The Dating List Read Free Page A

boots and began to peel off layer upon layer of wet
clothing. When Carrie returned with a large plastic bag, they
stuffed their jackets, flannel shirts, socks and t-shirts in it.
With nothing but wet jeans on both men padded into the kitchen.
Grey took off his jeans, went into the bathroom to hang them over
the shower curtain bar, then trudged upstairs.
    Colin looked around for a moment before doing the
same. The kitchen was beautiful with gleaming white appliances
against a bright coral wall, off-white cabinets, an Italian ceramic
tile floor in earth tones and a gorgeous granite countertop with
lines of black and brown running through the natural stone. A
generous, rectangular island covered in the same granite divided it
from the living room, leaving the room airy and open. Carrie didn't
like feeling trapped or stuck away in the kitchen when she cooked.
The kitchen she had renovated was elegant and practical at the same
time.
    "Maybe we need a fire," Grey said approaching the
fireplace in the living room.

Chapter Two
     
    Leah stepped up to Grey's front door at nine-thirty
the next morning. As she depressed the doorbell, she saw a shadow
in the snow, sensed a presence behind her. She whipped around to
see Colin standing there. Despite the cold, sweat dripped off his
forehead, his hair hung in his eyes and his t-shirt was soaked
through in a vee in the front. He tried to catch his breath while
smiling at her at the same time. Leah caught her breath at the
sight of the handsome young man; his disheveled state made him
practically irresistible.
    Carrie opened the door with a mug of coffee in her
hand. Leah's eyes widened.
    "This one is mine. There's a full pot in the kitchen.
Come in."
    "Running…changing," Colin breathed, following her
into the house, turning toward the stairs.
    "I figured. Put on something easy to take off," Leah
tossed over her shoulder as she walked through the living room.
    Colin stopped. He and Carrie stood staring at her,
open-mouthed. When Leah entered the kitchen, she turned around.
Grey sauntered down the steps to join them.
    "What? He's going to be taking off his clothes…oh my
God!" Leah turned in a circle before facing them again. "Minds out
of the gutter, you two! Changing…as in trying on clothes! You're
something else…" Leah said, shaking her head, laughing.
    Carrie and Colin burst into laughter, she hit him in
the shoulder as he guffawed.
    "Your mind, Colin," Carrie choked out.
    "Me? It's was you!"
    They continued laughing while Leah took down three
mugs sporting modern designs in black, beige and brown then filled
them with coffee.
    "You should get so lucky," Leah sniffed, adding milk
before taking a sip of her coffee. She handed a mug to him as he
stopped on the way to the stairs.
    "Any chance?" The gleam in his eye told Leah he was
only half-joking.
    Her throat got dry, words wouldn't come out. She
shook her head.
    "Don't know what you're missing," he tossed off as he
emptied the mug then took the stairs two at a time.
    "What did I miss? I'm always late for these things?"
Grey asked.
    Leah handed him a mug of coffee and raised one
eyebrow at him. "Chip off the old block, isn't he?"
    "I heard that!" Colin hollered from upstairs.
    "Okay, 'Chip'," Leah called up the stairs, smiling
before she took another sip.

    ****
     
    Grey's sports car pulled to the curb. He dropped Leah
and Colin off in front of Paul Stuart's men's clothing store on the
corner of 45 th Street and Madison Avenue. As they
stepped into the store, the scent of fine wool and good leather
drifted to their noses. Leah noticed the lack of noise the minute
the door closed behind them. The plush dark blue carpet they stood
on absorbed the ever-present sounds of New York City thus creating
the upper class hush. As the heat in the store enveloped them, Leah
pushed back her ermine-lined hood and opened her coat. Colin buried
his hands in the pockets. Accustomed to much colder temperatures in
Pine Grove, he had no need to zip up