Lady Moonlight Read Online Free Page B

a date. It was an emergency."
    At her skeptical look, he explained. "Two starving people were faced with a buffet. Drastic action had to be taken. Now, tomorrow," he continued, "will be another story."
    She cleared her throat. "Tomorrow?"
    He nodded. "Tomorrow will be an official date. I'll do my best to be charming. I should warn you, though, that I've never been big on subtlety."
    "I could have guessed that," she murmured as he dropped several bills on the small tray that had accompanied the tab.
    "I think we need to get a few things straightened out," she said as they strolled toward the parking lot.
    "Where's your car?" he interrupted.
    "At home. I went to the party with Judy. My partner," she said in response to his questioning look.
    "Look, about tomorrow ..."
    "Where do you live?" he asked, tucking her in the front seat and closing the door. Settling in behind the steering wheel, he turned and waited.
    Kara briefly closed her eyes and sighed. Later, she decided. When he had taken her home and she had his undivided attention, they would talk. "Go back that way," she gestured. "Turn left at the light and go up the hill."
    He swung into the stream of traffic and a few minutes later pulled up in front of an attractive complex of Town Homes. It resembled a vast Spanish hacienda, with whitewashed walls, red tile on the broken roofline, and an abundance of arches and decorative black wrought iron.
    "Nice, isn't it?" Kara asked proudly.
    "I've seen a couple of the units," was the noncommittal response.
    "And?" When he hesitated, she said hastily, "Never mind. I don't think I want to know."
    "They're well built for the price, and attractive. But the security is lousy. I could get in any one of them with a toothpick."
    "Too bad they only issued us keys," she said coolly, releasing the seat belt and opening the door. "Think of the fun you could have had." His leisurely stride kept pace with her brisk steps down the center courtyard.
    Relenting, she said, "Actually, you're right. The other night I had a housewarming party-I've only been here for a few weeks-and some of the guys said the same thing. So we tried an experiment. My girlfriends and I locked the men out and secured the house. The object being, of course, to see if any of them could get in."
    Her brows knitted in a scowl at the bland certainty in his voice. "How long did it take?"
    "Only a few minutes. Five of them got in. Each a different way."
    "That should give you some idea of how quickly a pro could do it."
    "It did. You'll be happy to know that my security has been beefed up. We even formed a neighborhood watch system. Then I put new locks on the windows, dowels in the track of my sliding door and an alarm."
    "What kind?"
    "I don't know what it's called, but it seems to do everything but wash the dishes. It has water sprinklers ...."
    "To drown a burglar, I assume."
    "And an alarm that's guaranteed to wake everyone in the complex," she finished, ignoring his dry comment. "As a matter of fact, a friend of mine was installing it when I left this evening."
    "You didn't have a professional do it?"
    "Oh, he's in the business,"she said blithely. "Listen," she said, stopping near an octagonal fishpond, "you don't have to come all the way with me." After digging in her small evening bag, she pulled out her key and flourished it. "Thanks for dinner. It was really delicious." If she could pull this off, she wouldn't have to worry about a date, official or otherwise.
    He snagged the key with one hand and turned her, cupping her elbow, with the other. "I can't resist a new gadget. I want to see your alarm. Besides, we haven't decided what time I should pick you up tomorrow."
    She came to a stop in front of her door. "We're going to talk about that."
    "Over a cup of coffee?" he asked hopefully as he inserted the key.
    Kara had long been a devotee of British World War II movies. And for that reason, the sound erupting from her door was familiar. The ear-splitting wail of an