Mind Over Matter by Nora Roberts Page B

four times before she answered.
    “Fields.”
    “Good morning.”
    “David?” A.J. reached up to grab the towel before it slipped from her dripping hair.
    “Yeah. How are you?”
    “Wet.” She switched the phone from hand to hand as she struggled into a robe. “I just stepped out of the shower. Is there a problem?”
    The problem was, he mused, that he was three thousand miles away and was wondering what her skin would look like gleaming with water. He reached for another cigarette and found the pack empty. “No, should there be?”
    “I don’t usually get calls at this hour unless there is. When did you get back?”
    “I didn’t.”
    “You didn’t? You mean you’re still in New York?”
    He stretched back in his chair and closed his eyes. Funny, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d wanted to hear her voice. “Last time I looked.”
    “It’s only ten your time. What are you doing up so early?”
    “Haven’t been to bed yet.”
    This time she wasn’t quick enough to snatch the towel before it landed on her bare feet. A.J. ignored it as she dragged her fingers through the tangle of wet hair. “I see. The night life in Manhattan’s very demanding, isn’t it?”
    He opened his eyes to glance at his piles of papers, overflowing ashtrays and empty coffee cups. “Yeah, it’s all dancing till dawn.”
    “I’m sure.” Scowling, she bent down to pick up her towel. “Well, you must have something important on your mind to break off the partying and call. What is it?”
    “I wanted to talk to you.”
    “So I gathered.” She began, more roughly than necessary, to rub the towel over her hair. “About what?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Brady, have you been drinking?”
    He gave a quick laugh as he settled back again. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d eaten. “No. Don’t you believe in friendly conversations, A.J.?”
    “Sure, but not between agents and producers long-distance at dawn.”
    “Try something new,” he suggested. “How are you?”
    Cautious, she sat on the bed. “I’m fine. How are you?”
    “That’s good. That’s a very good start.” With a yawn, he realized he could sleep in the chair without any trouble at all. “I’m a little tired, actually. We spent most of the day interviewing parapsychologists who use computers and mathematical equations. I talked to a woman who claims to have had a half a dozen out-of-body experiences. ‘OOBs.’”
    She couldn’t prevent the smile. “Yes, I’ve heard the term.”
    “Claimed she traveled to Europe that way.”
    “Saves on airfare.”
    “I suppose.”
    She felt a little tug of sympathy, a small glimmer of amusement. “Having trouble separating the wheat from the chaff, Brady?”
    “You could call it that. In any case, it looks like we’re going to be running around on the East Coast awhile. A palmist in the mountains of western Maryland, a house in Virginia that’s supposed to be haunted by a young girl and a cat. There’s a hypnotist in Pennsylvania who specializes in regression.”
    “Fascinating. It sounds like you’re having just barrels of fun.”
    “I don’t suppose you have any business that would bring you out this way.”
    “No, why?”
    “Let’s just say I wouldn’t mind seeing you.”
    She tried to ignore the fact that the idea pleased her. “David, when you put things like that I get weak in the knees.”
    “I’m not much on the poetic turn of phrase.” He wasn’t handling this exactly as planned, he thought with a scowl. Then again, he hadn’t given himself time to plan. Always a mistake. “Look, if I said I’d been thinking about you, that I wanted to see you, you’d just say something nasty. I’d end up paying for an argument instead of a conversation.”
    “And you can’t afford to go over budget.”
    “See?” Still, it amused him. “Let’s try a little experiment here. I’ve been watching experiments for days and I think I’ve got it down.”
    A.J. lay back on the bed. The