A Kiss in the Dark
more.”
    “I really like you.” She smiled ruefully. “Obviously. But I don’t have time for a relationship, you know? Especially not a long-distance one.”
    “No, I don’t know.” He tipped her face up, forcing her to meet his gaze. “But I do know one thing, and that is we’re good together. Better than good. Let’s start with that.”
    He wanted to see her again. Even if it was only for the short time she was going to be in Black Stone Gap. She desperately wanted to see him again, too. That was the problem. Even after just one night, he’d managed to get under her skin.
    “I’m leaving in just a few days,” she hedged. “And I’ll be working most of the time. I don’t know how much free time I’ll have.”
    “Okay, so we’ll make adjustments based on your schedule. But you need to eat dinner, right? And who better to show you around the area than me?” He dipped his head to stare directly into her eyes. “Will you at least consider it?”
    Looking into his blue eyes, Lacey found her resistance slipping. She nodded. “Okay.”
    “Okay. Great.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “When you’ve finished getting dressed, come downstairs and have some breakfast.”
    After he left, she shoved her belongings into her overnight bag and slipped on a pair of soft leather flats. She swiftly ran a brush through her hair and then carefully applied a light coat of mascara and lip gloss before examining herself critically in the full-length mirror. Deciding that she looked presentable, she gathered up her bags and made her way downstairs. Dropping her suitcase and overnight bag near the door, she entered into the kitchen. Cole was just scooping some crispy bacon onto a plate, and Lacey’s mouth began to water when she spied the omelet and sliced fruit on the table.
    Cole looked up and his gaze turned hungry as he watched her. “You look great.”
    Selecting a wedge of melon from the plate, Lacey smiled at him. “Thanks,” she said, and took a bite of the juicy fruit.
    Cole’s eyes fastened on her mouth. “In fact, you look good enough to eat.”
    Her mind was immediately swamped with vivid memories of the previous night. She pushed them unwillingly aside. “You’ve just gone too long without food,” she teased. “You’re a guy—at this point, anything probably looks good enough to eat.”
    He grinned unrepentantly and held a chair out for her. “In that case, we’d better eat quickly and satisfy my appetite, or I’ll start looking around for something else to do it.”
    Lacey sat down in the chair he held out for her. His words both thrilled and alarmed her, and a part of her was tempted to sweep the breakfast aside and offer herself up instead. She’d had relationships before, but she couldn’t recall any guy who’d made her feel as sexy as Cole did. If her job here in Kentucky wasn’t so important, she could easily envision herself and Cole holed up in his bedroom for the next month.
    They ate in silence, but Lacey was acutely aware of Cole’s eyes on her. He was a difficult man to ignore, and she wondered if she would have the resolve to leave him when her time in Kentucky ended. She wondered if she even wanted to.

6
    A S C OLE DROVE L ACEY to the sheriff’s office, she couldn’t help but be amazed at the beauty of the surrounding landscape. Lush green mountains sheltered deep valleys, where tiny towns nestled alongside winding rivers. She had spent the first eight years of her life not far from Black Stone Gap, but she had few memories of those days, aside from her father’s death.
    “I didn’t expect Kentucky to be so unspoiled,” she finally admitted, turning her gaze from the window to the man beside her.
    Cole glanced over at her, one dark eyebrow raised. “What were you expecting?”
    “I know this is a coal-mining region, so…I don’t know. I guess I was expecting to see strip-mined hillsides and some kind of processing plants spewing black smog.” She saw the amusement

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