by Karen Foley
“When I said you should cut loose and live a little, I didn’t exactly mean with the first guy you meet!” Julia said, once Lacey had finished. “Oh, man…your mother is going to kill me! I know she thinks I’m a bad influence on you.”
“She can’t know, and you can’t tell her. I gave her the number of the motel where I initially checked in, but I don’t plan on going back there. If she calls the office, just tell her that I can’t be reached because of the poor reception in this area, but you’ll get a message to me through Sheriff Hathaway. That will calm her down a little. I hope.”
“Don’t you think you should just tell your mom that it’s your life? I mean, c’mon. You’re twenty-seven, old enough to do what you want.”
Lacey sighed. “You’re right. I’ll talk with her when I get home. I promise.”
They talked for a few minutes longer, and although Lacey would have liked to speak with Sam, he was in a meeting and unavailable. After she hung up, Lacey donned underwear and bra, pulled on a pair of jeans and was just shoving her arms into a pale green top when a voice from the doorway startled her.
“I brought you up a cup of coffee.”
Lacey whirled, her fingers pausing over the buttons of her blouse. Cole leaned negligently against the door frame, wearing a pair of jeans and a crisp white T-shirt that only served to emphasize the sun-browned hue of his skin and the startling blue of his eyes. With the morning light slanting through the skylights, she could see the faint shadow of whiskers on his lean jaw. He looked altogether edible.
“I’m almost ready,” she said, swiftly fastening the last buttons.
“Hey.” He came to stand directly in front of her. “Are you okay?”
She smiled brightly at him. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
He looked at her with a mixture of tenderness and resignation that caused her chest to constrict. “I’m getting the distinct impression that you’re either avoiding me, or keeping me at arms’ length. What happened between last night and this morning? I mean, did I miss something?”
He made no move to touch her, just stood cradling a mug of hot coffee between his hands as he watched her. She tucked a damp tendril of hair behind her ear and bit her lip to stop herself from blurting the truth. What had happened between last night and this morning was phenomenal, and it scared the hell out of her. She wasn’t prepared for her own emotional response to him.
She cleared her throat. “Last night was amazing.” She raised her eyes and met his gaze fully, letting him see the truth in her words. “Really amazing. But for obvious reasons, it can’t ever be more than what it was. You know…a one-night stand.”
“Oh, yeah?” His gaze was intense, the heat in his eyes causing a now familiar flutter in her midsection. He took a step closer and pressed the mug of coffee into her hands, wrapping his own hands around hers so that she was encased in heat. “What if I told you that I want to see you again? No matter what?”
Lacey stared at him and her stomach did an odd flip-flop at the expression of fierce determination on his face. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t form a single coherent thought.
He stepped away from her, raked a hand over his hair and swore softly. “Christ, I’m losing my mind.” He turned abruptly back to her, his hands raised as if to stop her from speaking. “Listen, I know you’re here on business, but I’d really like to spend some time with you. Okay? Even if it’s only for a day or so. After that…well, maybe we can work something out.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, we hardly know each other.”
To her surprise, he laughed, a rich sound that slid along her senses like a warm caress. “My point exactly.” He grasped her gently by the shoulders and pulled her toward him. “We’ve been as physically intimate as two people can be, yet we hardly know each other. There isn’t an inch of your body that I’m not familiar with, and I’m not going to lie and tell you that I wouldn’t love to have a repeat of last night.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Hell, I live in hopeful anticipation of just such an event.”
Lacey’s body reacted instantly beneath his heated regard, warming and growing pliant, until she found herself swaying fractionally toward him.
“But it’s not enough, Lacey.” He stroked a thumb across her cheek. “I’d like more.”
“I really like you.” She smiled ruefully. “Obviously. But I don’t have time for a relationship, you know? Especially not a long-distance one.”
“No, I don’t know.” He tipped her face up, forcing her to meet his gaze. “But I do know one thing, and that is we’re good together. Better than good. Let’s start with that.”
He wanted to see her again. Even if it was only for the short time she was going to be in Black Stone Gap. She desperately wanted to see him again, too. That was the problem. Even after just one night, he’d managed to get under her skin.
“I’m leaving in just a few days,” she hedged. “And I’ll be working most of the time. I don’t know how much free time I’ll have.”
“Okay, so we’ll make adjustments based on your schedule. But you need to eat dinner, right? And who better to show you around the area than me?” He dipped his head to stare directly into her eyes. “Will you at least consider it?”
Looking into his blue eyes, Lacey found her resistance slipping. She nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay. Great.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “When you’ve finished getting dressed, come downstairs and have some breakfast.”
After he left, she shoved her belongings into her overnight bag and slipped on a pair of soft leather flats. She swiftly ran a brush through her hair and then carefully applied a light coat of mascara and lip gloss before examining herself critically in the full-length mirror. Deciding that she looked presentable, she gathered up her bags and made her way downstairs. Dropping her suitcase and overnight bag near the door, she entered into the kitchen. Cole was just scooping some crispy bacon onto a plate, and Lacey’s mouth began to water when she spied the omelet and sliced fruit on the table.
