Kate, who had been doing some sort of bump and grind—a rather sexy bump and grind, to be honest—with the half-empty box, gave a squeak of alarm. She whirled toward the door, upsetting the box and sending it to the floor.
"Now look what you made me do!" she cried, flushing with embarrassment. She bent to gather up the box and its contents.
"You poked," Lucern repeated. Moving forward, he towered over her as she scooped up the escaped envelopes.
"I…" She peered up at him guiltily, then irritation took over her expression. Standing, she glared back. "I hardly needed to poke. The box was right there on the hall table. I noticed it in passing."
"I am not sure, but I believe it is illegal to open someone else's mail. Is it not a federal offense?"
"I'm quite sure that doesn't apply when it's mail you sent yourself—and I did send this box. Three months ago!" she added grimly.
"But you did not write the letters inside it."
Kate scowled, then turned her attention to throwing the unopened envelopes back in the box. She explained, "I saw that you hadn't even opened it yet, and thought perhaps I could help. It was obvious you were overwhelmed by the number of letters."
"Ha! I had no idea of the number of letters. I hadn't opened it."
"No, you hadn't," she conceded after a moment. Then she asked, "What is it with you and mail? I've never met anyone who left mail lying about for months like this. It's no wonder you were so slow to answer my letters."
Before he could respond, she turned and added,
"And how could you ignore these letters like you did?" She waved at the mini-towers built around the room. "These are your readers, your fans! Without them, you're nothing. They pay good money for your books, and more good money to tell you they enjoyed them. Your books wouldn't be published without readers to read them. How can you just ignore them like this? They took the time and trouble to write you. They say wonderful things about you, your books, your writing! Didn't you ever admire someone's work or enjoy it so much you wanted to tell them of your appreciation? You should be grateful they've taken the trouble to do so!"
Lucern stared at her with surprise. She was quite impassioned, her face flushed, her chest heaving. And what a nice chest it was, he noted. She had a nice figure altogether, even in the comfortable jeans and T-shirt she'd chosen to wear today.
All of which was interesting to note, but not very useful at the moment. He reprimanded himself and took a moment to clear his throat before trying to speak. The problem was, he couldn't recall what she'd said or what he should say in response.
"Ha!" There was triumph on her face. "You have no answer to that one, do you? Because it's true. You have been terribly lax in tending to this matter, and I've decided—out of the goodness of my heart—to help you. You needn't thank me," she added in a rather self-righteous tone. Then she grabbed and opened another letter.
Lucern found a grin pulling at his lips as he watched her. He didn't have to be able to read her mind to know that this was not out of the goodness of her heart, but an attempt to remain in his home long enough to convince him to do some of her publicity stuff. He decided—out of the goodness of his heart—to let her stay long enough to help him with the letters. He hadn't intended to answer them. He didn't know any of these people and it was a burdensome task, but now… Well, her tirade had actually reached him. To some degree.
"Very well. You may help me with the letters," he announced.
Kate shook her head at Lucern Argeneau's magnanimity. "Well! How grand of you to allow me to…" She paused. Her sneering words were a wasted effort; Lucern had left the room. Damned man! He was the most frustrating, irritating… And what was with his proper speech all the time? The man had antique phrasing and a slight accent that she couldn't quite place. Both of which were beginning to annoy her.
She was just turning back to the box to continue sorting the letters into categories when a series of loud chimes rang through the house. Recognizing it to be the doorbell, she hesitated, then dropped the letters and went to answer. She opened the front door to find a uniformed man on the other side, a cooler stamped "A.B.B." in hand.
"Hi." He stopped chewing the gum in his mouth long enough to grin at her, showing off a nice set of white teeth. "You must be Luc's editor."
Kate lifted her eyebrows. "Er, yes. Kate. Kate C. Leever."
The man took the hand she held out and squeezed it warmly. "Aunt Maggie was right. You're a cutey."
"Aunt Maggie?" Kate asked in confusion.