by Ursula Bauer
Enjoy the following excerpt for Touch Me:
Gazing through the dirty windows behind Millie Jo, Sloan searched the area for any signs of available housing. “Is this the whole town?”
He could tell by her smile—a smile offering more than the store would ever have in inventory—that she’d warmed up to him and was getting overheated at an alarming speed.
“Yep, all two main streets of it. The only real buildings, besides houses and this place, are the hunting lodge, the Legion Hall, Mabel’s Beauty Box, Jimmy’s Diner, and the school. But Mr. Dobbs fixed up some rooms in the old lodge. Nothing fancy and there’s only one shower for all the men…” she paused to run her tongue over her top lip, “…but most hunters and fishermen like it good enough.” She rested her elbows on the counter, giving him an eyeful of her generous cleavage.
Okay, maybe not such a little girl.
“Would you like me to call Mr. Dobbs for you?”
Sloan stepped away in a gut reaction to the teen’s blatant come-on. If he didn’t watch her, she’d have him up against a wall with his dick in her mouth. Right before the town sheriff popped out of the back room and declared them engaged. “Uh, no. That’s okay. I have my cell phone. Can you give me his number?”
Millie Jo flashed him a look of disappointment mixed with last chance hope. “It’s no trouble at all. Hey, I could even take you there myself. Maybe even show you one of the rooms personally. You know. Give you a real small town welcome.” The pink tongue slipped over crimson lips again. “Would you like me to show you?”
Hell, no. I don’t want any show-and-tell from Little Miss Horny.
“Now, Millie Jo, put your tail back on the stool or I’m going to tell your mama you’ve been flirting and carrying on with a stranger. She’ll be meaner than a hornet on a honey-dipped bear when she hears you’re throwing yourself at another full-growed man.”
Sloan turned around to face the speaker. Standing within a foot of him was a squat, barrel-chested man with a graying, unkempt beard and mustache.
“I’m Luke Dobbs. You looking for a place to stay?”
Sloan’s extended hand was accepted in a grip nearly costing him the use of his fingers. He tried to cover his wince at the pain by turning it into a smile. And failed.
“Yes, sir. I’d like a room at the lodge if you’ve one available.”
“Are you here for hunting or fishing?”
Inwardly, Sloan cringed. The word fishing would never have the same meaning it once had thanks to Millie Jo.
“Just a little, uh, fishing. Vacation, you know. Time away from the old grind.” Sloan wriggled his fingers and the blood crept back into them. Wow, what was with this town? First he meets the local Lolita and now Grizzly Adams. But if he had a chance of helping Rob, he’d confront all the offbeat characters Lawson could throw at him.
“The room is fifty dollars a night, paid in advance each day or by the week.” Luke’s mouth moved in what Sloan assumed was a smile. Seemed old Luke never spent much money on a good dentist what with all the missing teeth.
“That’ll be fine. Can I get in this afternoon?”
Luke flipped his cap onto his bald head and lumbered for the door. “You can get in right now. Follow me on down to the lodge and I’ll open it up for you. Millie Jo, you better mind yourself before you get into trouble like you did the last time.”
The last time? For once in his adult life, Sloan experienced a real sense of relief in putting distance between him and a female. Especially after she called a disappointed “By-ee” and blew him a kiss.
He wasted no time in following the box-shaped man out of the grocery. “By the way, a friend of mine wanted me to look up an acquaintance of his. Her name’s Cally Mathews. Do you know her?”
Luke stopped short, causing Sloan to bump into the other’s massive torso. Within seconds, friendly Grizzly Adams transformed into one menacing Big Foot. With one eye squinted shut, Luke moved his other eye slowly up and down, measuring every inch of Sloan. Now Sloan knew what a chicken must feel like when it was about to have its neck wrung.
Damn. Between learning a new meaning for the word fishing and his sudden empathy for chickens, he’d eat a lot more red meat in the days to come.
“Everybody round here knows Miss Cally.” Luke’s inspection hardened and his tobacco-laden breath assaulted Sloan’s nose, hurtling a gargantuan dose of secondhand stench straight into his nostrils. If he developed lung cancer later, he’d hold old Luke responsible. “You say you’re a friend of a friend?”
Sloan tried hard not to squirm before the older man’s piercing gaze. Somehow he imagined this guy wouldn’t appreciate his real reason for finding Cally. “Sort of. She matched my friend to a woman from here. Her name is, or was, Lisa Callow.”
Relief flooded him when another transformation returned Luke’s wide, yellow smile to greet his explanation. He blew out pent-up air, letting the worry of getting his ass kicked seep from his body.
“Oh, sure. Lisa got hitched up with some city boy from Dallas. He’s your friend?” At Sloan’s nod, Luke continued, “Well, won’t take you long to find Miss Cally. Wouldn’t take long to find anyone in this little town. Shoot, I think if a person stood in one spot for a bit, why, he’d most likely meet up with the person he’s looking for in no time at all.”
As if on cue, an early model red Honda Accord pulled in beside the one gas pump. A trim brunette slipped out of the car, pulled the gas cap off, and started filling the tank. Coppery highlights glinted in the sun, catching and holding Sloan’s attention.
Luke’s smile grew warmer when he saw the young woman and he turned to greet her. “Miss Cally, you enjoying your summer vacation?”
Cally looked up from the pump and her heart-shaped face lit up in recognition. “Oh, hi, Mr. Dobbs. I’m relaxing, but I miss my students. And how are you and Lena? Are the kids—?”
Noticing Sloan, she stopped in mid-sentence, eyebrows jumping up, emphasizing the brilliant blue orbs beneath them. Her next words came haltingly out of her mouth, as if they traveled through water to reach his ears. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were with someone.”
Sloan’s gaze locked with hers and an electric shock ran through his body. Heat scorched through him, stunning his brain into inaction for several minutes. She jumped when he did and he knew she’d felt a similar jolt. Transfixed, he stared into her startled eyes, unable and unwilling to let go of their tenuous hold.
He knew her. Yes, he definitely knew her. Or was she someone he should know?
Puzzlement rippled through him, causing the words forming in his mind to jumble together. But how could he know her? He’d never visited Lawson before today. Even more alarming was the knowledge that he wanted her, though not only in a sexual way—damn, how he’d love to lie between her legs, right now, right here—but in his gut, in his spirit. Rob’s words came back to him and he realized he needed to be with her.
Troubled by these strange ideas, he willed his tongue to speak, fighting to ignore the odd impressions. He had to keep his thoughts trained on his main goal. After a couple of failed attempts, he forced what he hoped was an affable expression on his face, and stretched out his hand to her. “H-hello. I’m Sloan Janson.”
Without a sound, without an acknowledgement of any kind, Cally whipped around, pulled out the gas pump and slammed it into its holder before jumping into her car. Sloan gaped as her car squealed out of the parking lot, leaving behind gas fumes and dust. What had happened? He’d never gotten a reaction like that from anyone before.
Simultaneous emotions of nervousness, excitement, and elation rushed through him, socking him in the gut. Basking in the warmth continuing to course through his body, he turned to Luke, hoping for an explanation. But judging from the older man’s expression, he couldn’t expect much help.
Luke scratched his chin with a perplexed expression on his face. “Well, ain’t that something? I ain’t never seen Miss Cally act so strange before.”
S
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