Page 7 of Kiss Me at Midnight
“You didn’t answer my question,” Jud said gently, moving closer to Lily.
She adjusted her black glasses and tried to tell herself that she felt warm all over because she hadn’t talked to Rachel since that one disastrous night years ago. It was apprehension making her heart pound, not attraction.
“I love interrogations.” Dotty grabbed hold of a standing floor lamp and tilted it so that the light blinded Lily. “It’s cat and mouse, the best part of any cop show. Answer the question.”
“Whose side are you on?” Lily held up a hand to block the light from her eyes.
“Yours if you’ll confess, see.” Grandma Dotty tried to imitate Jimmy Cagney, one of her favorite old school actors.
“What do I have to confess?” Lily squinted in the light.
“That you’d love to go out with this handsome man, but only if he wears his superhero duds.” Her grandmother giggled.
“The network doesn’t let the superhero suit off the lot,” Jud said good-naturedly, adding in a suggestive tone, “Although I have an in with the costume designer and have been known to wear it to paid private events.”
Private.A bedroom came to mind.
Lily’s mouth went dry as she imagined Jud standing at the foot of her bed in his superhero duds. And then her brain registered another word:paid.Without a paycheck, it was unlikely Jud would don his superhero suit for her.
“Well that settles it,” Lily said in a voice she hoped dispelled all argument. “I don’t pay for dates, even if I’d be impressed by the supersuit.”
“Point taken.” Grandma Dotty set the lamp back upright and moved on to rifle through a small desk next to it.
“Don’t snoop.” Lily couldn’t believe Jud was still staring at her, couldn’t believe she was blushing. She squared her shoulders. “If you aren’t going to be straight with me about wanting to meet me, Jud, I’ll just guess. I bet you wanted to talk because your neighbor leaves out his trash cans all week.” Complaints about neighbors were surprisingly high in her district.
“Nope.” Jud crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I wanted to–”
“Don’t tell me.” Lily narrowed her eyes. “The brownstone you want to remodel is zoned multi-family?” That was another popular issue with her constituents.
“Nope.”
“Aha!” Dotty pulled a slim black cord from a drawer, jiggling it until the plug swung free. “You can’t find these flip phone chargers anymore. I’m taking it.” She proceeded to tie the cord around her waist like a belt. “Abe owes me.”
“Put that back, please.” Lily’s command was spoken without significantly shifting her attention from Jud. “I can get you a new cell phone charger.”
“Not like this, you can’t.” Grandma Dotty held the plug in her hand. “They don’t make flip phones like mine or the charger anymore. And before I forget, I want my mace back.”
“Dad wouldn’t approve of you having mace.”
“Your father doesn’t approve of me, regardless.” Grandma Dotty’s chin took on a mutinous tilt.
Jud chuckled as if he found this tremendously amusing. He wouldn’t laugh if Grandma Dotty accidentally maced him.
“Lily, Dotty, and…Jud.” Abe charged into the room with all the energy of an uncapped fire plug. He had short black hair that was teased straight up and wore a blue silk shirt over gray slacks. “Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me. I’m under a tight timeline.” Abe sat down in a brown leather club chair, signaling to his assistant to close the door and stay outside. His gaze took in Grandma Dotty and her cell phone charger belt with only a brief quirk to his brow.
Lily decided it was late and time to get down to business. “About your offer to donate to the Hot Meals and Shelter…”
“In exchange for a favor.” Abe was looking speculatively at Jud, not Lily.
“What favor?” Jud moved beside Lily and draped his arm around her waist, resting that big hand of his on her hip.
Grandma Dotty glanced at Jud, at his hand, and then she sidled up on the other side of him and draped his arm over her shoulder. “Yeah, what favor?”
“Could it be that you haven’t heard?” Abe had a salesman’s smile, big enough to hold all his agendas. “Rachel was recently granted a quickie divorce from her groom of thirty days.”
“That was the best episode all season,” Grandma Dotty said in all earnestness. “I record them all on my VCR.”
The clock ticked closer to midnight. Lily was acutely aware that Abe’s donation deal was about to expire, almost as acutely as she was aware of every inch of Jud’s hot body touching hers.
