The telephone rang, cutting her thoughts short.

She picked up the receiver on the third ring.

"Naughty But Nice," Caitlin recited automatically.

"How may I help you?"

There was an awkward pause on the other end of the line.

"What sort of place is this?" a woman's voice finally asked.

It was obviously a wrong number, Caitlin thought.

The name of her store was whimsical.

The innuendo tended to throw some people off.

She smiled to herself as she cradled the telephone against her

shoulder.

"It's a lingerie store."

"Oh."

There was another long pause.

Caitlin was about to hang up when the woman asked, "Is Graham Redhawk

there, by any chance?"

Caitlin stiffened.

It was his wife.

His wife was calling him here.

She knew it as certainly as if the woman had introduced herself.

Caitlin's fingers felt suddenly cold as she took the receiver into her

hand.

"Just a minute, I'll get him for you."

She didn't remember placing the telephone down on the desk a moment

after she did it.

Caitlin nodded at a customer just entering the store, feeling oddly hollow as she walked out.

The hot air hit her like heat coming from an open oven.

It made breathing difficult.

There was no other reason for the oppressive feeling crawling through

her veins.

She crossed the newly repaved street.

They had taken the sawhorses away just this morning.

If the work had been finished two days earlier, Caitlin thought

bitterly, she wouldn't be going through this.

Graham watched her approach, attempting to read the look on her face.

He wasn't successful.

There hadn't been anyone suspicious-looking entering the store.

He'd been out of the car during the delivery, making his presence known

to the delivery man.

The stocky man had unloaded the cartons and left without incident.

Other than that, for the past two hours, traffic in and out of the

store had been minimal.

What was she doing out here?

She had acted as if she never wanted to see him again.

There was an oddly hollow look in her eyes.

He opened the door and got out.

"Anything wrong?"

"There's someone on the phone for you. I think it might be your

wife."

The words felt as if they weighed ten pounds apiece.

Graham immediately crossed the street.

It was as if he'd been waiting for the call, she thought.

Can't wait to talk to her, can you?

A stab of completely unwarranted pain went through her.

Caitlin shook her head as if to clear it and followed him into the

store, telling herself that it no longer mattered to her whom he talked to.

"You can take it in the back."

She gestured toward the room.

He hardly nodded as he strode across the floor and disappeared behind the curtain.

The display by the armoire was waiting.

Caitlin dawdled, moving toward the rear by the teddy display.

She found herself straining to listen, even though his voice was low.

What was Celia doing, calling him?

Graham wondered.

He had expected the lawyer to return his call, not her.

He supposed that it was just as well.

He wasn't very good with go-betweens.

Maybe they could still settle this between them, without hurting

Jake.

That was all that really mattered.

Graham jerked the receiver up.

"Redhawk."

"Police work has gotten nicer, I see."

Celia's soft, low voice filled his ear.

"What are you doing hanging around a lingerie shop?"

Though sublimated, that old, familiar jealous tone was there.

Celia had always been resentful of his work.