Chapter 1
Laura opened the front door and smiled as she smelled something delicious waft through the air. Dropping her things on the table beside the door she hurried through the house to find Robbie. A quick look in the kitchen told her he wasn't there. As she passed the sun room she noticed the door to the garden was open.
She smiled to herself. Clearly Robbie was planning something special for their dinner. Rather than join him in the garden she decided to sneak upstairs and change before dinner, two could plan something special.
Once upstairs she quickly changed into something decidedly less practical than her normal workday attire. She freshened her makeup and added a bit of perfume to the mix. Taking one last look in the mirror she smiled at the results and headed downstairs.
At the foot of the stairs she looked around for Robbie. Again, he wasn't in the kitchen and the door to the garden was still open. She checked in the kitchen to see if there was anything that required immediate attention. Whatever he was cooking was in the oven and she could see the timer with fifty minutes left to go. She smiled to herself thinking that was a lovely amount of time to work with.
At the door to the garden she paused for a moment before reaching down to loosen the tie to her dressing gown. It fell apart slightly. She bit on her lower lip before making a decision. She shrugged her shoulders and let the dressing gown fall, pooling at her feet. Taking one last look to make sure everything was as it should be, she stepped through the door into the garden.
James looked up from his lap when he heard a slight noise from the house. Standing in the doorway to the house was a scantily clad Laura Hobson. His eyes widened and he nearly choked. He quickly stood and turned away.
Robbie had been talking in low tones to James thought James was upset by what he was saying, "James, I'm not saying no, I'm just saying…"
James shook his head trying to stop Robbie. He pointed in the direction of the house and Robbie turned in his chair just in time to hear Laura scream and run into the house. He turned back to James, "What was that all about?"
James shook his head trying to clear his mind of the mental picture of a nearly naked Laura Hobson framed in the doorway. He knew he shouldn't be thinking it but Robbie Lewis was a very lucky man. "Robbie, did you have special plans with Dr. Hobson tonight?"
Robbie stood shaking his head. He grabbed James' empty bottle and turned toward the house, "No, just an ordinary night. Spot of dinner, watch some telly, maybe take a walk. Do you want another?"
James shook his head and turned back to Robbie, "I think Dr. Hobson might have had other plans sir."
Robbie looked at him confused, "What are you on about? And since when do you call me sir and her Dr. Hobson?"
James lifted his hand to stop him, "Sir, I think it's just for the best." He pointed toward the gate to the garden. "I'm just going to head out. Call me tomorrow and we can finish our conversation."
Robbie watched James leave shaking his head. He had no idea what was wrong with either James or Laura. Since James wasn't saying he headed inside to see if he could get the story from Laura. He dropped the two empty bottles in the kitchen and went on a search for Laura.