipped, closing her eyes in pleasure. “I owe you.”
“And I’ll collect,” he shot back, grinning when her eyes opened and she studied him with suspicion. He picked up a straightback wooden chair and spun it around, straddling it, his forearms resting along the top of the polished oak back. “Any new thoughts about our next move against Harry?”
Frankie leaned back in her swivel chair, propping her stockinged feet atop the open bottom desk drawer, ankles crossed. “Believe it or not, Harry called this morning. He’s having a group of people over for dinner on Friday night to welcome a visiting software mogul from London. He asked if I’d like to join them.” She looked at Eli from beneath lowered lashes. “I told him yes, providing I could bring a date.”
“And what did Harry say?” Eli drawled, lifting his cup to sip, his blue eyes watching her over the rim.
“He asked me if my date was Nicholas Dean.”
Eli stiffened, his eyes narrowing over her. “He’s still pushing Dean at you.”
Frankie nodded. “Apparently.”
“Has Dean called you?” Eli asked, his voice neutral.
