LITMIR.BIZ

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guys getting serious? Wait—sorry—I didn’t ask that,” Joy said, holding her hand up, and they laughed. “If you want a night off, I can cover for you. I don’t have any plans tonight,” Joy offered.

      “I wish you did.” Pam made the comment offhandedly as she polished off the last of her salad.

      “What’s that supposed to mean?”

      Pam sighed, pushing her plate back. “Joy, you’re a jewel and I’m so thankful we met I can’t tell you. It just seems like you don’t do anything but work and volunteer at the shelter. It’s not healthy.”

      “I do plenty of other things.”

      “Like what? I think you’ve only been out on a dozen dates in the entire six years I’ve known you.”

      “I date now and then, but I can’t seem to meet anyone who catches my interest. They’re all so … I don’t know, they’re just not guys I want to go out with more than once or twice.”

      “Maybe because you worked with most of them and you ended up talking shop most of the time. You should be fishing in different oceans. Find someone new, with a different job, different interests?”

      “Maybe. I don’t know, Pam. I’ve tried the whole dating thing, but I don’t seem to have the same wiring as other women.”

      “Meaning?”

      “You know. I’ve told you.” Joy lowered her voice and leaned across the table. “I’m no good at any of it. Dating, men, sex … I never have been.”

      “You’re being too tough on yourself. You just haven’t met the right guy.”

      Joy pushed her own sandwich away, unfinished, and met Pam’s eyes. “You don’t want to talk about your love life, I don’t see why mine has to be under the microscope.”

      “Now stop being like that. I’m your friend. I want what’s best for you. I told you, I’ll tell you everything soon, but for now, I want to hear if you’ve met anyone new.”

      “Not really, I mean. Well,” she hedged, thinking of her sexy neighbor.

      “C’mon, I know there’s some dirt you’re not telling me. Fess up.”

      Joy sighed and relented. “I, apparently, talk in my sleep. Loudly and clearly,” she added with sarcastic gusto.

      “What does that have to do with—wait—is this something a man told you? Someone who might have spent the night, perhaps?”

      “Yes, no—I mean, not exactly.”

      “You only had a soda with lunch, right?” Pam teased, and Joy stuck out her tongue at her.

      “It’s complicated.”

      “It always is. Do you always talk in your sleep?”

      “I’m not sure, but …”

      Fighting a strangling sense of mortification, Joy went on to tell Pam about the dreams—and her sexy neighbor’s visit in the middle of the night. She hoped for some sympathy, but by the time she was done relating the tale, Pam was smiling broadly, and … laughing.

      “This isn’t funny.” Joy wrapped her arms around her middle and became mulish, not enjoying her friend’s amusement at her expense.

      “I’m sorry, honey, but it kinda is. I mean, you’ve been losing sleep dreaming sexy dreams about this guy, and he’s hearing it through his window. He’s getting a blow-by-blow, er, you know what I mean. Now he shows up at your door, your knight in shining armor? Ready to take on the guy who made you scream—and that happens to have been him, at least in your dream? No, this is very funny. It’s exactly what you need.”

      “You’re losing your mind. No one needs this. I’m exhausted, I forgot a meeting the other day, and Ken was completely pissed. I’m up for that promotion, and that didn’t help. I do not need another guy in my life right now.”

      “Maybe not in your life, but you could definitely use one in your bed. There is a difference. Is this new guy hot?”

      Joy made a face. “Very. He seems like a nice enough guy, too—he did come over to ‘rescue’ me when he thought I was in trouble. He was helping the older lady across the street with her Christmas decorations. I think I heard him working on Warren’s, my neighbor’s, house.”

      “A real live Boy Scout.”

      “Would make sense. He’s an EMT. Used to saving people.”

      “Sounds like he’s always prepared,” Pam added naughtily, and Joy couldn’t resist laughing, her bad mood melting away as she joined in the joke.

      “He did do a good job with tying knots in my dream.”

      The two women dissolved in laughter.

      “I think you should go for it.”

      “Go for what?”

      “He heard you talking—and we can only imagine what you’re saying—and he’s coming around, trying to strike up conversations, hoping to save you from dastardly deeds … checking to see if you’re attached. He’s interested, Joy. So be interested back. Have a fling. Give yourself a hottie for Christmas.”

      Heat invaded Joy’s face. “No way. Just because I’m having these dreams, that doesn’t translate into reality.”

      Pam shoved her chair back and stood, leaving a tip on the table. “Maybe it should. He sounds like a perfect man—hot, willing and temporary. If you’re doing him instead of dreaming about him, maybe you’ll actually get some sleep. In fact, scratch tonight—I want you to get some rest.”

      “Please, keep your date. I’m fine, and I love being a part of what you do,” Joy said with sincere emotion in her voice, trying to avoid the temptation to think too much about Pam’s idea.

      “I do, too, in spite of the problems lately. We lost a major source of funding last week. All the businesses are strapping down the coffers with the economy in the shape it is. They have less to give, even at this time of year, and you know this is when we count on receiving our big donations.”

      “Is it serious? I can’t imagine this place closing—it’s too valuable to the community.”

      “No, we won’t close, but we might lose some essential resources if I can’t pull something together.”

      “I guess asking your folks …?”

      Pam shook her head resolutely. “No. They never approved of me doing this. While we manage to have a halfway decent relationship, there’s no way I would ask them for money, and they wouldn’t give it anyway.”

      Joy’s heart went out to her friend. “I’ll do whatever I can to help, Pam.”

      “You’re a sweetheart, Joy. I wish I could afford to put you on as paying staff at Second Chance for all the work you do, but it’s not possible at this point.”

      “I don’t need the money—that’s why I have a job. I’ll pound the pavement, do whatever I can to help you get this place in the black.”

      Joy teared up. She didn’t know why this was affecting her so strongly.

      “Thanks, I’ll take you up on that. I hope you’ll also think about doing whatever you need for yourself, as well. Give yourself a gift.”

      Joy rolled her eyes, realizing Pam was back on their previous topic.

      “I promise I’ll think about it,” she said, knowing that she likely wasn’t going to be thinking about anything else.

       4

      EARLY MONDAY MORNING, Rafe slipped the disk he’d had converted from the camcorder tape into a paper bag and rolled down the top of the bag with determination.

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