Flirting with Temptation - By Kelley St. John Page 0,49

from the way Chris was looking at her, and the way Chris looked period, she could probably get her fill, and then some, from the good-looking lifeguard headed her way.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you,” he said, sitting on the lounger Rose had vacated. He extended one of the sandwich plates toward Babette. “Turkey and bacon. I had them add Swiss cheese.”

“Perfect,” she said, accepting the plate. He had big hands, long fingers, and smoky eyes that said he aimed to please.

She took a bite of the sandwich and enjoyed turkey and lettuce and cheese and tomatoes and pickles . . . and a drop dead gorgeous hunk watching her mouth as she chewed. He was hungry.

She was hungry too.

Chapter 10

Gert parked her Camry in a visitor spot at Mirror Lakes, cut off the ignition and stared at the rolling terrain, the elevated tees and the massive clubhouse that she’d frequented quite often many years ago. She glanced at her bag in the passenger’s seat, the bag that contained her new golf shoes, soft-spiked to follow proper course attire. Her collared shirt also followed course attire, even if it wasn’t nearly as ladylike as her usual clothing style. At least it was a pretty color, a bright pink, and it matched her skirt, navy with a pink hem. No, she wasn’t as feminine as usual, but to get on the course she had to dress the part.

Then again, to get on the course, she’d have to figure out what to do once she was on it. And she also had to determine how she could get the answers that she so desperately needed. She had an idea, a fairly novel idea if she did say so herself. However, in order for it to work she had to find a way to golf, and she really didn’t want to waste time about it. She wasn’t getting any younger.

She opened her bag and fingered the tiny notepad where she’d written the information Babette had provided. Rowdy Slidell’s phone number and address. She could call him, see if they could reconnect over the phone, and then perhaps arrange to get together for a cup of coffee, or maybe a Starbuck’s Caramel Macchiato with whipped cream.

Then she’d see what happened.

A fairly normal chain of events, she assumed, as long as it was okay with Henry. And the only way to know was to get out of the car.

Swallowing thickly, she dropped the visor and checked her face in the mirror. She didn’t look nervous, or not too nervous, she supposed. Her cheeks were a little more pink than normal, but that might be because she got a little carried away with the blush—probably because she was nervous.

She snapped the visor back in place and reached for her bag.

No time like the present.

Inhaling the mingled scents of cut grass and warm asphalt, she walked toward the rock-built clubhouse, only slowing her pace momentarily when the large water fountain outside misted her with its spray. The touch was gentle, tender.

“Henry?” she whispered, looking toward the water as though something magical would happen. Would she see his face? Hear his voice? She stood there, staring and wondering if something would happen to let her know what to do about finding Rowdy, seeing Rowdy.

Nothing did. She saw a hint of a rainbow forming in the path of the spray, but a rainbow wasn’t what she was looking for, even if she didn’t know what she was actually trying to find.

She continued walking toward the heavy wooden doors leading to the clubhouse. Before she had a chance to reach for them, a man exited, held one of the doors open, and smiled to her as she passed.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” he said cheerfully, and Gert nodded. It was a beautiful day, and it reminded her of many other beautiful days that she’d spent at this course, riding in the cart and enjoying being a part of Henry’s world.

She entered the clubhouse and immediately noticed two things: first, that she was the only female here, which wasn’t all that unusual. She’d often been the only female around when she came with Henry, but it hadn’t felt quite so awkward then with her husband by her side. She tried to control her racing pulse and silently faced the fact that she would be subjected to an abundance of testosterone, mostly retired testosterone, but testosterone nonetheless.

The second thing she noticed was that she didn’t feel as comfortable here as she’d thought she