In fact, the general store had been heaven-sent in making an unexpected night in a motel room more pleasant. Not only had she purchased shampoo, but also toothbrushes and paste, two T-shirts and several other items. At least she and Tony wouldn’t have to sleep in the same clothes they had worn all day.
She flushed at the thought of sharing the same bed with him all night long. She lowered the temperature of the hot water, suddenly finding it a little too warm.
Somehow, someway, Tony Pandolinni had crept beneath her defenses. She’d thought she wanted to remain alone, a divorced woman rediscovering her independence. But suddenly she was beginning to realize there was a difference between being independent and being alone. She’d liked being married, liked sharing her life with somebody special. She missed having that special connection. Yes, in the months since her divorce, she’d been independent, but she’d also been lonely.
Tony was so unlike Bill. From the first day of their marriage, Bill had set about to destroy Libby’s sense of independence, forced her to be a mere reflection of what he wanted and demanded. She had a feeling Tony would want a woman who knew her own mind, who strove to maintain her own identity. And therein lay the danger…
She stepped beneath the stinging spray of water to rinse the shampoo from her hair and banish any thoughts of a relationship with Tony from her head.
She had a feeling that a relationship with Tony would only lead to heartache. He gave his charm easily, he’d give physical pleasure, but he would never, ever, give his heart. In that respect, she had a feeling Tony Pandolinni was a horribly stingy man.
Yes, she’d be a fool to allow anything to happen between she and Tony, and Vinnie hadn’t raised a fool. Smiling confidently, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.
* * *
Tony looked up as the bathroom door opened and Libby stepped out. Immediately the room filled with the fresh, clean scent of the soap and shampoo she had used. Tony’s chest suddenly ached as his breath became caught someplace between his ribs. God, she looked so clean and fresh, so beautiful. She was clad only in a huge T-shirt that fell almost to her knees. She didn’t seem aware of the fact that the cotton material clung to her rounded breasts and emphasized rather than hid the darker circles of her nipples. Her face had the clean, scrubbed beauty of good health, and her pale hair was drying in a fluffy cloud of softness.
“Did you get your phone calls made?” she asked, sitting down primly at the small kitchen table.
He nodded slowly, hoping the tumultuous emotions he felt weren’t reflected on his face.
“What did you find out?” She leaned forward eagerly, the top of the T-shirt falling away from her body, exposing her delicate collarbone.
“Uh…we’ll talk about it after I shower,” he murmured, jumping off the bed and disappearing into the bathroom.
“There’s a bottle of shampoo and a new T-shirt in there for you,” Libby called after him, her hands folding and unfolding nervously on top of the table. She took a deep, tremulous breath. What she’d seen in his eyes just before he’d disappeared into the bathroom had made her feel breathless, so totally alive. It had been a long time since she’d felt her stomach quiver, her nerve endings tingle from the look in a man’s eyes.
She stared at the bed, wishing it didn’t look so small, so intimate. This whole situation would have been so much easier had the room boasted a sofa, or a love seat…someplace where a person could stretch out and sleep instead of the bed. There wasn’t even a bathtub, only a stand-up shower stall.
She paced around the room, looking into the drawers of the dresser, checking the contents of the kitchen cabinets, wondering how long they would have to remain in the small confines of the room before they could get back on the road. The room was small, and she had a feeling that with Tony’s presence, it would shrink considerably.
She looked up as Tony came out of the bathroom. His dark hair stuck up wetly and he was clad in the new T-shirt and his jeans. “Whew, that felt good,” he exclaimed, his eyes darkly inscrutable. Whatever she had seen in them moments before was now gone, smothered beneath a distant blankness that was somehow comforting to her.
“So…uh…what did you find out from your phone calls?” she asked.
Tony paced the room, quickly repeating what he had learned from Cliff, leaving out his friend’s words of warning on just how dangerous the men were. There was no reason for her to know everything.
“So, what does this information tell you?” she asked when he was finished.
He shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed. “It tells me it’s more important than ever that we get to that lab and find out some answers about the necklace. If the men who want it belong to some sort of subversive group trying to take over the world, then we need to discover how this necklace holds the key.”
Libby nodded. “At least we now have a name of somebody to talk to. Jonathon Maxwell…let’s hope he has some answers for us.”
“Oh, by the way, I also talked to my neighbors. They’re going to take care of your demon cat until we get back, and I called your ex-husband.” Tony smiled. “I’ve been fired.”
Libby laughed. “He might have fired you, but I haven’t. I have a feeling before this is all over I’m going to need my guardian angel more than ever.”
“I have a feeling we both need an angel in our pocket to get through this mess.”
“What’s our next move?” she asked.
“Sleep. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, so we’d better rest while we can.” He walked over to the light switch on the wall, his eyes still dark orbs of blankness. “I’ll take this side, closest to the door,” he said, pointing to the bed.
She nodded, reluctantly leaving her chair and approaching the side of the bed. She slid in beneath the sheets and looked at him expectantly. As he turned out the light and the room plunged into darkness, she moved over so she was lying on the outer inches of the bed. She didn’t want a shoulder to bump, a thigh to accidently rub. She wanted to make certain she stayed on her own side.
She heard the whisper of a zipper and knew he was taking off his jeans. Her mind filled with an image of him without them, and she shook her head to dispel the erotic vision.
As the mattress sagged beneath his weight, she squeezed her eyes tightly closed, wondering why her breathing was suddenly so irregular.
She could smell him—the clean scent of soap, the fragrance of the shampoo, and beneath that, the subtle scent of maleness that teased and taunted her.
Although he didn’t touch her at all, she could feel the heat that seemed to radiate from his body, a heat she’d like to crawl into, remain in for eternity.
“Good night, Libby,” he said, his voice sounding strangely full.
“Good night, Tony,” she answered, wondering how on earth she would ever manage to sleep when all she wanted was for him to reach out to her and take her in his arms, drive her insane with his kisses and caresses.
