Another Kind Of Love

by Paula Christian

Genres: LGBT Lesbian

Synopsis

Unlike most pulp romances of the 1950s and '60s, Paula Christian's heroines were thoroughly modern women--struggling to define themselves while searching for their own lasting relationships. Fully human and honest, afraid of failure yet always hopeful, these sisters were blazing a trail, encouraging others on their path to... Another Kind Of Love The moment Laura Garraway shares a forbidden kiss with beautiful Hollywood starlet Ginny Adams, she discovers the missing piece of herself. When fame-hungry Ginny won't leave her powerful movie star lover, Saundra, Laura runs away to New York's comforting bright lights, desperate to forget her. There, in the cigarette-and-martini-drenched gay bars of the Village, and the offices of Madison Avenue, Laura finds herself in a new world--one in which who she is and what she wants are completely up to her... Love Is Where You Find It

Release date: November 19, 2014

Publisher: Kensington Books

Print pages: 304

Sample

Laura stood at the massive front door, her slim fingers twisting the polished knob, not daring that final quick turn, which would open the door and betray her eagerness to leave. She had been poised for flight for the last ten minutes.

But Saundra, serenely oblivious, held her in a conversation that showed no signs of waning.

Desperately Laura tried to concentrate: it was not prudent for anyone in her position to reveal impatience with an important personality like Saundra Simons. Movie stars were the bread and butter of the fan magazine writer, and a notorious, glamorous actress like Saundra was a frosted seven-layer cake. So Laura straightened up and arranged her face in a fresh smile of attention. Fortunately, Saundra was far too mesmerized by the sound of her own voice to notice Laura’s impatience.

The sound of a car coming up the drive was a merciful interruption.

Saundra glanced quickly at her watch. “Oh, dear. It is getting late. I’m sorry you have to leave so soon, Miss Garraway . . . Laura. We seem to have so much to talk about.” Saundra flashed her famous smile in Laura’s direction.

Laura smiled back in bright response. “I’m sure we will be talking again soon,” she told Saundra smoothly. “I wish we could go on right now, but Walter’s waiting to go over these changes with me. And you know Walter.”

Saundra’s laugh was more in revelation than appreciation. “Indeed I do. A dear boy. But a slave driver.”

“I’ve got the lash marks on my back to prove it,” quipped Laura, moving carefully but steadily through the now open door onto the flagstone steps.

A car door slammed and footsteps sounded on the walk. “That will be Ginny,” exclaimed Saundra. “I’m so glad you’re still here. I want you to meet Ginny. She’s really a terribly sweet person and may one day turn out to be a truly great actress.”

Laura winced internally.

However, she smiled and nodded. She couldn’t be rude. But damn it, she really had no interest in meeting Saundra’s protégé. Hollywood sprouted starlets the way Florida exported oranges. By the carload. Except that oranges stood a much better chance for survival. Only yesterday at the studio commissary she had run into a starlet. Odd kid.

The steps came nearer, and all at once the figure of a young girl materialized from the shrubbery that hid the path.

The girl’s eyes met Laura’s, and there was the sudden shock of recognition. Why . . . this was the same girl. The one she had met at the studio cafeteria.

“Well . . .” Ginny began uncertainly. “It certainly is a small world.”

“Isn’t it?” smiled Laura, touched by Ginny’s awkward cliché.

“I didn’t know you two knew each other.” There was a distinct note of resentment in Saundra’s voice. It surprised Laura. She glanced from Saundra to Ginny, uneasily aware of a strong tension between them.

“We only met by chance yesterday,” Ginny replied softly, almost apologetically. “I don’t think I even told her my name.”

Saundra placed a well-tanned arm around Ginny’s shoulder. “Ginny Adams. Don’t forget that, Laura. You’ll be begging her for an interview one of these days.” The famous melodic laugh embroidered the hint.

Ginny blushed very slightly. “I’m a long way from that,” she said quietly to Laura. Still, it wasn’t hard to see that she was just waiting for her “big break.”

Laura wondered why Saundra had singled out this fresh-faced, shy-looking young girl to be her protégé. Ginny didn’t look like the typical Hollywood starlet, and she wasn’t wan enough to be a product of one of the more popular acting schools in New York.

“Well,” Laura began, feeling trapped, “why don’t we have lunch one day soon and discuss your future?”

“Marvelous idea,” Saundra chimed. “That darling boss of yours might even let you do a feature write-up on Ginny.”

