into the courtyard, sound asleep. Now
Instead she had continued with the dream she had started before going out after Deanna, and that was very scary, as well.
She’d dreamed about
She flushed at the thought. It had been so bizarre. She’d been back in the bar, back at the point where she’d crashed into him. And it had been…
Incredibly erotic.
And insanely real. She had seen the walls, with their old posters of jazz greats. She had even smelled the slightly stale scent of alcohol that lingered around any bar, the hint of old smoke. She had seen the shadows and the dim light. And the man. They had looked at one another, and the next thing she had known, she’d been in his arms, no introduction, no small talk. Thankfully she couldn’t remember how they had shed their clothing. But she had certainly been naked, just as he had been, in the shadowy hallway, flush against him, feeling his flesh and heat, his very life, as he pressed her against the wall. She could almost remember the feel of his lips against hers, and on her flesh. The hardness of his erection as he made love to her against the wall in a bar.
Even though it had only been a dream, it was humiliating. In a thousand years, she would never do such a thing, especially with a stranger. With a man who might be actively dangerous.
She groaned softly. She really, desperately, needed a life.
She sat up and stretched, straightened and smiled.
Daylight. Once she rose, drank some coffee and showered, surely the reality of the dream would fade. She decided that she couldn’t even share it with Heidi or Deanna. It was simply too embarrassing. Too…personal.
She shook her head, rose and headed straight for the coffee machine.
Heidi and Deanna were still completely out—she could see the dark head in one bed and the blond one in the other. She opted for a shower while the other two slept on.
As the water streamed over her, she groaned aloud softly. She wasn’t afraid, exactly, but she felt uneasy in her own skin, unable to forget the pure sensuality of the dream. She could imagine his hands, the way they had felt on her bare flesh.
She finished her shower as fast as she could.
She definitely needed a life, she thought again. It was just so difficult. She was past the age of looking for fun and enjoyment while she set her career in motion. She wanted something real, commitment, respect…and, of course, passion. Something like what she’d had with Ken. Deanna was always telling her that she didn’t need to make a commitment before the first date, and that she would never know if she really liked a man enough to love him if she didn’t take a few chances. But it was hard to go back to dating after she’d been engaged, in love and ready for the future. She loathed the idea of dating again. It was just too…uncomfortable. And potentially painful.
As Lauren poured coffee, Deanna emerged from the bedroom. She looked rumpled and still tired.
“Bless you, my child,” she proclaimed. “Coffee.”
“And more in the courtyard when we’re ready for breakfast,” Lauren said. She hesitated, then asked, “Are you okay?”
“Just tired,” Deanna said.
“Well, you were rather active in the middle of the night,” Lauren reminded her.
Deanna took a cup of coffee and sipped it. “I have never, ever, done anything like that before in my life.”
“Alcohol,” Lauren suggested.
“Sadly, I
“You don’t remember anything at all?”
Deanna shook her head, but her eyes were lowered. Lauren thought there was more, but she couldn’t force Deanna to tell her what it was. She could only hope that Deanna would explain more when she was ready.
Lauren walked to the door and moved the chair she had set against it. “Well, let’s see what unlight streaming on the pool does for the day, huh?” She opened the door.
A newspaper was lying on the mat.
She stooped down to pick it up and couldn’t help but read the huge headline immediately.
Headless Female Corpse Found in Mississippi.
3
M ark sat in the courtyard, dark sunglasses in place, drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper. He felt a sense of bitter fatality at the headline blazing at him, and nothing in the story that followed surprised him.
The headless woman was being called Jane Doe. The coroner estimated that she’d been dead a week to ten days, and she might have been disposed of at almost any point up to a hundred miles upriver. White, approximately five-feet-seven inches, one-hundred-and-thirty pounds, her remains had been badly assailed by the river and the creatures that lived in it. The coroner had nothing else to say for the moment, other than that additional tests were being performed on the victim.
The head had yet to be discovered.
Mark put down the paper and sipped his coffee, staring at the door to the cottage the three women had taken. Someone had taken in the newspaper, but they had yet to emerge for the day.
He was seated at a table behind a pleasant elderly couple from Ohio. There was a pair of honeymooners to his
