A Dream to be Loved Kandi Jaynes by Kandi Jaynes Read Free Book Online Page A

eyes and listened to the deep throaty laugh. His voice became soft and sensual. "I would hate to think I was responsible for making you sick. Maybe I should come over and spend the evening with you so I can make sure you're safe."
    Kate felt color flood her cheeks. She hadn't meant for that to be an invitation. "I'd be safer alone with the chocolate." She also hadn't meant for that to be out loud.
    "Why do you say that?"
    She swiveled slightly in her chair twirling the phone cord around her finger when a movement caught her eye. A group of men stood by the window leaning on the fence, eating popcorn, and watching her. "Oh no," she groaned.
    "What's wrong?"
    "I've just become the floor show."
    "What?"
    "I really have to go."
    "I'll call you this evening."
    "There's no need for that."
    "Yes there is. I'll talk to you later, Kate."
    She hung up the phone glad her desk was too far from the window for anyone to have heard her end of the conversation. Looking at her watch she noted there was still enough time to grab lunch. She pulled her purse out of the drawer and walked toward the group. "Is there something you need?" She opened the door.
    "Not really," one of the men replied. "We were just enjoying the show. I take it from the smiles and giggles you were talking to the person who sent the flowers."
    "I'm hungry, if you'll excuse me I'm going to get something to eat."
    "Oh, come on, Kate, tell us who they're from. Are you serious about him? Is he from around here? Give us something."
    "What I'll give you is dull tooling from now on if you don't leave me alone. Did you ever think maybe they're from my grandmother to thank me for helping her move last month?"
    "Yeah, right. Women don't blush and get all doe eyed and giggly over a grandmother."
    "Doe eyed and giggly?" Kate's stomach knotted as she heard Drake's voice.
    "Hi, Drake. We were just trying to find out who sent Kate flowers and the box that made her blush," Smitty offered, "But she won't tell us. She was just feeding us some line about them being from her grandmother."
    Kate gave Smitty a look that would have withered most people, but he had known her too long to be afraid of her. "I'm going to lunch." she grated as she pushed past the crowd.
    Watching her leave, another member of the group spoke. "Wow, maybe it finally happened."
    "What?" Drake inquired.
    "Maybe she's finally met someone that broke through. In all the years we've known her, she has never had a boyfriend that we know of. When she started here some of the guys asked her out, but she always turned them down, telling them she didn't want the complication of dating someone from work. Later we got to know some of her friends and found out she just doesn't date at all. If she has found someone, I hope for his sake he deserves her."
    Drake's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully.
    The man laughed. "Kate is very well liked around here. She has always fit right in. More times than we can count she has gone out of her way to help any number of us. Professionally and personally. She doesn't get offended when one of us is in a bad mood and says something we shouldn't. She's definitely not some floozy a guy could just mistreat and get away with it. You might say if word got out some guy hurt her there would be a very long line of men wanting to know his name."
    "I'd be first in line," Smitty said.
    Drake looked up at the man he'd seen Kate yell at that first day. He had never considered himself a wimp, but he wouldn't leap in front of a moving train to try and stop it either. He glanced at Smitty again and considered himself duly warned.
    Steve looked at Drake. "We wouldn't let him go first. There wouldn't be anything left for the rest of us if he did." The men all laughingly agreed as they went their separate ways.
    Instead of being worried, Drake felt his feelings for Kate grow even stronger. He'd heard the way some of the men talked about other single women in the building. It often wasn't very