Laura forced a laugh. “That’s a possibility, but of course, so much depends on our schedule.” She wondered if Saundra expected a promise.

“Wouldn’t she be marvelous in Technicolor?” Saundra lifted a strand of Ginny’s deep-red hair between her manicured fingers. “And look at her bone structure!”

Ginny was obviously uncomfortable, and Laura found herself in sympathy with the girl. She took a step toward the porch steps and let her car keys jingle in her hand.

Saundra said, “But we’re keeping you, dear. Give my love to Walter. And tell him that if he prints a word of truth about me, I’ll sue him.”

“All right,” Laura answered automatically. “Thank you again for letting me come by tonight. I’ll pick up the photos tomorrow morning. Just mark the ones you want us to use. Good night,” she said and nodded silently to Ginny.

“Good night, darling,” Saundra called as Laura walked down the stairs. The rich, expertly modulated voice trilled after her with startling fidelity in the stillness. Even the elegantly indifferent Bel Air trees seemed to respond to the unexpected sound; their leaves suddenly shivered in the still California night air.

Laura half turned and waved briefly. Then the huge front door shut with abrupt violence, and the veranda lights switched off into blackness. She almost stumbled on the flagstone path and muttered a soft curse.

Driving down the winding tree-lined streets to Beverly Hills, Laura’s mind chewed away at the strangeness of the interview. Saundra’s almost devouring intensity . . . the coincidence of the meeting with Ginny . . . the whole weird mood of the evening.

“Saundra is an experience that should be required of all writers,” had been Walter’s teasing remark just as she’d left the office.

Saundra was an experience, all right. No wonder he’d pushed the assignment off on her. Usually Walter liked to do the lead stories himself. Well, Laura really couldn’t blame him. If Saundra was exhausting with a woman, she must really devastate a man.

Laura turned the car onto Sunset Boulevard and glanced quickly over the lights of west Los Angeles, glistening like drops of moisture on a huge spider web. A perfect habitat for Saundra, she thought wryly—a spider web. Come into my parlor . . .

She recalled the strangely intent look in Saundra’s eyes when she first introduced herself.

“You’re very lovely,” Saundra had remarked with the smile that had thrilled a million hearts. “I’m sure we’ll get along just wonderfully, darling.”

And the way Saundra had leaned over to give her a light for her cigarette. It was, of course, done in the grand manner, exhibitionistic. . . and yet there was something deliberately seductive about it, too.

Well, women like Saundra have to conquer everybody, she decided. Her graciousness had a distinctly predatory quality. The charm was too supple, too practiced. Exercised—that was the word.

Laura had a vision of Saundra giving her charm a daily workout along with her knee-bends and push-ups.

Yet, Laura had to admit the woman was damned impressive. And despite Saundra’s bursts of intensity and her rambling irrelevancies, things had gone smoothly.

Laura had gotten some really interesting stuff—some fascinating anecdotes. That should make Walter happy. Yes, from Laura’s point of view it was a very successful interview. Actually, it was only that last bit with Ginny that threw her.

Ginny’s presence in that house just didn’t seem right.... Oh, hell, it wasn’t any business of hers. But the memory of yesterday’s meeting came flooding back with startling clarity.

She had spent the morning getting a final okay on some special features from Excelsior’s publicity department. By one o’clock she had completed her business on the studio lot and decided to have lunch there.

As she made her way slowly down the studio cafeteria line, Laura wanted nothing more than to just sit down and unwind. She wasn’t really aware what dishes she was pointing at, and cared even less.

Laura waited quietly for the cashier to figure her tab. She paid it quickly and moved out of the way. Holding her tray, she scanned the tables to find a place to sit.

There were no empty tables in sight, but there were two tables where only one person sat. Not much choice, she thought: it’s either the poor girl’s Marlon Brando or that young girl reading.

She decided the young girl offered her the best chance of having a quiet lunch. Getting a firm grip on her tray, Laura walked to the table, mentally cursing the overfilled coffee mug that slopped coffee onto her tray.

“Mind if I share your table?”

“No.”

Laura smiled. A simple reply to a simple question. She looks familiar, Laura thought, but on a movie lot who doesn’t?

Absently Laura ate the tasteless low-calorie food, her mind busy with the changes she would have to make in the Saundra Simons story. It had been a touchy matter getting a release from the studio about Saundra’s latest marital fiasco, and Saundra had been in one of her prima donna moods.

