okay, isn’t it?”
“What’s okay?” she asked.
“Me. Feeling you. Doing it.”
Amy’s breathing hitched. She wanted to argue, but given she couldn’t think straight enough to put words together, she simply nodded.
“Good,” he said, and pulled her closer, while the bar watched, and Amy tried not to swoon.
Two hours later, she entered her apartment and wasn’t surprised her sister hadn’t returned from her date with Bill. “Good for you, Lettie,” she whispered, dropping her purse on the table.
She withdrew both cell phones and moved to the couch to check for messages. Both had remained silent throughout the night, and she wasn’t at all certain that was normal. She checked the call log once more. Sure enough, nothing had been received since this morning.
It made her a little nervous leaving the phones in Brenda’s care while she danced with Landon, but Amy had never been one to shirk a bet, and she’d trusted Brenda to hustle the phones over pronto if anyone called.
Trust. A word she wasn’t always comfortable with, and one that crept up continually when she recalled Landon Brooks pressed against her while they maneuvered through the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” That dance had never seemed so hot before. But with Landon, it’d been sweltering. Making her not at all comfortable with their little cherry-tying wager. It wasn’t as if she didn’t trust Landon to keep himself in order during a date.
She didn’t trust herself. Particularly when dancing with him tonight had been so . . . fun.
Ever since she left Sheldon, she’d managed to stay away from men, from the temptations and the common need they fulfilled. A need she could conquer just as well with one of her toys and an ample supply of batteries. But she couldn’t deny there was something about having a man touch her, the way Landon touched her tonight. And would probably try to touch her again on their date.
And to think, after leaving Sheldon, she’d have sworn the last guy to ever rock her steady boat would be a country boy. But Landon Brooks was as country as they came, and proud of it. Not from Sheldon, thank goodness, but from Texas. Where, supposedly, everything was bigger.
Amy wondered.
Her phone rang, and she jumped to answer it. Phone calls this late at night meant one thing. Bad news. She yanked the cordless from its cradle and punched the “talk” button.
“Hello? Lettie?”
A dial tone sounded through the line, and the ringing continued.
“Well, shoot,” she said, hurrying toward the phones on the couch and quickly grabbing the red one. She flipped it over, noted the name of the fictitious hotel and answered. “The Palisades, this is Amy. Can I help you?”
“Amy? I thought your name was Colette,” the elderly woman said from the other end. “We’ve been working with a Colette. This is Ellen Southersby, and I hired Colette Campbell to take my calls. I did dial the right number, didn’t I?”
“Oh, hi,” Amy said. “Yes, you called the right number. Actually, Colette isn’t available tonight, so I’m taking care of her calls. I assumed she’d spoken with you about it.”
The woman tsked into the receiver. “You know, she did. I swear, I’d forget my head nowadays if it wasn’t attached. But I suppose that happens as the years creep in, doesn’t it? Sounds like you’re a good ways from finding that out yourself.” She laughed softly. “I do remember her telling me, though. You’re her sister, right?”
“Yes,” Amy said, genuinely enjoying the sound of an elderly voice. She’d never known her grandparents. But if she had known a grandmother, she suspected her voice would’ve sounded a lot like this woman’s.
“I was calling to see if any of our kids tried getting hold of us tonight. We called them earlier with our cellular, so I didn’t expect them to, and I felt certain you’d have let us know if they did, but I wanted to check, anyway. Walter says I’m silly to be so paranoid, but with us being”—she lowered her voice—“at this place and everything, I figure it doesn’t hurt to be extra careful.”
“Oh, that’s fine. And no, they haven’t called.”
“It was okay to check in with you now, wasn’t it?” the lady asked, evidently realizing the time. “Colette told me she was available twenty-four hours a day, but I didn’t think to ask if that applied to you while you’re filling in.”
“Sure, it does, and I just got in myself, so it’s totally fine.”
“You just got in? Did you have a date?” the woman asked,