Page 17 (1/2)
He takes his job so personally, she thought As though the university is his own private place But then, that’s probably a good trait in a janitor
Jake Morrissey shaded his eyes with one hand Despite his sunglasses, the Las Vegas sun was blinding, and he narrowed his eyes against the glare The searing heat of the desert city was light years away froion he’d left yesterday
He’d flown out of SeaTac airport on a red-eye express to Las Vegas barely twelve hours after he’d met Chloe Abbott at the UW Medical Center There hadn’t been tih he could’ve called her today, either on his cell or the hotel roo the multistory casino-hotel was complicated and required all his attention He wanted the work corabbed three hours of sleep at the hotel before heading for the job site with his crew, already looking forward to finishing and flying houed him thiswith Chloe and her grandmother had only increased his interest
Chloe Abbott was beautiful, sexy, smart and had a quick, wry sense of humor He was positive the attraction was mutual, but he was too far away to act on it
He wanted her within reach when he talked to her, not a thousand randmother had mentioned that Chloe lived in Queen Anne, a Seattle district only a ten-or fifteen-minute drive fro was located
Setting the explosives to ihly five ht back to Seattle by the tiuy in the Tribune photo with you and Gran," Alexie demanded as she closed the freezer door in Winifred’s kitchen Ice-cream container in hand, she pulled open a drawer
Chloe groaned silently That photo How on earth had the photographerher ear? She lifted the cake out of its box "I’ to the photos taken at the medical center?" Her older sister wasn’t likely to be distracted enough to drop the subject of Jake Morrissey, but Chloe tried
"Drank it in withlatte Nice article, by the way," Alexie said
"I think so, too The reporter did a great job and I loved that she included Gran’s background as a codebreaker during World War II" Chloe slipped the three-tiered chocolate cake onto a heavy crystal cake stand
"Yes, nice touch Are you about ready with that?"
"I just need to put the candles on top" Chloe quickly poked ten short pink candles into the dark chocolate frosting, eyed the arrangeet back to you explaining the hot guy nibbling on your ear"
"I was hoping you’d forget"
"No chance Who is he?"
"Didn’t you read the caption under the picture?"
"Of course--it gavehe’s been a civilian What I want to hear from you is how you feel about him"
"What do you mean how I feel about hi, and most of the conversation was about the medical center and Gran I don’t even know hiht She pulled open two drawers before she located a book of y pink skirt and picked up the cake plate
Alexie’s huff of disbelief spoke volumes "The expression on Jake Morrissey’s face in that photo practically singed the edges ofto tellyour ear"
"He was not kissingto me and I couldn’t hear him When I asked him to repeat it, he leaned closer to ask rapher chose that moment to snap the picture That’s all there was to it" Chloe had a swifther hand a shade too long when they were introduced, his dark eyes filled withto have all that male intensity focused exclusively on her Jake wasn’t her usual, easygoing kind of ht he was, too But he hadn’t called
"I ht believe you if I hadn’t seen the look on his face" Alexie used her elbow to hold open the swinging door between the kitchen and dining rooestured Chloe to precede her As Chloe walked past, she hissed, "This conversation isn’t over"
"Maybe we should discuss your latest guy," Chloewhen Alexie rolled her eyes "Here we are," she announced Winifred, seated at one end of the gleaht candles?" Winifred lifted an inquiring eyebrow, her sharp gaze sweeping Chloe and Alexie "Why not eighty?"
"We were afraid we’d rinned, mischief on her face "So we settled on one candle for each decade"
Chloe set the cake plate on the table and pulled out the book ofthe candles with a flourish
"An excellent solution" Winifred leaned forward, drew in a deep breath and blew out the candles while her granddaughters clapped and cheered
"I’ll cut the cake while Alexie scoops" Chloe slid cake onto a plate before passing it to her sister to add ice cream
"Thank you, dear" Winifred’s white hair was cut short in a natural cap of snowy curls that fra-sleeved silk blouse had mother-of-pearl buttons frolow a deeper green She wore a treasured heirlooift from her husband when he’d returned from London more than fifty years earlier At five foot six, her posture was still nearly perfect, her carriage erect, her walk graceful "I’ht"
"It’s tradition, Gran What would a birthday be without a gathering of The Abbott Worandmother Winifred Abbott was a force to be reckoned with, both inside and outside their tight-knit faet home in a feeeks"
"Two birthday parties?" Winifred’s eyes twinkled "H hand over the glossy surface of the rosewood clock sitting on the table next to her "Especially if it et another present as nice as this one"