But I guess I would be too, Laura conceded, if I had to be on a set at six in the morning looking beautiful. Still, Saundra had agreed to give Laura an interview at her home the next night.

“You’re going to drip coffee on your nice suit. Better put a napkin under the cup,” the soft voice broke unexpectedly through her thoughts, and Laura looked up, somewhat startled.

Laura put the cup down again and reached for the paper napkin dispenser. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” the girl said. She raised her head and pushed back her untamed red hair. A shy smile crossed her face and brightened her large gray-green eyes. Laura smiled back, trying to decide if she had met this girl.

“It humiliates me to ask this,” Laura began with a friendly laugh, “but don’t I know you from someplace?”

“I’m on the lot quite a bit,” the girl said. “But I don’t think we’ve met—I’d remember if we had.” She blushed and looked down at the table.

Gloriola, but it’s Orphan Annie, Laura thought. And then contritely told herself not to be hard on the girl. Just the same, Laura was uncomfortable; it seemed such an obvious attempt at flattery.

A short silence ensued. Laura felt impelled to make some small gesture of conversation but didn’t quite know how to begin. Finally, she said, “Shame to waste such a nice day indoors, isn’t it?” Snappy, Laura, real snappy dialogue . . . Uncle Sam Goldwyn wants you!

“It’s funny,” the girl replied. “I was sitting here—before you sat down—thinking just that. But now I don’t feel that way,” she said in a slightly embarrassed tone. “I was studying you and hoped you wouldn’t notice.”

Laura gave her a startled look. “Me? Good God, why?”

“Well, not really studying. I don’t mean to sound like I was staring or spying.” She placed her hands on the script opened before her. “It’s just that you’re so self-assured, and I wanted to analyze your gestures, see how you get the effect.”

Laura felt a twinge of annoyance. And yet, the remark was too corny to be anything but sincere. Besides, why should anyone need to flatter her? She wasn’t a “somebody.”

“Guess my elocution lessons are showing,” Laura said wryly. “You an actress?” Deliberately she avoided using the term “starlet.”

The girl smiled. “Some day I hope to be.”

Laura found herself liking the girl. In spite of the ambition visible behind the girl’s soft, quiet manner, a quality of gentleness in her piqued Laura’s curiosity. She was a welcome change from the run-of-the-mill, over-polished studio hopefuls.

She wondered how long this young redheaded girl had been in Hollywood. Despite her fresh appearance something about the girl didn’t read right: she wasn’t quite sure what it was or why she should get that impression . . . yet there it was. Laura wished she had time to find out more about her. Might even make a good human interest filler for Fanfare.

Oh, well. Enough of this nonsense. It was getting late, and she still had to stop by the press and pick up this month’s galleys.

She pushed her chair back slowly, not wanting to seem as if she were anxious to get away.

“Well,” Laura said softly, “thanks for sharing the table. And . . . good luck.”

“It was nice meeting you,” the girl murmured. And that was all.

Thinking about it again, Laura realized that there had been something unusual about the girl . . . that even if she never saw her again she would go on wondering about her—and wondering why she herself had felt so oddly moved.

Now she noticed she was almost back at the office. She could put Ginny out of her mind. Walter and a couple of martinis would melt away the shadowy anxieties that plagued her. They always did.

She pulled up in front of the familiar two-story building and honked the horn. Then she slid over, leaving the driver’s seat for Walter. She smiled to herself as she sat back in the uncomfortable bucket seat. He can be so terribly conventional, she thought. Never once had he let her drive the car if he was in it—he claimed a man lost some of his superiority over women that way.

She heard him run down the stairs.

When he got into the car, he said, “I see you lived through it.” He grinned impishly.

“You coward,” Laura replied, “you owe me a Purple Heart for that little mission.”

“Will you settle for a drink?”

“Two!” Laura sighed and put her head back against the seat.

“Did Saundra bite?”

“No. But she chewed my ear off. . . .”

Walter chuckled. “Poor darling.” He leaned over possessively and kissed Laura’s nose. “Lovely monster, isn’t she?” he said with amused appreciation, and drove slowly toward La Cienega Boulevard.

“She loves you, too,” said Laura. “Called you a slave driver among other things. She sends her best regards, anyway. In fact, I think she’s putting you on the candidate list for husbands. Built-in publicity and all that.”

Walter shook his head. “I’ll admit she isn’t reticent about her personal life . . .”

