Chapter 12

A wine. A light white would be nice with the chicken salad. Something with a tingle."

He had enough tingle for a whole case of wine. "I think I have just the thing." He went into the kitchen, reached up past her to open a high cupboard. They were standing a bit close but she hadn't moved away. She was looking up at his hands.

He had to recall why he was standing there and what h'd been doing. The lunch? Wine. He took down a bottle, then another and a third. He knew very little about wines. Beer, he knew about beer, he knew about beer but wines weren't his drink. He 'd always just asked the liquor dealer's opinion. Women liked wine. They felt safe with wine. Luke smiled.

With his big hands, he handled the bottles easily enough. He read the labels and handed the bottles to her, as if she would know what she wanted. He smiled again very nicely.

"Too sweet." She put one back in his hands to be put away. "Either of these would be fine. Which do you prefer?"

The ball back in his cou