Free The Damsel in This Dress by Marianne Stillings Page A

Broad shoulders, perfect teeth, long, muscular legs. Beautiful . . .”
    She was going to say that Soldier had beautiful hands, but that would be too personal. She wanted to keep that part for herself. He had touched her with his beautiful hands, and it might never happen again.
    Betsy recalled the gentleness of his touch, the warmth of his fingers as he caressed her cheek and talked to her when she’d been so afraid. No, she would keep his beautiful hands in her own memory and not give it away so frivolously to a woman who would neither understand nor care.
    “Loretta,” she sighed. “Go back to sleep.”
    “Well, all right. Now, you’re to call me if anything juicy should happen. Don’t do anything foolish, and do listen to your detective.” Only Loretta Tremaine would give a daughter advice that involved the use of the word juicy .
    “He’s not my detective, Loretta,” Betsy insisted. “He’s not my anything.” But her protests met only silence. Her mother had already hung up.
    Soldier was careful not to be seen on his return trip from the small park across the street from the hotel. The dog had lived up to his name on every bush and blade of grass, and Soldier had to grudgingly give the little guy credit. He’d held it in for a long time, through his near-death experience and for hours afterward when Betsy had cradled him close. Who would have thought a dog named Piddle would have an iron bladder?
    Glancing up and down the empty hallway as he slid the plastic key into the lock, he pushed the door open and quickly entered. The bathroom door was shut and he could hear water running.
    Soldier grimaced. A shower might do Betsy some good, but the thought of all that hot water sluicing over her naked body didn’t help reduce his lust at all. The poor woman had enough trouble without her bodyguard coming on to her.
    The last thing she needed was his hands running all over her flesh, kissing her soft, plump skin.
    No, she didn’t need that, but he sure as hell did.
    Shaking the images from his brain, he sprawled on the bed and made a grab for the phone. After three rings, Taylor answered.
    “Hey, Tayo. How’s it hangin’?”
    “Long and low, brother, long and low. How’s the conference?” He could hear Taylor munching on something that sounded like a potato chip.
    Soldier let his gaze wander to the closed bathroom door. “There’s been an interesting development here.”
    “Yeah? Don’t tell me, don’t tell me! You fell for the lovely Ms. Tremaine and now you’re going to elope to Niagara Falls?” He snickered into the receiver.
    “As a matter of fact, she is here, and I did meet her.”
    Taylor choked on his potato chip. “You are shitting me! That’s great! Did you give her hell? Did you rough her up a little? Do you need bail money?”
    “Uh, no. No bail, but—”
    “So what’s she look like? Is she wartless?”
    “Totally.”
    Taylor’s voice rose a notch. “She’s young, isn’t she? And pretty, I’ll bet? And you fell for her, didn’t you? Ha! Son of a freakin’ bitch! I can’t believe it!” He started to howl with laughter.
    Soldier realized that the shower in the bathroom had stopped. She’d be out in a few minutes, so he had to make this quick. “This is serious, Taylor. Somebody tried to whack her Chihuahua.”
    A momentary pause. “Whack her Chihuahua? Sounds kinky. Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Hey, have you whacked her—”
    “Shut up, you numbnuts! Listen . I’m certain Betsy Tremaine is being stalked. The guy has made two direct contacts. He left her a note, then broke into her room here at the conference. She’s in the initial impact and denial phase, but pretty soon it’s going to hit her like a freight train and she’s going to implode. I’m going to try to get her to let me take her home.”
    Taylor’s voice became solemn as the cop in him snapped to. “What do you want me to do?”
    “I’m going to interview her tonight to get as