Read Online Kisses in the Rain by Pamela Browning - Free Book Online Page B

around little clumps of people, excusing herself occasionally to freshen a drink that she never really refilled.
    She kept hoping that Nick would join her, but the opportunity never presented itself. He was tied up with Lynore until a watchful Faye intervened with her cry of "Mingle! Mingle!" Then Dr. Andy occupied the whole group's attention by telling about the time he'd won a twenty-day-long sled-dog race on the Iditarod Trail.
    Although Martha was fascinated by Dr. Andy's story, she kept watching Nick to see if he was observing her. When he caught her at it she looked away quickly, but she smiled, and out of the corner of her eye she saw that he smiled too. How silly, she thought. It had always struck her as funny that when a man and a woman wanted to get together they had to go through a ritual of eyeing each other first.
    When the rain began to fall more heavily and the temperature became colder, many guests decided to head for home and a warm fireplace. Perry unexpectedly offered to give Lynore a lift to her apartment, Faye began to pick up paper plates and cups and stuff them into plastic garbage bags, and Martha worked with Dr. Andy to wrap the leftover food.
    Then Faye said, "My age is finally beginning to catch up with me. I'm going to call it a night," and Dr. Andy bade them a quick farewell before driving off in his Jeep.
    Nick and Martha were suddenly alone.
    "Somebody should pull the plug on all those colored lights," he said.
    "I think the plug's over here," Martha said, and when she pulled the plug out of its socket the surroundings went suddenly and blindingly dark, the blackness punctuated by the patter of softly falling rain.
    "You'll have to send out radar signals," said Nick, who was holding two trays of cookies. "I can't see a thing."
    "I'm over here," Martha said.
    "Keep talking so I'll know where you are," he said.
    "It's as black as the inside of a cow," Martha replied, a giggle catching in her throat.
    "Have you ever been inside one?"
    "No, but I have a good imagination. Watch your step, the floor's damp."
    He followed her around the porch and into her apartment, looking around curiously to see if her home was decorated in the same glitzy way Martha dressed. He was relieved to see that it was a typical rental efficiency, nothing special, nothing fancy. The kitchen was small but modern. She'd brightened the ho-hum decor with assorted hand-woven baskets and a bouquet of fresh flowers on the coffee table. Her laptop occupied a corner desk.
    While Martha dumped the cookies into a tin, Nick stood at the living room window looking out at the rain.
    "Where would you like to go tonight?" he asked.
    She shoved the container of cookies into a cabinet and joined him at the window. "I don't know many places in Ketchikan," she said. She was beginning to feel nervous at being alone with him. This jitteriness hadn't happened to her in years. Usually she felt in control when she was with a man. Now she didn't feel in control at all. Nick was such an unknown quantity.
    "There's a nice little pub where I go sometimes."
    "That sounds fine. Only—"
    He turned and looked at her. There were question marks in his eyes. Why was she suddenly reluctant?
    "It's raining so hard," she said in explanation. She laughed a little, and she knew she sounded jumpy. "I guess I'm just not accustomed to rain like a native—Ketchikaner?"
    He laughed. "I think the proper term is Ketchikanite. And I can understand your distaste for the rain. Our liquid sunshine takes some getting used to." He paused for a moment. "You know," he said more intimately, "we wouldn't have to go out. We could stay right here. I'm not trying to invite myself, and I promise I won't wear out my welcome. But if you'd be more comfortable—"
    She thought about it, a lightning-flash kind of thought. She certainly didn't want him to think he was invited to spend the night, but she didn't read that expectation into either his words or his expression. She sensed that he