Sharing Sunrise by Judy Griffith Gill Read Free Book Online Page B

years, yet a wave of intense jealousy had washed over Rolph when he saw Slim’s broad, blunt hand planted squarely in the center of Marian’s bare back. There was, of course, no other place to put it while waltzing, except maybe on her hip, so Slim had had no choice. Neither did Rolph. But the feel of her warm skin, the supple muscles, the slender strength he found there, threatened his equilibrium.
    He had to get off this floor. He strained to see if their main course was by any chance being delivered to their table, but knew it would not be as long as they and their guests remained on the floor.
    “Looking for someone?”
    Her smile stilled his breath in his chest. Every time she smiled at him like that, it was as if he were suddenly in free-fall. Her eyes were so big and deep he wanted to drift away in them. Her voice, humming the tune the band was playing, vibrated in his blood. Oh, hell, what was he going to do? Marian’s delicate, soft fingers lay lightly in his hand. He wanted to tuck them up under his chin. Her other hand rested on the center of his shoulder. He wanted to draw her into him so she would wrap her arm higher around him, maybe touch the hair at the nape of his neck, run her fingers into it …
    “Wondering about dinner,” he said. “We old folks need sustenance.”
    “You?” she blinked at him. “You’re not old.”
    He swallowed, let go of her hand for just an instant to tug at the knot of his tie, and said, “Compared to you I am.” With her hand set free, she stole that opportunity to place it on his shoulder then link it with its mate behind his neck, leaning back from him, bringing their hips into alignment, letting their thighs touch again, smiling up at him, innocent and carefree. “I’m thirty-six, and you’re twenty-eight, though I find it hard to remember that,” he said. “I tend to think of you as just barely out of your teens.”
    Her subtle movement against him snatched the breath from his lungs. “I’ll just have to find ways to remind you, then, won’t I?”
    He stared at her. Had she meant to move like that? She did it again. He swallowed a pained gasp. “Are you trying to flirt with me, Marian?”
    She laughed. “Now, really, Rolph, why would I do a thing like that?”
    “How do I know? How does anybody ever know why you might do anything? You’re a law unto yourself, a free spirit, a butterfly touching the edges of life. I don’t ask why about you anymore.”
    “Maybe you should,” she said, looking suddenly serious and very unlike the laughing girl she’d been only moments before. “And maybe you should try flirting back. Didn’t you say you wanted to learn how to get along with women?”
    At that point, the band played a fanfare and set their instruments aside. Marian led the way off the floor and Rolph followed, telling himself it was stupid to feel so disappointed that she’d only been offering him a lesson in casual flirtation. He wasn’t looking for anything else. Not from her.
    “That,” said Slim Masterson, leaning back in his chair, “was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.”
    “Amen,” said Ethel, his wife, dabbing at her lips with a pink linen napkin. As a server whisked away their plates while another brought the coffee and brandy Rolph had ordered, she leaned forward eagerly. “Now can we talk about boats?”
    “That’s my girl,” said Slim, shaking his head. “If she’d had her way, we’d have spent the evening on our hands and knees with flashlights inspecting decks, rigging, and electronics, instead of enjoying this place and pleasant company.”
    Ethel patted his hand indulgently. “Somebody has to take care of business.” She shared a sharp look between Marian and Rolph, then fixed it on Marian. “Well? Are we going to sit and sip brandy like these two, or are we going to start talking turkey?”
    Marian smiled and said, “Gobble, gobble, gobble.” Reaching under the table, she pulled out the briefcase