Leave a Mark by Stephanie Fournet Read Free Book Online Page B

bird flock one more time.
    He took it and pressed his palm against hers. The hand was small and slender in his grip and, unlike the night before, it was warm and strong in his.
    “You’re very welcome.”
    “I mean it, Dr. Hawthorne,” she said. “I don’t know many doctors who would go so far out of their way to help a patient.”
    “It’s Lee,” he said, squeezing her hand once more before letting it go. “And it was my pleasure.”
    “Lee,” she repeated, nodding. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the apples of her cheeks blushed a little. He may have been wrong about that, but he wasn’t wrong about the feeling that ran down his chest when she said his name.
    It was time to leave.
    “Goodnight. Get well soon, Wren.”
    He opened her door, turned the lock on her knob, and stepped out into the night.
    Lee pulled out his phone to find three text messages, the first at 6:18 p.m.
     
    Marcelle: Okay, we’ve got a table at 7:30. Your dad and Barbara are joining us. I’m getting ready at your place.
     
    The next message was logged at 6:26 p.m.
     
    Marcelle: Are you on your way? If you get home soon, you can shower and shave before we leave.
     
    Then thirteen minutes later…
     
    Marcelle: Where the hell are you???
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
    LEE DUMPED HIS keys on the kitchen table and started pulling off his tie.
    “Where have you been?” Marcelle called from across the house. “It’s almost seven!”
    “I… I was helping a patient." He unbuttoned his shirt. “I’ll be ready in twenty minutes.”
    He walked into his bathroom to find Marcelle standing at his vanity in lace panties and a strapless bra, running a flat iron through her strawberry-blonde hair.
    “Well, hello,” he crooned, approaching her for a kiss.
    She scowled and pointed a finger in his face.
    “Don’t even think about it. We don’t have time.”
    “You’re no fun,” he said, swatting her on the bottom. He turned on the water in the shower stall and adjusted the temperature. “I bet you won’t even join me.”
    She whipped her head around and looked at him as if he were crazy.
    “I’m straightening my hair, Leland.”
    Lee dropped his shirt on the floor and unzipped his pants.
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever.”
    When he stepped under the near-scalding shower stream, his muscles turned to soup. He grabbed his shampoo bottle and got to work. If he stayed in the hot shower too long, he’d be good for nothing but bed.
    “How was your day, Marce?” he called.
    “It was good. I got the job on Beverly. We’ll start tearing out the parquet floors next week,” she said, hardly pausing to breathe. “I can’t wait to tackle the bathroom. Of course, I need to find a new plumbing sub.”
    “Congratulations. You sound excited,” Lee said, rinsing his hair and grabbing the soap. At twenty-seven, she’d already made a name for herself in interior design. They’d met more than eighteen months ago when she headed up the kitchen renovation at his dad and Barbara’s house.
    “I am. I’d love to snap up a few more clients in Bendel Gardens,” she said. “If fix-up fever takes hold there, I might need to get an assistant.”
    Lee did a final rinse and turned off the taps.
    “So, why are Tom and Barbara coming with us? Did they call to see what we were doing tonight?” he asked.
    When she didn’t answer, Lee raked open the shower curtain to find that he was talking to an empty bathroom.
    “Marcelle?”
    “I’m in here. It gets too steamy in there when you come out of the shower.”
    He couldn’t help himself. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
    Lee heard her tsk. “I mean, it’s too humid. It’ll frizz my hair.”
    “Why don’t we call my dad and Barbara for a raincheck, and I can find another way to frizz your hair.”
    “Leland!”
    He chuckled and scrubbed the towel over his head. Then he wrapped it around his waist and turned on the hot water at his sink.
    “You have exactly twelve minutes to shave and