“Amen! You should have heard her version of this divorce.” Laura smiled, grimly imagining the millions of shocked gasps that a verbatim quote would elicit from her unsuspecting fans.

“Don’t let Saundra make you bitter about marriage,” Walter said softly, and rested his free hand on her thigh.

Laura turned and looked at his profile in surprised appreciation: how sweet he could be when he wanted to. She gave his hand a squeeze.

It was a beautiful night. Laura closed her eyes and let the crisp smell of dew-covered grass and cool night air relax her.

Walter placed a warm hand on her cheek and gently brought her head over to his shoulder. If he’s being this sweet, Laura thought, I’m not going home alone after the martinis. . . .

That’s a cruel thought, she scolded herself. I’m beginning to sound as blasé as Saundra. After all, I let this affair happen and wanted it as much as he did.

“Nick’s all right for a martini?”

“Of course.”

“We’ll be there in a moment.” His voice was tender and low.

Unexpectedly, Ginny popped back into Laura’s mind, and she was tempted to ask Walter what he might know about her—but for some reason she didn’t think it would be wise right now.

Snap out of it, she told herself. She sat up and took two cigarettes from the pack in Walter’s custom-tailored Ivy League jacket. Lighting them, she wondered how often she had made this simple gesture. Thousands of times, she decided.

Walter glanced at her quickly, then looked back at the restaurant-lined street with its flashing neon signs. “Still thinking about Saundra?”

“Yes,” she lied. “I was.” She looked at his strong, masculine hands with mild awe and studied his body. Laura admired the way Walter kept himself fit, never allowing middle age to get the edge on him if possible.

“I’ve got a great lead for you,” Walter said gaily, imitating the well-known nasal whine of a highly overrated Hollywood columnist. “Inspiringly valiant in her desperate search for love, Saundra Simons explained to this reporter in an exclusive interview . . .”

Laura laughed. “Well, after four divorces what can she say?”

“What difference does it make as long as it sells Fanfare?”

Laura shrugged and stared out at the hillside homes ahead and wondered how many of them were mortgaged to the hilt. Talk about the almighty dollar, she thought. She laughed silently.

What difference does anything make, she echoed to herself, as long as everybody thinks you’ve got money and thinks you love your spouse? What difference . . . who cares . . . make-believe emotions for make-believe lives. She suddenly felt very depressed and lonely.

Walter pulled into the parking lot at Nick’s, and they entered the bar. The place was nearly empty, and somebody had let the fire burn down in the mammoth brick fireplace. It was too early for the nightclub crowds to stop by after the last show and too late for the dinner crowd.

Walter excused himself and walked over to a table where a group of men sat. They looked bored with each other.

Lively Hollywood atmosphere, huh? Laura sighed inwardly and walked alone to the bar and sat down, barely conscious of the admiring glances at her long legs, provocatively outlined by her tight linen sheath dress.

“Hi, José.”

“Ah, Miss Garraway. A pleasure to see you. But you are not alone?” José was an institution at Nick’s, famous all over town for martinis that slipped down your throat caressingly—but smothered your gray matter within minutes.

“No. Mr. Hobson is with me, but he has business. . . .” She said it in an offhand way to show there was no resentment and nothing for her to mind. “I’ll have one of your ‘Sneaky Josés’ while I’m waiting for him.”

“Immediately.”

Walter came up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, Laura.” He gave her an apologetic peck on the cheek.

“Oh, that’s all right.” It’s amazing, she thought, how he always smells of just the right mixture of tobacco and shaving lotion. “But you’ll miss me when you go back east. When are you leaving, by the way?”

“Next week.”

“So soon?”

Walter ordered a double martini. Then he raised a thick eyebrow, a quizzical expression in his deep-set blue eyes. “Sure you wouldn’t like to come along? A few days in New York would be good for you.”

Laura deliberately delayed her reply while José placed their drinks in front of them. The old question caught her off guard. She had known for almost a month he was going, but she had been too busy to think about it. Thinking about it now and with a definite departure date, she was startled to realize that she was almost frightened at the thought of being without him for so long.

“Well?”

“You know I’d love to go, Walter,” Laura began in a voice that clearly showed she wasn’t going, “but I’ve no desire to be named a correspondent in a divorce case. We’ve been all through this, Walter. Unless you can come up with a legitimate reason—business reason—it’s rather foolish to keep rehashing it.”

