Lesley had hung up her coat and returned to her bedroom when her doorbell rang a second time that night.Even Dale had the common decency not to come this late.
With a sense of dread, she opened the front door.“Now what?”she demanded.
Cole was leaning lackadaisically against the doorjamb, a pair of earmuffs dangling from his index finger.“I thought these might solve your problem.”
Lesley’s back went rigid.“And I assure you the only problem I have is you.”
He shrugged as if to say the matter was out of his hands.“Then don’t blame me if my typing keeps you awake, because I plan to do exactly that every day and every night until...”He left the rest of what he was planning to say go unspoken.
“Until what?”she prompted.
“Never mind.”His eyes narrowed.“Good night, Miss Brown.”
“Mr.Daniels.”
Their eyes met and held: his dark, fighting to disguise his amusement; hers bright and angry.
Gently she closed the door and leaned against it, her hands behind her back.Never had she reacted this strongly to a man.
Lunch with Dale didn’t go well the next afternoon—not that Lesley had expected it would.In the end she was forced to insist that she wouldn’t attend Larry’s party with him.Her decision was received with ill grace, but then she’d known from past experience that Dale was a poor loser.
After work, Lesley changed into her jeans with plans to washher car.Before turning on the water, she decided to play it safe and let Cole know what she was doing.
Lightly she knocked on his door.The new car was parked in the driveway, but she never knew what to expect with him.
“What do you want now?”He threw open the door, and Lesley had to stifle a startled gasp.It didn’t look as if he’d gone to bed.He was wearing the same clothes as the night before.A day’s growth of beard darkened his face, and his eyes were narrowed and angry.
“I wanted you to know I was planning to wash my car.”
He stared back at her blankly.
“The water pressure.”Her eyes regarded him thoughtfully.“Are you all right?”
His confirming nod was swift and abrupt.
“Have you been writing night and day?”
He didn’t seem to hear her.Instead he slouched against the frame of the door.Even in his condition there was an air of quiet authority about him.
“You must be exhausted.”Lesley didn’t know why she should care, but she did.
“Just leave me alone,” he lashed out, and rubbed a hand across his face.
“Gladly,” she returned in a tightly controlled voice.“I was only trying to save you from being stuck in a cold shower.But at this point it may be just what you need.”
Something unreadable shot over his expression.Regret?Anger?Lesley didn’t know.But when her gaze met his, a funny sensation raced through her: an awareness of him as a man, and not just any man, but a ruggedly virile specimen.The thought shocked her.She didn’t want to think of Cole Daniels as a man.This was Terry’s fault.She almost regretted having gone to her sister’s yesterday.Their conversation had brought up more questions when Lesley had hoped to have some answered.
Lesley noticed that Cole’s features had been darkened by the sun.Yesterday, when he’d come raging at her from the shower, she’d seen how deeply tanned he was, but in her anger the fact hadn’t fully registered.The handsome features were marred only by the crinkling lines around his eyes.
Why would anyone who loved the outdoors so much choose to lock himself up in an out-of-the-way duplex?Nothing about Cole Daniels seemed to make sense.
Abruptly he turned away and closed the door.Lesley was left to face the nagging silence alone.
The rest of the week passed without incident.Lesley didn’t once see Cole.Late at night she could hear the pounding typewriter keys, but she didn’t complain about the noise and he didn’t grumble about her singing.The unspoken agreement made for a fragile peace.
Halloween night, Lesley dressed in her costume.A large cone-shaped hat rested on top of her head.An empty salt canister hung around her neck, and the long flowing white gown reached the ground.
Lesley carried out a plate of homemade cookies to the car and returned to the house for the canister of lemonade.Munching on a cookie on her way out the door, she paused in mid-step and nearly stumbled off the stair.Cole Daniels was watching her with amused cynicism.His dark eyes surveyed her from head to foot, then back for a second disbelieving look.“My, my, what do we have here?”
