Page 55 of Too Hot to Sleep
She averted her eyes and rolled her shoulders. "I'm not sure—"
"Hey, Ken," Klone called from his desk a few feet away, a phone in the crook of his shoulder. "There's a lady up front who wants to talk to you about a lost dog."
A sliver of disappointment cut into him. That mutt was starting to grow on him, and he was halfway hoping no one claimed him. At the same time, he knew someone was probably worried to death about the poor pooch. And he recognized the opportunity to collect his jumbled thoughts. He gave Georgia an apologetic glance. "Do you mind?"
"No, go ahead," she said, standing. "I think I've changed my mind anyway. It's silly, really. I'm sure the man dismissed the incident."
No, he didn't dismiss it,he wanted to say.He loved it. He might even love you.Ken straightened, shocked by the direction of his guilty thoughts. "I'm due a break. What would you say to grabbing a bite to eat? I'd like to talk to you, in private." She looked as if she were going to say no, so he added, "Please?"
At last she smiled and nodded. "Okay, but just for a little while."
He grinned. "Great. Sit tight and I'll be right back to get you, okay?"
She nodded and sank back into the chair, looking small and gorgeous and... perfect. He couldn't tell her now, not when that tentative look was starting to leave her eyes.She'll never know I was the man she was talking to,he told himself.And it's better for both of us.
"I'll hurry," he said, as eager to return as a boomerang.
* * *
GEORGIA FELTconspicuous sitting in Ken's big chair. She glanced around his work environment, thinking it wasn't so different from her own—lots of shared space, a smidgen of private space, loads of camaraderie, a flurry of constant activity. She liked it.
And she liked Ken. A lot. Maybe she had misjudged him…
Maybe he wasn't the ladies' man he was reputed to be...
Maybe that closet episode was as remarkable for him as it had been for her...
Maybe the odd coincidences of their paths crossing meant something special was supposed to happen between them…
Maybe…
She sighed, remembering the reason she'd come to the station in the first place. Ken was right. What would she do with the information if she did get the guy's name? Call him and demand that he not tell anyone that she preferred sleeping in the nude? Chances were the man had an interest in remaining anonymous, and she'd probably never know his identity. She conceded, however, that months might pass before she stopped glancing at men on the bus and wondering ifhewere the one.
Whoever the guy was, he was probably having a belly laugh over the desperate woman who had to make the first move with her boyfriend, and who was so distracted she couldn't even tell that the person on the other end wasn't him. She burned with humiliation when she thought of the things she'd told him—intimate things she thought she was sharing with a man who cared about her. If the guy had caller ID, he knew her name. Had he told all of his buddies? Was her name being distributed on the Internet?For a good time, Georgia Adams will callyou.
"Howdy," said a pleasant-face man who came over to pick up a form from Ken's cluttered desk. "I'm Klone."
"I'm Georgia Adams," she murmured. "You're Ken's partner, aren't you?"
"That I am."
From the twinkle in the man's eyes, she knew he was fond of Ken. "He's mentioned you," she said.
He smiled again. "And I know all about you, too."
She blinked. "Ken has mentioned me?"
"Oh, sure, Ken has mentioned you to anyone who'll listen." He leaned forward and dipped his chin. "He thinks you're just about the hottest number in Birmingham."
Guilty heat flooded her face.
A young officer walked up, his hands full. "Another stack of cards for Ken," he said, adding to the pile of envelopes overflowing the small desk. He held up a postcard. "As if the man didn't have enough women chasing him, he has to go and make the front page of the paper. Listen to this: 'You can handcuff me to your bed any time. Call me, Barbie.'" He rolled his eyes.
The officers in the vicinity laughed, and Georgia felt uneasy. The man obviously had his pick of women to coax into a closet. Why would he be interested in her?
Klone picked up the slip of paper she'd left lying on Ken's desk and to her surprise, winked broadly as he handed it back to her. "Ken really should get business cards for as often as he's probably passed out this number."
Georgia's mind flooded with confusion. She tried to smile. "Do you... recognize this phone number?"
