the inky sky, as if being slowly painted with the stroke of an artist’s hand. He headed for the highway and once there he shifted gears, pressed on the accelerator and soon the city was no more than a tiny image in his rearview mirror.
He drove for more than an hour, relishing in the feel and power of the car. Driving usually relaxed him, took his mind off things he didn’t want to think about. But not tonight. As much as he tried, he couldn’t shake images of Desiree out of his head. On more than one occasion he’d started to talk to Dominique about her sister, but good sense had prevailed. For reasons that he couldn’t put his finger on, he didn’t think that it would sit very well with Dominique. She had her own impressions of him and teased him constantly about his parade of women. What she didn’t know was that the parade was only a replacement for who he really wanted—Desiree Lawson.
He turned onto his street and pulled into his garage. Maybe it was time to do something about his unrequited feelings once and for all.
Chapter 4
Desiree had always known that her twin was determined and single-minded. However, she’d never been on the receiving end of all that focus, and in the first twenty-four hours of their pact, she was already regretting it.
“First I thought we could do some double-dating. Chris, a guy I met a few weeks ago on the tennis court, has some really great-looking friends,” Dominique was saying while she sipped her orange juice.
Desiree groaned. “Dom, you make me sound like some kind of castoff.” She pushed back from the kitchen island counter and walked to the sink.
“Okay, how about this? What if I just invite Chris and one of his friends over here? That way, no pressure, only a friendly gathering at the pool.”
Inwardly, Desiree cringed. She must have been out of her mind or truly desperate to have agreed to this. “Fine,” she said on a breath of frustration.
Dominique clapped and hopped up from her stool. “I’ll give Chris a call.” She pranced out of the kitchen.
“Hey, sis, why the long face?”
Desiree glanced up to see her brother Justin en route to his favorite spot in the house—the refrigerator. Every time she looked at her handsome younger brother, she was reminded of their mom: they both shared the same open and welcoming countenance.
“Oh, just thinking about some issues at work. How is school going?”
He shrugged. “Easy semester. Just looking forward to graduation.”
“It will be here before you know it. Do you think you’re going to take the consulting job or the congressional aide position?”
“I’m still deciding. Both opportunities are great. I want to make the right decision.” He took a carton of eggs and a package of bacon out of the fridge.
“You will.” She smiled. “I have all the confidence in the world in you.”
“Thanks. Man, I sure miss having Lee Ann around.” He took the eggs and bacon to the stove and took down the frying pan from the hanging rack overhead. “She always had breakfast ready on Sunday morning.”
“Yep, Lee Ann always had everything under control. We were spoiled.”
“When is Grace coming back?”
“Hopefully soon, sweetie, and then things can get back to normal,” she teased.
Grace Howard was their longtime housekeeper, who’d gone to her native home of Grenada for more than two months, leaving shortly after Lee Ann’s wedding to take care of her ailing mother.
“She said her mother is much better and getting up and around.”
“That’s good. I mean, I wouldn’t want her to leave her mother but she sure is missed around here.” He lined up the bacon and the pan sizzled.
“Well, I will leave you to your cooking. See you later.” She patted him on his broad shoulders and walked off.
Located on the ground floor of the sprawling mansion were two home offices, one that Desiree used and one that her father used when he was in town. Even though it was Sunday and she could have been lounging on the pool deck, there was paperwork that she wanted to go through to prepare for a community forum later in the week. Rezoning was a major issue in the parish and the residents wanted to have their say.
Just as she was settling down to work, the opening and closing of doors and the sound of voices drifted to her from the front of the house. Her heart tumbled. Pushing back from the desk, she crossed the room to the partially opened door.
Dominique’s laughter floated to her, followed by the rugged baritone of Spence. A slow heat moved through her, even though all she could make out was the impression and resonance of his voice, not the words.
She held the frame of the door to keep her feet from moving by the magnetic pull of him. He’d obviously come to see Dominique and placing herself in front of him for some trumped-up reason would only make her look ridiculous.
Drawing in a long breath of resolve, she shut the door and returned to her computer. She was determined to focus on the work at hand even as images of her and Spence together, with her body wrapped around his, continued to battle for control of her senses.
As Spence followed Dominique through the house, he took surreptitious looks around in the hopes of spotting Desiree. The house was relatively quiet aside from the faint sounds of music coming from one of the upstairs rooms, which he assumed was Justin.
“So to what do I owe this surprise?” Dominique asked, leading the way to the back patio.
“I decided to take the Mustang for a ride and wanted who else but my best girl in the passenger seat.”
“You’re just the sweetest,” she cooed, turning to him and lifting up on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. Her warm brandy-toned eyes moved slowly over his face. She used her thumb to gently wipe the lipstick from his cheek.
Why couldn’t this be Desiree? he thought, taking her hand and kissing the inside of her palm. “Are you game?”
“When have I ever not been game?” She flashed him a wicked smile. “Let me run up and change. Make yourself at home. You know where everything is.” She darted off and left Spence on the patio.
He walked over to the railing and looked out onto the expansive lawn. The Lawsons lived well, he mused. They were part of the elite of Louisiana. Yet, each member of the Lawson clan was as ordinary as the next person. None of them were known for lauding their family name and using their clout to get what they wanted. They worked hard in their chosen fields and didn’t look for a free ride, although their name provided entrée into any door that they wanted opened.
The sound of the sliding door opening behind him turned him in that direction. His nostrils flared as he drew in a short breath.
“Hey,” said Desiree.
“Hey, yourself. I didn’t know you were here,” he answered.
“Tucked away in my office. Last-minute stuff. I thought I heard a car pull up.”
“Yeah,
