The Things We Do for Love by Margot Early Page A

choking cough, which seemed to indicate dissent.
    Mary Anne did not want to do anything to verify Paul’s accusation. She said to Cameron, “What are you doing here?”
    Cameron told her about the Salvation Army and the safe house. Its location was a secret, which Cameron obviously believed both men would honor, understanding its importance to the peace and well-being of the women and children who took refuge at the shelter.
    As Mary Anne descended the stairs, she realized that Paul’s reaction had made her more uneasy about the love potion and about something she’d spent little time considering—its efficacy. She bundled her blazer close around her against a sudden brisk wind.
    A Lexus turned into the recycling area. A man in a hard hat was approaching on foot and David waved to him, perhaps needing further help with his bizarre phone book situation. Mary Anne said, “Well…bye.”
    Mary Anne peered at the Lexus driver and wanted to dive into the nearest Dumpster and hide. It was Graham Corbett.
     
    T HERE SHE WAS . A good-looking woman, Graham thought, but that’s what he’d always thought. Very attractive—yet her silly devotion to Hale, who could be a bit of a jerk, really annoyed him.
    Graham eyed the white rabbit sitting on his passenger seat. Who had left the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog for him? It had never occurred to him that Mary Anne might have done so. She hadn’t struck him as a Monty Pythonfan. If she was a Monty Python fan and had left the rabbit, it didn’t exactly seem like a sign of affection. More a wish for his untimely death.
    As he turned off the ignition, he watched her carry a huge stack of collapsed cardboard boxes to a Dumpster. Great bones.
    She was hurrying back to her car in a way that gave him the distinct feeling she’d spotted him.
    He opened his door. “Mary Anne.”
    She spun, and he noticed, even across the blacktop, that her eyes were extremely green.
    “Graham,” she said with almost explosive brightness. “What a surprise.”
    A car maneuvered around his Lexus. Then a truck. The rush of people coming to drop off recyclables before the dump closed. As people parked and removed trash from their cars, Graham shouted a friendly greeting to David Cureux and his son, who were with Mary Anne’s cousin.
    Graham made no effort to lower his voice. “We’re on for Saturday. The program will be, ‘Dr. Graham Corbett and Mary Anne Drew on Dating Dilemmas,’ and our first topic is Unrequited Love.” He couldn’t resist adding, “Do you have any insights on that?”
    Around him, heads spun toward the person he’d addressed. A woman who was giving what-for to the guy in the hard hat nearly dropped an entire grocery bag of tin cans.
    Mary Anne had flushed in a way he’d never have thought possible in someone with her particular California-girl coloring.
    The only people who didn’t seem interested in his question were David Cureux, now climbing into one ofthe recycling Dumpsters, and the man in the hard hat, trying to stop him from doing this.
    Mary Anne recovered fast. A very small smile. “Men always love me back.”
    Graham could have sworn that the old man who’d gotten out of that ’57 Chevy was turning up his hearing aid.
    Graham couldn’t help it. Grinning, he strode toward Mary Anne. “Actually, it’s hard for me to see why anyone wouldn’t.” He plucked at her sleeve. “How about dinner tonight?”
    Mary Anne glared down at his hand.
    He removed it.
    She lifted her eyes to his face.
    Graham smiled…smiled with his eyes, too. His eyes were a sort of goldish brown that she supposed was called hazel. There was something appealing about this particular smile, Mary Anne decided, though she’d never shared Cameron’s opinion on this subject in the past.
    Graham Corbett had asked her out. Had Cameron heard? How could she not have done—she was only twenty feet away. Mary Anne stole a look toward the steps by the mixed paper bin and saw that Cameron had deserted