Free Nerd Gone Wild by Vicki Lewis Thompson Page B

that she was headed into the bathroom.
    The lock on his door into the bathroom clicked. Then the pipes squealed, followed by water drumming on the sides of the metal shower stall. And thanks to Betsy’s comments earlier, he now pictured Ally stripping off her clothes and stepping naked into the spray.
    He forced his attention back to the e-mail, dated today.
Jarrett bought a new Dodge Ram truck, silver, and a fully equipped fifth wheel at 9 A.M. Weather coming in should prevent him from taking it anywhere real soon. More later. Pete.
    Now Ally was singing in the shower, and he didn’t need a listening device and receiver to hear it. She’d switched to the theme song from
The Secret of My Success
, “Walking on Sunshine.” She couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, but what she lacked in skill she made up for in volume.
    Damned if he wasn’t plagued with a vivid image of her soaping up in time with the song. He wondered if she used a washcloth or just the bar of soap. The bar of soap painted a far more erotic image, especially when she moved it down between her legs…
    And here he sat with an erection and his long-distance minutes going right down the drain, along with Ally’s soapy water. With a snort of frustration, Mitch keyed in his response.
If Jarrett leaves Anchorage with truck and fifth wheel, call me at this number. Mitch checked his electronic daybook and typed in the number of the Loose Moose. Apparently cell phone reception lousy in Porcupine. Will have to use land line. Mitch.
    He signed off, irritated to think he’d used Internet time to fantasize about Ally. He’d have to get a grip, and fast.

    * * *

    Before she stepped in the shower, Ally heard the click of computer keys in Mitchell’s room. Following her up here had probably played hell with his usual schedule, but if she knew Mitchell, he’d found a way to keep track of everything, even from this small town in Alaska. Even a serious infatuation wouldn’t alter Mitchell’s course for long.
    She’d thought of bringing a laptop, but in the end she’d chosen to travel light, as Uncle Kurt had suggested. He’d promised to find her good deals on all the equipment she’d need—top-of-the-line cameras, a new laptop, and the right printer. He was researching good processing labs, too, for those times when she didn’t want to go digital.
    But without a laptop, she couldn’t keep up her e-mail correspondence with him, and she missed that. They’d exchanged e-mails for years, ever since he’d paid that surprise visit during her sophomore year in college. She’d been fascinated to finally meet the mysterious Kurt, her grandfather’s son by his first wife.
    Back when her grandmother and grandfather had married, Kurt had been eighteen, and Grammy’s son—Ally’s father—had been ten. Ally’s father had been adopted and given the Jarrett name, seemingly replacing Kurt, who’d chosen to live with his mother. Ally had always been curious about this stepuncle, but for reasons no one would talk about, he’d been banned from the Jarrett mansion long before she’d been born.
    At last she could ask Kurt about those reasons. He’d explained that Grammy couldn’t bear to look at him because he reminded her that her beloved husband had once shared a bed with another woman. Because it was the only explanation Ally had ever been given, she had to believe it, although she thought it was horribly unfair.
    Kurt still got a monthly trust fund allowance, and he’d admitted that he’d lose that if Grammy knew he’d come to see Ally. Not wanting him to be punished any further, Ally had suggested they keep in touch secretly through the Internet. They’d kept it up after she’d graduated.
    Even though Grammy hadn’t shown any interest in the Internet, Ally hadn’t wanted to take any chances that someone in the household would figure out she was in touch with Kurt, so she’d arranged for him to use her college roommate’s e-mail address. After Grammy