Cole looked up and his gaze turned hungry as he watched her. “You look great.”
Selecting a wedge of melon from the plate, Lacey smiled at him. “Thanks,” she said, and took a bite of the juicy fruit.
Cole’s eyes fastened on her mouth. “In fact, you look good enough to eat.”
Her mind was immediately swamped with vivid memories of the previous night. She pushed them unwillingly aside. “You’ve just gone too long without food,” she teased. “You’re a guy—at this point, anything probably looks good enough to eat.”
He grinned unrepentantly and held a chair out for her. “In that case, we’d better eat quickly and satisfy my appetite, or I’ll start looking around for something else to do it.”
Lacey sat down in the chair he held out for her. His words both thrilled and alarmed her, and a part of her was tempted to sweep the breakfast aside and offer herself up instead. She’d had relationships before, but she couldn’t recall any guy who’d made her feel as sexy as Cole did. If her job here in Kentucky wasn’t so important, she could easily envision herself and Cole holed up in his bedroom for the next month.
They ate in silence, but Lacey was acutely aware of Cole’s eyes on her. He was a difficult man to ignore, and she wondered if she would have the resolve to leave him when her time in Kentucky ended. She wondered if she even wanted to.
6
AS COLE DROVE LACEY to the sheriff’s office, she couldn’t help but be amazed at the beauty of the surrounding landscape. Lush green mountains sheltered deep valleys, where tiny towns nestled alongside winding rivers. She had spent the first eight years of her life not far from Black Stone Gap, but she had few memories of those days, aside from her father’s death.
“I didn’t expect Kentucky to be so unspoiled,” she finally admitted, turning her gaze from the window to the man beside her.
Cole glanced over at her, one dark eyebrow raised. “What were you expecting?”
Cole grinned. “Sorry. You’re not entirely wrong. Most of the mining is done belowground, so you don’t see it. But sometimes it’s a battle to keep the rivers and streams clean of the runoff.”
“You must know a lot about mining, having grown up here. I mean, even your name says it all.”
Cole smiled as he negotiated a sharp turn on the steep road. “Yep. My old man was a coal miner. When he was young, he was injured in a mining accident and my mother was the nurse who cared for him in the hospital. They got married and I was born. They named me Cole for obvious reasons.”
Lacey gave him a wan smile. His father had been a miner. Now Cole also worked in the mines. “What a romantic story.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t call their life romantic, but my mom never complained. Mining is in our blood.”
“Were you a coal miner before you got laid off?”
“I got my degree in mining engineering, but I only worked in the coal mines for about six months, right after I graduated. I left mining about five years ago and went to work for the State of Virginia as a structural engineer.”
“Until you got laid off,” Lacey clarified.
“Right.”
“Do you think you’ll stay here? Or will you try to get back to Virginia?”
He was silent for a long moment, as if struggling with a response. “This is just temporary,” he finally said. “My goal is to return to Virginia as soon as I can.”
The news should have made her feel relieved, but all she could think was that he would spend time in the coal mines. It didn’t matter if he was an engineer; he could still die in those tunnels.
“Well, I hope that works out for you,” Lacey said, meaning it sincerely. She fixed her attention on the passing landscape, telling herself that as an engineer, he would naturally take precautions and pay close attention to the conditions inside the mines. Nothing would happen to him, and she wouldn’t let her imagination conjure up any horrific images of all the things that could go wrong. She refused to let her fears control her life, the way her mother’s fears controlled hers.
They turned down a dirt road near a sign that read Rod and Gun Club. Lacey gave Cole a questioning look. “Where are we going?”
“This is where the rescue team meets, since the sheriff’s office isn’t much more than a broom closet in the town hall.” His gave her a reassuring smile. “I’ll get you settled with the team, and then come back when you’re finished.”
“You don’t need to do that,” she said quickly. “I’ll ask Sheriff Hathaway to give me a ride back when we’re through.”
They hadn’t talked about where she would stay after today, but when she’d tried to carry her suitcase out of Cole’s house that morning, he’d set it firmly back inside, telling her they would figure it out later.
“Here we are,” he said, ignoring her comment.
They pulled alongside several other pickup trucks beside a low, sprawling structure. It looked to Lacey to be a recreation center of sorts, with picnic tables and barbecue grills scattered beneath tall trees. Beyond the picnic area, she could make out a shooting range. But it wasn’t this that caused her words to fade.
The entire area was swarming with men. There were about fifteen of them, and at first glance, they looked remarkably similar, each of them wearing blue jeans, black baseball caps, and bright orange T-shirts with the words Black Mountain Search and Rescue emblazoned across the back. For a moment, Lacey wondered if they’d stumbled across some crime scene investigation in progress. There was an assortment of electronic equipment, ropes and climbing gear strewn across the grass, and the men were painstakingly examining and packing each piece.
“They must have just returned from a call,” Cole commented as he thrust the truck into Park and turned off the engine.
