LITMIR.BIZ

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but ogle him since she’d first laid eyes on him. For a moment, Lacey battled with herself, torn between doubt and anticipation, because a part of her wanted him to want her. But she didn’t want him to think she was an easy conquest.

      His lips tightened before he returned his attention to the road. “I see. You think I’ll want some sort of payment in return for the lift.”

      “No—” Lacey began, ready to deny what she had, in fact, been thinking.

      But Cole held up one hand, forestalling any further words. “It’s okay,” he said. “Because you know what?” He slanted her one long, meaningful look. “You’re right. I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.” He gave a low, self-deprecating laugh. “Hell, it’s been the single thing on my mind since I first saw you.”

      Lacey’s breath hitched. His husky confession caused a liquid heat to slip along the underside of her skin, and her pulse began a heavy, languorous thudding. She focused on the dark road, watching as the truck swallowed up the pavement, unable to think of an appropriate response.

      “However,” he continued easily, “I don’t need to use coercion or guilt to get a woman to sleep with me. It’s either completely mutual, or it doesn’t happen. So you can relax, okay?”

      Relax? Was he kidding? Lacey thought she might spontaneously combust. Of course he didn’t need to use coercion—he was the kind of guy women fantasized about. Not only gorgeous, but considerate, too. In that moment, she made up her mind. Her friend Julia was right; she’d denied herself for way too long, always putting the needs of others before her own, always conscious of what her mother might think. But out here, there was just her and this man. She was only going to be in Black Stone Gap for ten days. Why shouldn’t she do as she pleased? Lord knew when she’d have another opportunity.

      She glanced over at Cole. “I’m actually staying here in Black Stone Gap,” she ventured, “so you won’t need to drive me too far.” To collect your reward.

      He tilted her a questioning look. “Oh, yeah? Where?”

      “The Blackwater Inn.”

      “What?” He bit the word out, his face incredulous.

      “There were no other hotels,” she said defensively. “The Blackwater Inn is a little grungy, but otherwise it’s fine.”

      He gave a snort of disgust. “Yeah, if you’re an itinerant coal miner or a horny barfly.”

      Lacey looked at him in dismay, recalling the men she’d seen at the motel earlier that night. “I did try to make other arrangements, but there wasn’t anything else even close.”

      Cole ran a hand over his hair. “Hell,” he muttered. “If anyone sees you, every guy who’s staying there’ll be panting at your door. I’ll walk you to your room. Once you’re inside with the door locked, you should be okay.” He shook his head again. “The Blackwater Inn?”

      When they pulled into the motel several minutes later, Lacey saw that the bar across the street was doing a brisk business. The parking lot was completely full and the overflow had spilled into the motel’s lot. As Cole parked the truck, the door of the bar opened and a man and woman lurched outside, briefly illuminated by the shaft of light from inside the establishment.

      Hanging on to each other, they made their way across the darkened street. As they approached the Blackwater Inn, they stopped to exchange a deep kiss. They swayed, stumbled, and then laughingly broke apart to stagger over to one of the guestroom doors. Lacey watched as the woman fitted a key into the lock. The man was groping her from behind. He bent his head and nuzzled her neck even as one hand snaked around to fondle a breast. The woman laughed again and they all but fell through the open door. Lacey caught a glimpse of the two coming together for a passionate embrace before the man kicked the door closed with one booted foot.

      Lacey found she couldn’t look over at Cole. The raw sexuality she had just witnessed too closely mirrored the fantasy she had briefly entertained about him.

      “C’mon,” he muttered. “Let’s get you to your room.”

      Opening his door, he slid out and stood back to wait for her. Copper drew his head in from the passenger window and flopped down on the seat once more, staring at them with an expression that stated clearly he was accustomed to being left in the truck. Cole retrieved her gear from his lockbox and indicated she should precede him.

      “I’m in the back,” she said, aware of his eyes on her as she led him around to the rear of the building. A group of men had pulled several of the plastic patio chairs around a small table on the walkway and were playing cards. Beer cans littered the grass and cigarette smoke hung heavy on the humid air. They paused when they saw Lacey, and the nearest one leered appreciatively at her from over the rim of a beer can.

      “Evenin’ boys.”

      Cole’s voice was cordial but cool as he hefted Lacey’s presentation case over one shoulder and took her elbow with his free hand, propelling her along. Lacey cast a wary look at the men, noting the sullen, almost defiant manner in which they watched her. Despite Cole’s casual attitude, she sensed he was on full alert, every muscle in his lean body tightly coiled. He was staring at the men, his eyes challenging them to say something, anything. Two of the men mumbled a greeting and one by one they lowered their eyes beneath Cole’s unwavering glare.

      “I’m in here,” Lacey said when they reached her door. Would he expect her to invite him in? Or would he simply say goodbye? She glanced up at him. He was so close that one small step back would bring her smack up against that tautly muscled chest. He was crowding her, his larger physique shielding her from the nearby men.

      “Get your key out and open the door.” His voice was low in her ear, brooking no argument.

      Turning the knob, she pushed the door open, startled when he hustled her inside and closed it behind them. In the sudden and complete darkness of the room, her chest constricted and she couldn’t control her suddenly rapid pulse or the perspiration that popped out along her hairline. She closed her eyes and dragged in several deep breaths, telling herself there was nothing to be afraid of. She heard Cole set her cases down on the floor. When he flipped on the overhead light, she blinked and exhaled in relief, and then sank down on the edge of the bed. Cole opened the door an inch or so and examined the broken deadbolt, testing it. Then he fingered the dangling chain.

      “This lock is broken.” He slanted her a questioning look. “Did you realize that?”

      Lacey swallowed, momentarily unable to form a response. She thought she’d gotten a good look at him in the truck. She’d thought him gorgeous then, but by the glaring light of the overhead fixture she realized she had been wrong. The man wasn’t just gorgeous.

      He was magnificent.

      His face was a masterpiece of lean, chiseled features paired with a sensuous mouth. For an instant, Lacey imagined feasting on those lips with her own. His blue eyes were fringed with thick, dark lashes and his short hair was a deep, rich brown. His skin was bronzed by the sun and his arms were an incredible mix of bulging muscles and lean sinews. Her hands would probably be incapable of spanning those impressive biceps. When he wasn’t smiling, like now, he had a decidedly dangerous aura. In the confines of the room, he seemed inordinately large. Lacey should have been nervous, but she wasn’t. She’d been an apt self-defense pupil, and if things began to turn sour, she was more than capable of defending herself.

      “Yes.” She nodded. “I notified the front desk, but apparently there aren’t any other rooms available.”

      Cole closed the door with a click and took several steps into the room. His gaze swept over the gaudy bedspread and stained carpeting, missing nothing. “It’s hot as hell in here.”

      He was right. Fine beads of moisture had gathered on Lacey’s skin and her sundress clung damply to her. In the confined room, the heat was suffocating. “It’s just for one night. I’ll find something else in the morning.”

      Cole

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