Wild & Hexy by Vicki Lewis Thompson Read Free Book Online Page A

Irish coffee spiked with Prozac. That would suck.
    ‘‘Hi, Jeremy.’’
    He would recognize her voice anywhere. Nobody else had that husky undertone that had been so distinctive on WGN that he’d have known it was her with his eyes closed. Her voice made him—and most likely the male population in general—think of sex.
    For one wild moment he considered growling playfully into the phone. That would be waaay out of character. ‘‘Hi, Annie. Your mom said I might find you there.’’
    ‘‘We’re finalizing the flower arrangements. If you want to weigh in on the boutonnieres, now’s your big chance. Melody’s leaning toward a rose instead of a carnation, and Bruce is in a meeting, so I guess that leaves you as the decision maker.’’
    He didn’t give a flip if the guys had to wear dandelions, and Bruce wouldn’t, either, but he knew women usually cared about stuff like that. ‘‘I’m sure a rose will be fine.’’
    ‘‘I’ll tell Melody. In fact, would you like to come over and take a look at the plan for the flower arrangements? You might have some ideas.’’
    ‘‘Ideas about flower arrangements?’’ Then it hit him. She thought he had a knack for such things. He wanted to set her straight—ha, ha—right then and there, but a phone conversation, especially with other people able to hear her end of it, wasn’t the place. ‘‘I know nothing about flower arrangements,’’ he said.
    ‘‘Oh. Okay.’’
    ‘‘I was calling to see if you’d have dinner with me tonight. I have something I wanted to talk to you about.’’
    In the silence, he could imagine what she was thinking—that he wanted to explain about yesterday. Which he did, but not in the way she might guess.
    ‘‘You mean at the Hob Knob?’’ she asked finally.
    It was the only place in town that served complete meals, and he’d thought about going there, but it didn’t fit his image of this date. ‘‘They still close at six and they don’t serve wine.’’ He, however, could serve it. But where?
    ‘‘I remember the Hob Knob closes early,’’ she said. ‘‘People hardly ever have dinner out around here.’’
    That had to be a far cry from her life in Chicago. So that was settled. He couldn’t take a big-city girl like Annie to the Hob Knob at five o’clock.
    He thought quickly. Dinner in his apartment wouldn’t work because the café would still be open. The noise filtering upstairs would ruin the ambiance. ‘‘Ever been kayaking?’’
    ‘‘No. Are you into that?’’
    ‘‘Yep. Bought myself one last year. I could borrow a second one so we could both go.’’
    ‘‘But I’ve never—’’
    ‘‘You’re athletic. I could teach you in no time.’’ He couldn’t believe he was overriding her objections. He would never have had the confidence to do that yesterday.
    ‘‘I have been sort of curious about kayaking.’’
    ‘‘Great. Then let’s have a picnic supper on the far side of the lake tonight.’’ He couldn’t believe these words were coming out of his mouth. He sounded so damned sure of himself it was scary.
    ‘‘Won’t it be dark by the time we paddle back?’’
    ‘‘Yeah.’’ And he liked that idea. ‘‘But the moon’s almost full and I have a couple of high-intensity flashlights we can hang around our necks. We should be fine.’’ They would be more than fine. Having Annie alone in the woods sounded like heaven to him. It was even early enough in the year to beat the mosquito season.
    ‘‘Well . . . then I guess I could do that,’’ she said. ‘‘But let me check to see if Melody needs me for anything tonight.’’
    As he waited for her to come back on the line, he glanced down at Megabyte, who stood watching him as her tail swept slowly back and forth. She always seemed to sense when he was making plans that didn’t include her.
    ‘‘I promise to take you for a run before I leave,’’ he said. The dog flopped down on the floor and sighed as if knowing