Free A Kiss in the Dark by Karen Foley

murmured something incoherent, her eyelashes fluttered, and then he was gazing down into the luminous gray-green of her eyes. Sleepy and bemused, she stared up at him for a moment, and then smiled.
    “I’m still dreaming.”
    “Not unless I’m having the same dream, baby,” Cole said softly, and stroked a hand over her hair.
    She continued to stare up at him, and the sleepy confusion was slowly replaced with an expression of dawning awareness as she came fully awake.
    “What time is it?” She sat up, withdrawing her limbs from his body and curling them inward, dragging the sheet over her nakedness.
    So that’s how it was going to be. Damn.
    “It’s barely six-thirty,” he answered.
    He couldn’t help himself. He cupped the nape of her neck and drew her head down, intent on sampling her mouth. She gave him a chaste, closemouthed kiss before pulling away.
    “I should take a quick shower and then get going,” she said apologetically.
    Cole pushed down his own disappointment and opted instead for a light tone. Maybe she was just being typically female, uncomfortable at being seen with bed-head and no cosmetics. Although, hell, he’d never seen a woman look as desirable as she did first thing in the morning.
    “Well, as long as you’re taking a shower,” he said huskily, “can I offer to scrub your back?”
    She cast him a swift glance and Cole could have sworn she was considering it. Her gaze slid over him, and he was helpless to prevent the instant reaction of his body. But if she was tempted, she did a great job resisting. She dragged the sheet around her and stood up.
    “Thanks, but I really am going to be quick. I have some calls to make, and I’m sure you have things you need to do.”
    What would she say if he told her the only thing he wanted to do—needed to do—was her?
    “Yeah. Okay. Take a shower, and I’ll make some coffee. Then I’ll run you over to the sheriff’s office.”
    “Thanks.” As if on impulse, she leaned down and pressed a swift kiss against his mouth. “And thanks, too, for last night. It was great.”
    Her words had a ring of finality, and Cole watched as she walked across the room, the sheet trailing behind her. He heard the bathroom door shut, and then there was the unmistakable sound of the lock clicking into place.
    Yep. That had gone real well. He flung himself back against the pillows and threw an arm across his eyes.
    She was so gone from his life.
    But what did it really matter, anyway? He would only be in Black Stone Gap long enough to obtain the evidence he needed to prove the coal mines were operating illegally, and then he’d return to his home on Virginia Beach, just outside of Norfolk. He’d agreed to go undercover for the Feds, but he hadn’t counted on how hard it would be to lie to his friends and family about why he’d returned. If anyone knew his real reasons for wanting to work in the mines, they’d despise him. The local coal mines were the biggest employer in the region, and if they shut down, hundreds of people would lose their jobs. But that was preferable to losing their lives, wasn’t it?
    Even if he’d been inclined to pursue some kind of relationship with Lacey, it wasn’t like she lived locally. Christ, she was from Boston. He could just picture where she lived, in one of those elegant old brownstones on a cobbled backstreet of the city, where the rents went for about a zillion bucks a month and the number of piano bars per capita was exceeded only by the number of young investment brokers.
    He snorted. It was no wonder she was anxious to leave. Hell, she’d been slumming last night. No doubt she and her girlfriends would have a good laugh over martinis about how she once did it redneck-style.
    But then he recalled her confession that she hadn’t been with anyone in a long time, and he knew instinctively he was wrong. This was a woman who apparently didn’t share much of herself with others. He suspected she was more than a little