A Kiss in the Dark. Karen Foley

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СКАЧАТЬ okay with you.”

      Her attention had sharpened on him. “You’re not Sully?”

      Cole grinned. “No, ma’am.” Keeping one eye on the dark road, he extended a hand toward her. “Name’s Cole MacKinnon.”

      After a moment, she took his hand. Her fingers were slender and cool. “I’m Lacey Delaney.”

      Cole thought the name suited her. Soft. Feminine. It conjured up images of delicate lingerie, like the stuff she had in that bag. He slanted her a smile. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” She made no move to withdraw her hand, and Cole’s grin broadened as he saw the turnoff to Sully’s garage come into view. “Uh, ma’am?” She gave him a questioning look and he dropped his gaze pointedly to their clasped hands. “I’ll have to shift in another minute, but in order to do that I’ll need—”

      She snatched her fingers from his.

      LACEY HAD BEEN so busy mooning at the man, she hadn’t even realized she was hanging on to his hand. Worse, he was completely aware of her reaction to him. She cleared her throat uncomfortably as the truck turned into a gravel parking lot. There was a large, multibay garage at the far end and she could see lights on in the small office there. A sign over it read Sully’s Garage—24 Hour Towing. At the other end of the building were two blue taxicabs, and a smaller sign that read Tara’s Taxi Service.

      As Cole maneuvered the rental car into a nearby space, the door to the office opened and a huge bear of a man emerged. Sully, she presumed. He had a head of unruly dark hair and half of his face was obscured by a beard and moustache.

      Cole glanced over at Lacey. “Wait here where it’s cool. I’ll unhitch the car first, and then get your things out of the back. No need for you to stand around in this heat.”

      Without waiting for an answer, he opened his door and jumped down. Lacey watched as the other man approached him. She couldn’t hear their words, but she didn’t miss when Cole jerked his thumb in the direction of the truck. The bearded man turned his head toward her and Lacey barely resisted the urge to slide down lower in her seat. Sully grinned and said something, and slapped Cole on the back. Lacey heard him laughing as he strode back toward the office.

      What had Cole said to him? And why did she suddenly feel like a cheap pickup? But when Cole turned and came alongside the truck to unhitch her car, she could see he wasn’t smiling. His face wore an expression of such annoyance that Lacey felt an unexpected rush of gratitude toward him. Clearly he wasn’t pleased with whatever conclusion Sully had drawn of his decision to drive her back to the motel.

      But when he opened her door, his features were schooled into a mask of politeness. He extended a hand to help her down, and Lacey fumbled for a moment, trying to grasp both her overnight bag and purse. He reached in wordlessly and took the bag from her. As Lacey swung her legs around, her skirt scooted halfway up her thighs, but with one hand firmly clutched around her purse and the other warmly encased in Cole’s, she had no chance to tug it down. She heard him suck in his breath, and when she glanced at his face, she saw the heat was back in those translucent eyes.

      “C’mon,” he muttered. “Let’s get out of here before Sully decides to come back out.”

      She waited as he reached into the back and withdrew her presentation case and STAR, hefting them both in a single grip. “Is he your boss?”

      Cole gave a bark of surprised laughter. “Sully? No, he’s just a friend. I help him out once in a while, that’s all. He’s a good guy, but he doesn’t have much in the way of manners. Trust me when I say you’re better off not getting an introduction. It still amazes me that he actually managed to find himself a wife.” He nodded his head toward the opposite side of the parking lot. “This way.”

      Lacey waited while Cole stowed her gear in an oversize toolbox secured in the bed of a large, black pickup truck. There was no lighting in this area of the lot, and with his dark jeans and T-shirt, the surrounding gloom all but swallowed him up. Lacey hung back, standing just outside the ring of darkness.

      She considered herself to be an intelligent woman, but taking a ride from a complete stranger had to be the height of stupidity. It had seemed a perfectly reasonable solution when they were in the tow truck with her rental car hitched to the back. After all, she had been the customer, securing the services of a professional. But discovering he wasn’t even affiliated with the towing company, and then accepting a ride in his personal truck seemed somehow … well, personal. Intimate.

      “Hey.” His voice was quiet, interrupting her thoughts. He had taken a step toward her and now stood watching her. “Having second thoughts?”

      The man was perceptive. “No, of course not.”

      He laughed softly and stepped closer. “Liar.”

      Lacey barely resisted the urge to step backward as he advanced. His knowing look, combined with a smile that could only be called predatory, should have had her running full-tilt in the opposite direction. Instead, it caused a bolt of awareness to surge through her, rooting her where she stood.

      “Why would I be having second thoughts? You don’t look like an ax murderer, but if you are, I have witnesses who’ve seen you with me.” She indicated with a nod of her head to where Sully was climbing into the cab of the tow truck. Her voice was light. “You’d never get away with it.”

      Cole’s dimples flashed as he gave her a wolfish grin. “Rest assured, when it comes to pretty women, hurting them is the last thing I have in mind.”

      Lacey felt her pulse quicken. What, exactly, did he have in mind for her? And how would he react if she indicated, by word or gesture, that she might be a willing participant? The sudden images that swamped her imagination were so vivid and so strong that heat flooded her face, making her grateful for the dim light.

      Cole’s glance moved beyond Lacey. “If you are having second thoughts, now’s your chance to say so. Once Sully’s gone, it’s just you and me.”

      Lacey turned and watched in silence as the tow truck slowly made its way across the parking lot. She saw Sully raise a hand in brief salute, and then the taillights vanished as the vehicle swung out of the parking lot and onto the main road. Drawing a fortifying breath, she turned back to face Cole with a bright smile. “I guess you have your answer.”

      He considered her silently for a moment, his expression inscrutable, before stepping back to open the driver’s door of the pickup truck. “I guess I do.”

      He extended a hand toward Lacey, and once more she found her fingers wrapped in the warm strength of his own as he helped her up into the cab. Lacey scooted across the bench seat only to be halted midway by the sight of an enormous animal sprawled on the far side. Its tongue lolled wetly from an open mouth bracketed by long, loose jowls as it regarded her drowsily, and a long tail thumped in greeting against the seat. Her mouth fell open in wordless surprise.

      “That’s Copper,” said Cole, sliding in behind the wheel. “He has a tendency to slobber, so you might not want to get too close.” He grinned. “I think he has a thing for redheads.”

      Lacey recoiled as the dog shook its head, flinging long ropes of saliva against the back of the seat. “Oh, my,” she said, laughing in spite of herself, “you weren’t kidding. He really does slobber!”

      “Sorry,” Cole said, sounding anything but apologetic as Lacey drew closer to him in an effort to avoid being splattered. “Once СКАЧАТЬ