Page 87 of Never In My Wildest Dreams

Grinning, he lowered his head. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable if she didn’t intend the sexual innuendo he’d heard.

“Oh, my God. No, no, no. That’s not what I meant.” She mumbled to herself. “I meant that you’re all business. You know, a hard man. No soft spots.”

“You’re right about that. Nothing soft about me.”

“All right, you know what? I’m just going to stay here. You go back to the house and have a cocktail. Put some lotion on those hands.”

“And leave you locked in a shed with spiders?” he asked. “Possibly a raccoon?”

“You did not just do that. It’sdarkin here.” A moment later, she shrieked.

“What happened?” He was ready to throw his shoulder against the door to break it down.

“I think a spider just crawled across my scalp.”

Her fear gave him the extra bit of strength he needed to drag the log far enough away to get the door open. “There. Come on out.”

The door flew open but smacked into the tree. She edged out sideways, climbed over the trunk, and then nearly rammed him with her head. “Check my hair.” She was bent over, running fingers through silky, blond locks. Her hands skimmed down her arms, and she stomped her legs.

“Hang on. You’ve got to stay still for a second.”

“Oh, my God.” She didn’t stop moving. “I didn’t even think about that. That tiny window at the back of the shed’s all dusty, so hardly any light gets in. What if there are, like, poisonous spiders?”

“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. But honestly, spiders don’t want anything to do with you. You’re huge and scary.”

She stilled for a moment, hair hanging straight down. “Did you just say I’m huge?”

“To a spider. Jesus.” He just kept putting his foot in it, so he focused on the task at hand. He ran his hands through her hair, lifting it at the neck and checking the creamy skin. “Nothing. You’re good.”

“Are you sure?” She straightened, pushing the hair back from her face, and gazing up at him.

Shock ripped through him. “Hellcat?”

What the hell?

“Slick?” Her eyes went wide. “You’reGinty’s agent?”

But he couldn’t answer. Shock had him frozen, his gears jammed. A tumult of emotions clashed inside him. Happiness, confusion…

Pure and utter relief.

She was his favorite person in the world, and he never thought he’d see her again. “What are you doing here?” And then, it clicked. “You’reLorelei Calloway?”

It made sense, though, didn’t it? The discipline, the need to hide from the world, the consuming life that was all about her.

She was a Grammy-winning, accomplished musician.

“I’m so confused. How is this possible?” She scraped her hands through her hair, pulling it away from her face. “All this time…we’ve been connected by a thread…God.” The depth of sadness in her eyes didn’t make sense.

Until he remembered. “I left you a note.”

Her features hardened. “Uh, no. You didn’t.”

He had to convince her. “I did. I explained why I had to leave.”

“Well, I would’ve liked that, but I didn’t get it.” A child’s squeal rose above the low-level chatter from the terrace, and her eyes widened. “I have to go… I have to get back to the house.” She skirted around him.

“We can talk later,” he said to her back as she sprinted away.

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