AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her arms fell away, bouncing her head against the hard wood of the table. Dana sat up, rubbing her forehead, and realized she was panting and covered with sweat. And the dream smacked her brain.
Cole Landry. Sex. Damn, damn, damn.
Now, it came back to her in every vivid detail, awareness still thundering through her body. For her entire adult life, she’d tried her best to achieve sexual satisfaction. In any form. Anything that would melt the terrible wall of ice she’d been trapped behind all these years. She’d read everything from how-to manuals to erotic romances. Talked to more therapists than most people ever knew. But all to no avail. The wall remained immutable. So why now? And why with Cole Landry? She hardly knew him, for god’s sake, and she was having erotic dreams about him?
That’s what you get for daydreaming. He’s beyond your reach, and even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t waste his time with someone with so many sexual hang-ups. He probably just has to crook his finger and women fall into his bed.
Enough!
She hurried on unsteady legs to the kitchen for a glass of water, drank it standing at the sink, refilled the glass, and stumbled back into the dining room on legs still unsteady. Opening her briefcase, she pulled out her research material—copies from the newspaper records, the note pad she’d used at the sheriff’s office, the…
Wait! Where was her phone? Although she took copious notes by hand, she always entered key facts on it. This afternoon, those included a list of things to follow up on—names, phone numbers, and addresses of people who might be able to provide her with some insight.
Her cell was her Holy Grail. It kept her organized and connected to her stray thoughts, her impressions, and everything that might otherwise seem trivial. Not to mention that it also contained every important number and name in her small but exclusive inner circle. She was never, ever without it.
Feeling the edges of panic creeping in, she searched again through her briefcase, her purse, her coat pocket and again came up empty. Frustrated, she dumped everything out of her briefcase and purse, scattering the contents on the table and shoving objects this way and that.
She bit her lip in frustration, hard as she dug through the mound of papers and junk. Still nothing. Again she checked the pockets of the slacks she’d been wearing. Nothing. Forcing herself to be calm, she went through every room in the house, trying to think where she might have put it down, a tiny thread of alarm skittering through her.
Thirty minutes later, she was still empty-handed and fighting another full-blown panic attack. What the hell had she done with it? When was the last time she’d seen it?
The table in the sheriff’s department popped across her mental television screen. The small digital device lying on the table, peeking out from beneath the folders. She was always so meticulous about things like this, aware of the nature of the info it contained.
But today, she’d been too anxious to escape the good sheriff. That was pretty damn stupid. She’d let Cole Landry throw her off balance, and it had screwed her up. She rubbed her forehead, the headache nudging its way back to the forefront again.
All right. So she’d have to give in and admit that it was at the sheriff’s office. Had he looked through it? Pried through her personal information? Although it required a password, she knew police departments had electronic wizards who could bypass such things.
And what the hell did she do now? Wait until tomorrow? Go back there tonight and do battle with some night dispatcher who might not even know what she was talking about?
Well, damn it all anyway.
The jangling sound of the doorbell startled her. Dana frowned. She didn’t think the few people she made contact with since arriving in High Ridge would be coming around to pay her a social visit. Grant had once urged her to get a gun, telling her anyone who traveled alone to the weird places she ventured ought to have some protection. Now, she wished she’d taken his advice.
The bell rang again. This time the sound was a little longer, as if someone was holding a thumb down on the button.
She looked through the peephole in the door and nearly passed out. Cole Landry, macho sheriff, all around pain in the ass, and the object of her unexpected erotic daydream stood on her doorstep. Wiping her suddenly damp palms on her shorts, she undid both locks and cracked the door open.
Chapter Nine
Cole Landry’s huge presence filled Dana’s tiny porch and crowded her doorway. His Stetson was still perched on his head, but he’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt. His feet were shod in worn western boots, so similar to those in her dream, she wondered if he’d somehow been in her mind. The black T-shirt clung like a glove to his broad shoulders and narrow waist, and the well-worn jeans did little to conceal his long legs and muscular thighs.
Or the erection that was visibly pressing against his fly. What was that all about?
She didn’t know what terrified her more—his presence, his arousal, or her reaction to both. Heat grabbed her like a fist, and every bit of saliva in her mouth dried up. She had to swallow twice before she could make a sound.
“Uh…hi.” Well, it wasn’t poetry, but at least she got the words out. “What can I do for you?”
His eyes burned into hers like smoldering coals. “I have something of yours and figured you might want it. Is it all right if I come in?” One corner of his mouth turned up in a semi-grin. “I promise not to attack you.”
Dana felt the heat of embarrassment flush her body. She backed up and swung the door wide, and Cole removed his hat and stepped into the house. As he brushed past her, she caught his scent again, the same blend of male and horses from her dream, and again she shivered. She’d never reacted to a man this way, not even those she’d forced herself to go to bed with. Cole Landry should havedangerpainted on his forehead, in flashing red letters.
Digging for a calm she didn’t feel, she waved him into the tiny living room, closed the door and stood as far away from him as the limited space allowed. Being this close to a man she’d just imagined having sex with totally unnerved her.
She watched his gaze roam lazily around her space, and she sensed his brain registering every detail. Not that there was much to see in the small cottage. A living room and dining area with a view into a small but well-equipped kitchen. A narrow hall that led to the two bedrooms and bathrooms.
She cleared her throat. “You said you had something for me? I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m in the middle of doing some work.”
He turned back to her, his mouth turning up in a smile that made her knees knock. Reaching into his pocket, he extracted her phone.