She couldn’t look at him. She could sense his expression and share his frustration. She wondered now what she would have done without Walter those first few months after Karl had left her . . . Karl. Big, hulking, crazy, adorable Karl. She had loved everything about him from his blond crew-cut hair down to his size fourteen shoe. God! What big feet he had, even if he was 6’3”. Karl could always make her laugh—he could make her do almost anything he wanted. It seemed as if the only time she was wholly alive was when she was with him . . . could touch him. Everything took on a new color, a new vibrancy, when he was with her. Karl.

But it didn’t really hurt so much anymore. In fact, she was sure it was just her pride that was still hurt. After all, she had been around a lot more now—knew how to take life . . . and men.

Walter’s hand on hers brought her sharply back to the present . . . sharply aware of her new situation and her upper hand. The contact with him was warm and reassuring; it offered a comfort that words would have destroyed.

“You’re right about not going, of course,” he said slowly in his deliberate manner. “If I could only . . .”

His words trailed off. But he didn’t have to finish his sentence. Laura knew what he was thinking immediately: if only he could get a divorce.

She suddenly found herself wanting to be in his arms, to press her cheek against the roughness of his jacket and feel secure and protected. But she fought down the feeling—fought it with all the hurt memories of Karl. She wouldn’t be caught again; she wouldn’t be hurt again. Oh, no. What was that old line? Better to have loved and lost . . . Laura mirthlessly decided that it was usually recited by those who had never gone through the pain of losing love. No. Her relationship with Walter was safer. He loved her, and she was “fond” of him—she liked him, respected him, and enjoyed his company—but her world would not fall apart again if he walked out of her life. She’d miss him, of course.... But then, he’s only going away for two weeks . . . He’ll be back. Nothing was going to change, not for a while anyway . . . unless . . .

“Hey,” Walter’s deep voice interrupted her thoughts, “where are you?”

“Here, darling,” she answered, and looked again at his face as if she had lost something and was trying now to find it.

His hand tightened on hers. “You know you drive me nuts when you call me that. About the only time you ever use it is when we’re . . .”

“Never mind,” she laughed.

She raised the frost-covered glass to her lips. “Cheers,” she said. Then she laced her fingers with Walter’s. “Don’t mind me. I suppose talking to Saundra tonight left me feeling a little ashamed of my own transgressions—silly as it may sound.”

Walter grinned slowly and put his arm around her shoulder in fraternal tenderness. “It’s not silly, Laura. At least, not in you. One of your best qualities is that touch of old-fashioned morality. It’s nice. I like it in a woman if it’s sincere.”

She wondered if he’d still like it if he knew how really sincere it was. Basically, she was old-fashioned—she knew it. And she had taken great pains to hide it as a young girl in college. Even in New Hampshire, the times had changed and Laura had accepted the challenge. It hadn’t been so difficult. All she had to do was juggle a few childhood taboos, tie them up into a tidy bundle, and store them away. Poor Mom, she thought. She tried so hard . . .

Walter gestured to José for another round and sat quietly for a moment. “Laura,” he asked softly.

She lifted her face toward him but said nothing.

“You would marry me if I were free, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes,” she whispered. But she couldn’t suppress a feeling of guilt—a feeling that she had no right to marry a man she didn’t really adore. Childish romanticism, she scolded herself.

He blew her a discreet kiss. Then he looked miserable.

“Oh, Walter,” she said gently. “Don’t torture yourself. Lots of men are unhappily married.”

“Yeah . . . but they can get divorces,” he replied bitterly.

“All right, but you have me, anyway. Would it be worth giving Edna everything just for a divorce?”

“It just makes me so goddamn mad,” he cursed under his breath. “If she’d just settle for plain alimony and child support! But no. Oh, no. She wants the magazine, and the house, and anything else that’s not nailed down. I can’t begin all over again at my age. . . .”

They both sat silently and stared into their drinks. It did appear to be a pretty hopeless situation. It seemed odd to Laura, but she realized she was almost glad that he couldn’t get a divorce—almost glad that she would never have to go through with marrying him. But that was silly. Of course I’d marry him, she told herself.

“Let’s change the subject, shall we?” Laura suggested finally.

Cupping his hand under her chin, Walter turned her face toward him. “All right,” he said, and brushed his lips against her cheek. “No morbid thoughts tonight. I’ll go on to New York alone as originally planned . . . and we’ll go along together as originally understood.” He smiled and stretched, then relaxed his arms. “Just as well. Who’d look after the shop if we were both gone?”

