“You must be exhausted.”He was offering her an excuse.
She refused it.“No, I’m too keyed up to sleep.”
With a dignified just of her chin, she stood back and waited.She became fascinated with his strong profile as he stood in the open door.The contrast between Dale and Cole was all themore striking.There wasn’t anything artificial about Cole.He was all male...and distant.Did he want to keep it that way?
His expression changed, softening somewhat.“Another time, perhaps.”
Lesley sucked in a hurt breath.He was refusing her?She had extended an appreciative hand of friendship and he rejected it.It hurt.That was what surprised her.He turned her down and she felt like an insecure teen who hadn’t been asked to the prom.
“Good night, Lesley.”He turned back into his apartment and closed the door.
Was that regret she heard in his voice?Nibbling on the corner of her bottom lip, Lesley walked into her half of the duplex.Although dark and filled with shadows from a three-quarter moon, her home offered comfort and security.
Slipping off her shoes, Lesley flexed her toes in the carpet before moving into the kitchen and flipping on a light switch.Immediately the area was bathed in a soft glow.
She opened the refrigerator, took out a carton of milk and poured herself a glass.The package of hamburger caught her attention as she returned the milk carton.
Not giving herself the opportunity to change her mind, she slipped back into her shoes and marched over to Cole’s front door.
He answered after the first knock, his expression thoughtful as his eyes fell on the meat.
“Here.”She gave him the hamburger.
“Thanks, but I’ve already had dinner.”
“It’s not to eat,” she announced primly.“Put it over your bruise.”
A smile quivered at the corners of his sensuous mouth.“I thought you were supposed to use steak for that?”
“I didn’t have steak, only hamburger,” Lesley reasoned.
“I’m afraid I could only accept Choice, Grade A tenderloin beef.Corn-fed preferred.”A teasing quality crept into his voice.
“Honestly,” she admonished, quickly losing the fragile grip on her temper, “just take the hamburger.It’ll make me feel better so I can get some sleep.”
“And if you’re asleep, you can’t bother me,” he added as if that was enough of an inducement for him to take the meat.
“Exactly,” she said a trifle flippantly.
“’Tis done.Good night, Lesley, for the third time.”
“Good riddance, you mean,” she muttered with a brash air of unconcern.
His chuckle followed her as she turned and began to walk away.
“Lesley.”
Expectantly she turned around.
His gaze flickered over her and she watched as a muscle in his jaw tensed.“Nothing.Good night.”
Chapter Four
Lesley lay on her back, her hands supporting her head as she stared at the dark ceiling.Sleep was impossible.
The sounds of the typewriter had stopped, but Cole wasn’t asleep either.She could hear his movements on the other side of the wall.It sounded as if he was pacing: walking to one side of the small living room, pivoting and strolling back...again and again and again.
Lesley closed her eyes, and the mental image of Cole formed in her mind.He looked troubled and weary; at least, that was how she’d seen him last.She wondered what he’d done with the hamburger.The thought was silly.
