moment, then kissed him.
"You're a nice man," she said quietly. "You're good in bed, too. I could do
a lot worse, I think, if you were up for it."
Kissing her, Cade said, "Thanks, milady, but you're still too young and
beautiful to settle for less than you deserve. Try me again in a few years if
you can manage to stay single."
With a sardonic chuckle, she said, "Well, hell, I've managed this long,
haven't I?" and opened the restaurant bag to begin unpacking it on the desk.
As she sat down to eat, she eyed Cade and asked, "Am I going to be the only
naked person in this room?"
Pretending vast surprise, Cade said, "Oh! Yes'm, I'll get right to that.
Very sorry, ma'am. I was so wrapped up in eyeballing your gorgeous bod that I
just completely forgot. You know how it is, don't you?"
Laughing, Beth said, "Yeah, sure. I know how it is," and dug into her food.
A few bites later she asked, "Hey, Cade. If I'm so gorgeous, how come all
the other guys don't act like you?"
"Simple ignorance, ma'am. They don't know how."
"So how did you become so knowledgeable?"
"I had a good teacher early in life."
"Who was she?"
"One of my teachers in high school."
Glancing up incredulously, Beth asked, "Really?"
"Yup. I was sixteen. She was twenty-six and kind of pushy, just like you. I
learned a lot at that lady's knees."
Beth nearly choked with laughter. "At her knees...? Uh, yeah, well, I
suppose... That's where you'd have been..."
Patting her back, Cade said, "Yup. Most of the time, too, as I prefer to
recall. Just try to breathe for now, Beth. Talk later."
Beth managed to eat most of her steak and Cade finished what she couldn't,
then they spent the rest of the afternoon like newlyweds on a honeymoon.
At six-forty-five her ride to the airport pulled up at the front doors and
-- to Cade's surprise -- Beth hugged him and kissed him long and hard.
Holding her close, Cade whispered, "Somebody might see."
Snickering, she said, "Screw 'em. There were cameras in the halls, anyway.
Everybody who doesn't know now will know by tomorrow. I'll deal with it."
"Would saying 'thank you' sound trite, ma'am?"
"Not if I say it first. Thanks, Cade."
Then she made a show of glancing at her watch, making an apologetic face and
an excuse about long check-in times these days, and hurried into the waiting
car.
They waved good-bye as the car rolled down