A few minutes later, finishing their drinks, they left the bar with a friendly wave to José.

On the way to Laura’s apartment, Walter discussed his plans for New York. For months now he had been looking for a way to open a New York office of Fanfare magazine with financial aid from someone who wouldn’t interfere with the way he ran it. Laura was well aware how big the magazine could grow if Walter had a chance. It was making a profit now, of course, but he would have to expand to make it really pay. He would look for a backer in New York.

They turned down Crenshaw Boulevard and, lost in discussion, found themselves at Rodeo Drive before they knew it.

Laura looked straight ahead, ignoring the ultramodern shops with the inevitable palm trees in front. All she could think of was that they were only three blocks from her apartment, and she knew that Walter expected to be invited up. It irked her that she should feel so torn about it—she knew damn well she wanted him to come up.

Bet Saundra never had this problem. Laura speculated thoughtfully, and Ginny’s image crept back into Laura’s mind. She tried to envision Ginny saying good night to a boyfriend, putting her arms around him and kissing him.

What’s gotten into me? Laura asked herself guiltily. Do I have a secret yen to become a Peeping Tom—or would it be a Peeping Jane? She chuckled to herself. But there was something uneasy and slightly bitter about her humor.

Walter pulled up in front of the buff-colored stucco apartment building almost lost in the long row of other modern buildings. Each of the buildings had colored spotlights illuminating the entrances, and more of the palm trees.

Nostalgically, Laura asked, “Do you ever miss the drab, funny-looking houses of twenty years ago, Walter? All the fancy woodwork and slats?”

Walter smiled at her. “No,” he said.

“I mean,” she continued, “doesn’t all this modern, straight-line, prefabricated, built-in-a-day trend sort of frighten you?”

“It’s life,” he said. “Progress.”

“Progress, hell! Sterility. That’s what I think.”

“Stop thinking, then,” Walter grinned, knowing this sort of teasing annoyed her. “You’re too attractive to think. . . .”

“I thought you liked my mind.”

“Only at the office.” He slipped his arms around her waist slowly.

“You’re not objective at all,” Laura scolded.

“Disgusting, isn’t it?” Walter kissed the tip of her ear.

“I suppose you’d like a nightcap,” Laura suggested softly.

“You inviting?”

“I’m inviting.”

“Thank God!” Walter laughed. “For a horrible moment I thought you were going to send me away.”

They entered Laura’s apartment in conspiratorial silence.

“Home again,” sighed Walter, sinking down on the couch.

“Help yourself, darling . . .” Laura gestured to the paint-it-yourself bar she had bought one day in an impetuous mood. “I’ll just be a minute.”

She undressed and showered quickly, somewhat amused at the deliberate but detached quality of her preparations. Then she put on her only feminine dressing gown.

Who’s seducing whom? she asked the tanned, slender reflection in the mirror, studying her smooth shoulders, the well-shaped breasts so invitingly contoured under the flimsy gown. Flimsy? It was practically transparent!

“Diaphanous,” the sales girl had called it. Some handy word, that. Covered a multitude of sinful intents. My God! If she didn’t look like one of those classic wantons on a paperback historical . . . Well, it was eye-catching, anyway. Or rather, she amended wryly, man-catching.

Returning to the living room through the bedroom, she picked up her hairbrush and brushed her long light-brown hair with vigorous strokes. She enjoyed being one of the few women brave enough to flaunt long hair despite the dictates of fashion.

Walter, now jacketless, crossed the room carrying two tumblers and sat down next to Laura on the studio couch.

“Here, darling.” He placed the glasses on the low table in front of them carefully, almost awkwardly, then reached over and took the brush from her hand.

Abruptly he pushed her back on the couch, and she could feel the warmth of his body against her own . . . could feel his need for her as he kissed her.

“There’s something about soap and water that affects me more than the best perfumes in the world,” Walter said with his lips against her throat. He bit her lightly and then pulled away.

Laura remained lying against the cushions, her eyes only half open and her lips still stinging from the hardness of his kiss.

She felt cheated—even a little insulted.

“Walter,” she said softly, “come here and do exactly as I say.” She smiled into his questioning eyes, feeling powerful as she saw the dark blue they turned when he was aroused.

He leaned forward hesitantly, and she slowly raised her arms, then folded them around his neck, bringing his face to within an inch of hers. “Now, just kiss me quietly and slowly . . . as though I might break otherwise.” It was something she had always wanted him to do but . . .