Lacey glanced at her watch. It was barely nine o’clock. As they climbed out of the cab, one of the men looked up, spoke briefly with the others, and walked over to greet them. He was too young to be Sheriff Hathaway. In fact, he looked to be about Cole’s age, and was just as good-looking in his own right, with chocolate-brown eyes and a shock of tawny hair.
“Cole,” he said with a grin. “Good to see you, man.” He thrust a hand out to Cole, who shook it warmly. “I heard you were back in town. What brings you out here?”
“Carr, I’d like you to meet Lacey Delaney. She’s come from Boston to demonstrate the GPS units.” He took Lacey’s elbow in one hand and drew her forward. “Lacey, this is Carr Hamilton. He heads up the search-and-rescue team.”
Carr’s eyebrows shot up briefly in surprise before he swiftly composed his features, but Lacey didn’t miss the sharply questioning look he gave Cole. “Ma’am.” He inclined his head toward Lacey and extended a hand in greeting. “How’d you manage to hook up with Cole?”
Lacey wondered at his choice of words, but was spared from having to answer by Cole.
“I came across her broken down in Mel’s parking lot last night. She was staying at the Blackwater Inn, but they’re having problems with their air-conditioning, so I persuaded her to spend the night with me.” He turned away to retrieve Lacey’s presentation materials from the bed of his truck, but not before she saw a telltale dimple flash briefly in one lean cheek.
She bit the inside of her cheek. Not “stay at my place,” but “spend the night with me.” There was no way anyone could miss the blatant message in those words. He’d just stamped her with his own seal of ownership as surely as if he’d said, “Hands off—she’s mine.”
To his credit, Carr’s expression never wavered from one of polite interest. “Well, you couldn’t have been in better hands.”
Lacey’s face turned warm at the unintended double meaning. “I agree,” she murmured in acknowledgment, and didn’t dare look at Cole as he set her equipment down on the grass beside the truck.
Unaware of her discomfort, Carr continued blithely on. “Cole used to be part of the rescue team. He was the best damn tracker we ever had. It was a real loss to the team—and the community—when he left.” He turned to Cole and stared at him directly, as if challenging him to dispute his words.
Beside her, Cole smiled, but Lacey could almost feel the tension in him. But when he spoke, his voice was friendly. “I signed on as the new engineer at the Black River Mines, but I have no interest in rejoining the team,” he said. “And I’m sure the entire community drew a collective sigh of relief the day I left Black Stone Gap.”
Carr gave him a quizzical look before clapping him on the back. “Absolutely not so. The team would welcome you back, you know that. Nobody ever blamed you for what happened, except yourself.”
“Carr.” Cole’s voice held a soft warning. Lacey risked a curious glance at him. He turned back to his truck and made a show of rearranging the tools he carried in the back.
Carr considered him for a long moment, and then focused his attention on Lacey, making a visible effort to steer the conversation back to less dangerous ground.
“So, you’re actually checked into the Blackwater Inn? That place doesn’t have a great reputation. You’re smart to stay at Cole’s place while you’re here.”
“It’s only a temporary situation.” She didn’t dare look over at Cole. “I intend to ask Sheriff Hathaway to recommend another place just as soon as I see him.”
Carr’s eyebrows drew together and his brown eyes turned somber. “Well, that may not be anytime soon. His wife was involved in a car wreck and she’s in the hospital.”
Cole turned sharply from the truck. “What? When did this happen?”
Carr removed his hat and ran his fingers distractedly through his hair. “Last night.
Seems she was run off the road by Stu Barlow’s boy on the way home from her weekly bridge game. She suffered a massive heart attack.”
“Christ.” Cole stared at Lacey. “That was the wreck that Sully was heading out to last night.”
Lacey recalled the radio conversation Cole had had with Sully on their way back to the garage. “You’re right.”
“He didn’t mention that it was Dot Hathaway in the other car. I’d have headed out there myself if I’d known.”
Carr’s face was sympathetic. “You couldn’t have done anything. She’s in the cardiac care unit over at County Hospital, but I think Cyrus is going to take at least the next week or so off to be with her.”
“Will she be okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. She’ll need to stay in the hospital for the time being, though.”
Cole turned slowly back to Lacey, and although he said nothing, she could read the expression in his eyes clearly enough. He intended to extend his hospitality to her for a while longer. And heaven help her, she was going to accept.
“So,” Carr was saying, as Lacey tried to ignore the promise in Cole’s eyes, “I’ll be taking over for Sheriff Hathaway while you’re here, Lacey. If there’s anything you need—day or night—just let me know.” He winked at her. “Even if it’s a place to stay.”
“Lacey has a place to stay.” Cole’s voice was firm.
Carr gave him an amused glance. “Okay. Just trying to be friendly.”
The look Cole gave him was more expressive than words would have been, but Carr only laughed before turning back to Lacey. “Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team.”
Giving Cole a tolerant look, Lacey followed Carr over to the grassy picnic area, where the men were rolling up lengths of nylon rope and examining the assorted metal clasps and hooks before stowing them in duffel bags.