LITMIR.BIZ

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shower finally went off. There were more sounds he couldn’t identify, then the bathroom door opened.

      Haley stood dwarfed by her cotton nightgown. The fabric hung to the floor and concealed every single curve and womanly feature. She was pale, but she no longer looked quite so desperate. Her wet hair stood up in spikes. She’d said she was twenty-five, but right now she could pass for twelve.

      “I still feel pretty awful,” she said.

      “That’ll teach you to suck down margaritas at the speed of sound. The good news is you got most of the alcohol out of your system tonight. You’ll be fine in the morning.”

      “I hope you’re right.”

      He stood and pulled back the covers. She slid into bed, sitting up against the pillows instead of lying down.

      “You need plenty of water,” he told her, filling a glass from a bottle she had on the small table. “You want to stay hydrated.”

      She nodded as he put the glass on the nightstand. “Are you leaving?”

      Her eyes seemed bigger than before. Her mouth trembled slightly and her voice shook as she spoke. She looked like a drowned kitten.

      Good sense insisted that he head out now that he knew she was all right. There was no point in staying. In the morning she could get back to whatever it was she’d been doing, and he would catch a flight back to D.C. where he was expected for a two o’clock meeting.

      He stared at her, then the door. Her fingers twisted the sheet. “I’ll be fine,” she whispered. “You’ve been really nice and I don’t want to take advantage of that.”

      He called himself eight different names, none of them fit for her ears, kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed.

      “I’ll stay for a little while,” he said, shifting close and putting an arm around her.

      She snuggled against him, resting her head on his chest where her damp hair quickly soaked his shirt. Oddly, he didn’t mind.

      He told himself looking after her was like caring for a child. Except she didn’t feel very childlike in his arms. Nor was his reaction to her even close to paternal.

      “You know all about me,” she said after a few minutes. “What about you? Where are you from?”

      “A place you’ve never heard of. Possum Landing, Texas.”

      She glanced up and smiled. “Possum Landing?”

      He nodded. “Lived there all my life. My brother and I were born in the Dallas area.”

      “You have a brother?”

      “Fraternal twin. Nash works for the FBI.”

      She sighed. “I always wanted a sister, although a brother would have been nice. Sometimes it got quiet, what with there only being me.”

      “Your father never remarried?”

      “No. He and my mom were really in love. He used to tell me that no one could ever take her place. When I was little I thought that was really romantic, but as I got older, I thought it sounded lonely.”

      Kevin agreed. His mother and stepfather had a good, strong marriage, but if something happened to one of them, he would hate to think the other was destined to a solitary life. Not that he was in a position to talk. After all, he’d managed to avoid matrimonial bliss for all of his thirty-one years.

      “You’re a pretty young woman,” he said. “How come you’ve only kissed three guys?”

      She raised her head and looked at him. “You think I’m pretty?”

      “Fishing for compliments?”

      She smiled. “If you knew how seldom they came along, you wouldn’t be asking the question.”

      He didn’t like the sound of that. Why weren’t people complimenting her? Then he remembered the ugly dress and even worse-looking shoes. Maybe it wasn’t such a stretch to think she’d been overlooked.

      “Yes, I think you’re pretty,” he said. “Tell me about dating.”

      “You mean, not dating.” She dropped her head back onto his shoulder. “I can’t really explain it. Some of the reason I never went out much was because I was busy with school activities and different things at church. Some of it was my dad. He used to lecture me on the importance of setting an example and doing the right thing. Plus everywhere I went in town, I knew people. They reported back any hint of unacceptable behavior.”

      She shifted slightly, as if getting more comfortable. The covers slipped, and instead of touching layers of sheet and blanket, he suddenly found his hand resting on her hip. Only the voluminous cotton nightgown kept his fingers from touching bare skin.

      He could feel the heat of her body and the arc of the curve. Ugly clothes or not, she was a woman, down to her toes. An attractive woman who, for reasons he couldn’t explain, appealed to him.

      Touching her hip made him think about touching other parts of her body…such as her breasts. Need flared inside, bringing his own male heat to life.

      Down boy, he told himself. Not this night, not with this woman. Still, a man could dream.

      “Sometimes it seemed easier not to go out,” she continued, apparently unaware of the change in circumstances. “Not that there are all that many guys beating down my front door.” She glanced up at him again. “I’m sure you dated a lot.”

      “Some.”

      Color flared on her cheeks. “You’ve probably even…you know.”

      Uh-oh. He deliberately moved his hand away from her body and rested it on the mattress.

      She cleared her throat. “You’ve probably been with a woman before.”

      He stared at her. “Are you talking about sex?”

      She blushed fiercely and nodded.

      Hell. Why were they talking about this? “I’ve had my way with a woman or two,” he said.

      “What’s it like?”

      Now it was his turn to groan. “We are not having this conversation.”

      “I know it’s not appropriate, but just once I would like someone to give me some details.”

      She wouldn’t be getting them from him, that’s for sure.

      Haley sat up and looked at him. “You’ve been really nice, but I’m feeling much better after the shower.” She yawned. “I guess I’m tired. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

      “I know.” He thought about leaving and realized he wasn’t all that much in a hurry to go. “I’ll head out in a little while.”

      She smiled at him, then. A warm, welcoming smile that stirred something in his chest. Something he hadn’t felt before. Then she picked up the remote on the nightstand before settling back against him.

      “Do you know they have cable here? We never had cable. There’s lots of really cool channels. Even one of those shopping shows.”

      “Great,” he muttered. “Maybe we could finish watching the ball game instead.”

      “Wouldn’t you rather shop?”

      “Not really.”

      She laughed. “Okay. Baseball, then shopping. How’s that?”

      “Sounds good.”

      Kevin didn’t remember falling asleep, but suddenly he came awake. Several bits of information flashed into his brain at once. First, he was in a strange bed, on top of the covers. He knew the woman in his arms, but not how she got there. Second, a man on television was holding up what looked like a pair of diamond earrings and listing all sorts of reasons one should purchase them. Third,

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