Love Proof (Laws of Attraction) - By Elizabeth Ruston Page 0,111
decorator for the past several Christmas Eves.
“Sarah, you going to be okay?” her dad asked. “With that job situation?”
“Yeah, Dad, I’m sure I’ll be fine. The law business is the same as yours—really slow this time of year, but then people will start hiring again in January.”
She tried to say it like she believed it. She had already lied to her parents enough.
Forty-two
Cookie baking was in full swing around noon when the doorbell rang.
“Want to get that, honey?” Sarah’s mother asked. Her hands were currently buried deep in cookie dough. “I’ll bet it’s Nancy. I told her she could borrow my big cake pan.”
“Sure,” Sarah said, wiping her hands on her own traditional Christmas apron, the one with the sassy girl elf on the front, winking as she placed a huge star on the top of a tiny tree.
Sarah passed her father sitting in the living room, apparently too mesmerized by the football game to have heard the doorbell.
Sarah opened the door.
“Joe! Wh-what are you doing here?”
Within what seemed like seconds, Sarah’s mother appeared behind her. Joined surprisingly quickly by her father. The best Sarah could do was give Joe a tentative smile and widen her eyes in warning.
Joe smiled easily and stuck out his hand. “Hi, Mrs. Henley. I’m Joe Burke.”
If he hadn’t gotten it from Sarah’s expression before, the look of shock on her mother’s face should have said it all. Joe glanced at Sarah for a quick confirmation, and she subtly shook her head.
“Mr. Henley, nice to meet you, sir.”
Sarah’s father had a sturdy handshake, but it looked like Joe could take it. Then all four of them stood around the doorway looking at each other.
“Merry Christmas,” Joe said, handing Sarah’s mother a box of chocolates.
“Merry . . . ” But that was as far as Mrs. Henley got. She looked from Sarah to Joe, then asked him, “Did you . . . need to come in or something?”
“No, thank you,” Joe said. “Actually, I was hoping to borrow your daughter for a little while, if that’s all right.”
“Something about the case?” Sarah’s dad asked. “Seems unusual on Christmas Eve.”
“No . . . not that,” Joe said, again looking to Sarah. Once again she gave him a subtle shake of her head.
“I’ll be back in a while,” Sarah said, stripping off her apron and handing it to her mother. She grabbed a coat from the rack by the door. “I won’t be gone too long. Just . . . some things we need to discuss.”
“Are we supposed to ask him to dinner?” Sarah’s mother asked her, as if Joe weren’t standing right there.
“Um . . . sure,” Sarah said. “Joe?”
“Sounds nice,” he said. “Thank you.”
Sarah gave him a look that she hoped conveyed how surrealistic the whole situation felt. Joe simply smiled back.
“So . . . shall we go?” she asked. She didn’t wait for his answer, but already headed for his car parked at the curb.
Joe waited until they were out of earshot before muttering, “I take it you haven’t mentioned me yet?”
“No, I was going to get to that.”
“Or the fact that we’re not working on that case anymore?”
“That, too,” Sarah said.
“Liked your apron, by the way.”
“Watch it, Burke.”
“How’s that Audi?” Sarah’s father called from the door.
“Generally all right,” Joe said, turning around to face him. “Tail lights keep going out, though.”
“Probably the electrical,” Sarah’s father said.
“Probably so.”
“You should get that looked at.”
“Yes, sir,” Joe answered. “I will.”
He opened Sarah’s door for her, no doubt feeling her parents’ eyes still boring into his back, then he came around and got in and started the car. Sarah waved to her parents and Joe gave them a friendly nod.
“Your dad’s not going back in the house to get his shotgun now, is he?”
“Nah, he’s more of a bare-knuckle fighter.”
“Good,” Joe said. “Then I have a chance.”
She suppressed her laughter until they drove away.
“Joe, what are you doing here?”
“Hold that thought.” He cruised one more block before parking and shutting off the motor. Then he unbuckled his seatbelt, popped the release on Sarah’s, and pulled her toward him for a proper greeting.
It had only been a little more than twenty-four hours since they last saw each other, but she didn’t mind showing she missed him. And there was something wickedly appealing about steaming up his windows on a street in her old neighborhood.
“Are you here to steal me away from my parents and seduce me?” Sarah asked.
“Would you like me to?”
“Obviously.” The Audi wasn’t made for full makeout