Matchmaking by Moonlight

“Oh, perfect,” Eleanor said.

“Absolutely.”

“And eye-catching,” Gladdy observed. “I hope no one gave you any trouble about them.”

“Well, the judge had his reservations, before he’d even seen them. But once he actually looked, he admitted there was nothing blatantly offensive about them.”

“Offensive? It’s a perfectly beautiful image,” Eleanor insisted.

“I thought so, too,” Lilah agreed.

“An absolute shame that such a young, good-looking man would be such a prude—” Gladdy began.

“Gladdy, we don’t know that. Not at all.”

“It certainly seems that way. Someone needs to loosen the man up a bit,” Gladdy said.

Lilah tried to hold back a giggle as she thought of how appealing that sounded. Loosening up the judge. Toying with him was one thing. Teasing him, of course. But to truly loosen the man up would require some effort, some action, which she should not undertake. She’d been bad enough the first time they’d met, and she’d had her fun with him over the posters. But she was ready to try to be good.

“Is he going to help you with your classes, dear?” Eleanor asked.

“He’s going to think about it.”

“Well, I’m sure you can persuade him,” Eleanor said. “The women in our family know how to get what we want.”

Her smile told Lilah that Eleanor was thinking of more than a woman getting a little help from a man with a divorce ceremony. Apparently all three ladies enjoyed men of every age, body type, personality type, ethnicity and any other attribute Lilah could think of. It had been eye-opening and surprising to hear about their exploits with various men over the years.

Which had left Lilah feeling as if she’d led a very sheltered life. She hadn’t admired from afar as many of the men as she should have up to this point, much less actually done the kind of things one didn’t do from afar with such men.

Which had her thinking of the judge.

Lilah certainly found it easy to admire so many of his attributes, both physical and otherwise, and she preferred not to do that from afar. Not with him.

“Kathleen, what did Wyatt tell us about the judge?” Eleanor asked. “Single? Married? Divorced?”

“Divorced, Wyatt said. Apparently, they were very young, and the marriage ended years ago.”

“Hmm. I was just thinking, if he still had some hard feelings over his own divorce, that might explain why he seems reluctant to help Lilah,” Eleanor said. “Any children?”

“No, none. Wyatt seemed to think he was quite sought-after among the ladies.”

“I’d certainly chase him, if I was twenty years younger,” Gladdy claimed.

“Twenty?” Kathleen just looked at her.

“It’s quite the thing these days, isn’t it? The … more mature woman and the younger man?”

Lilah laughed as softly as she could, covering her mouth with her linen napkin, but it was no use. The sound got out, and Eleanor and Kathleen joined her, then finally Gladdy.

“A woman should never be too old to appreciate a good-looking man,” Gladdy said.

“Amen to that,” Eleanor agreed.

“How old do you think he is?” Gladdy asked.

“Late thirties, I’m thinking,” Kathleen said. “He’s so distinguished.”

“No, mid-thirties. I believe he tries to look and act older than he is, given the job he holds,” Eleanor claimed.

“Oh, the joys of a younger man,” Gladdy said.

Which set them all to giggling again.

“Things just don’t work the way they used to, once a man gets some age on him,” Gladdy confided to Lilah. “Such a pity.”

“Gladdy, stop,” Kathleen pleaded.

“I’m just saying, there are distinct advantages to younger men,” Gladdy said. “You should remember that, dear, should you find yourself interested in anyone. So many women go for older men, I suppose for their money or power. But I’ve always preferred the younger ones. You don’t usually have performance problems with the young ones. I wouldn’t think the judge would have any problems at all in that regard.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lilah promised. “Although right now, the last thing I want or need is a man.”

The estate was scheduled to host an elegant wedding that weekend, and on Thursday evening, Lilah watched as various people came and went, seeing what the house was like as it was prepared for an event.

As the sun went down and the workers setting up chairs, tables and various equipment finally left, she went for a run, and after a quick, cool shower, she put on a comfy pair of pajamas, thankful that the house had quieted down around her.

In the walk-in cooler, she found an opened bottle of pinot noir, left over from a wine tasting with a bride and groom earlier in the week, and poured herself a glass.

She was on her second glass when she glimpsed the headlights of a car illuminating the driveway to the house. Eleanor, coming back from dinner in town, most likely. She thought she heard someone tap softly on the side door. Then, before she could answer it, the door opened, and in walked the judge.

Lilah groaned inwardly and glanced down at her attire.

Cropped pajama pants with a drawstring waist, a little spaghetti-strap top that didn’t quite come down as far on her waist as the pants, no bra, no makeup, hair still damp from the shower, two big glasses of wine inside of her.

Then there was the judge, looking all serious and judicial on her, with his perfect, dark suit, a crisp white shirt, dark tie and those lovely, classic dark looks of his. Dark hair, dark eyes, a bit of color to his face that suggested he spent some time in the sun regularly.

“Judge,” she said finally. “What a surprise.”

He gave her an odd, assessing look. He was holding what looked like a gift-wrapped wedding present, which he placed on the big island in the middle of the kitchen.

“Eleanor said that the side door would be open, that it was fine to just walk in. I was supposed to be at the wedding this weekend, but something came up at the last minute. She didn’t tell you I was coming?”

“No, but it’s been a hectic afternoon. Lots of people coming and going, getting ready for the wedding.” Did he think she’d be here, in her pajamas, if she’d known he was dropping by? “I thought you were Eleanor coming back from dinner.”

He shook his head. “I just need to drop off a wedding gift.”

“For the daughter of the state assemblyman? You’re friends?”

“Yes. We … uh … used to date,” he admitted.