Hot and Bothered by Linda Cajio Page B

counselor … maybe if you cried …”
    He laughed. “The tears ran out years ago. Even tried to drown myself in drink too. It didn’t work, although tonight’s a relapse.” He took a swig. “One thing I learned down here is that I have to live with myself as I am. That’s what I do now.”
    Neither of them spoke for the longest time. Judith wanted to burst past him and get out. She told herself she should leave him, give him thesolitude he seemed to want. She needed to study the paperwork on the merger anyhow. Still, she stayed. An odd sensation began to flow through her in the darkness, in his nearness. A surety, but of what kind she couldn’t identify.
    “You’re right,” he said finally. “I should go to bed. Come in with me.”
    “Ah … Paul,” she began to say, realizing just how dangerous things really were.
    He took her hand. “I just need a friend tonight.”
    She didn’t know what to answer, which was a common problem around this man. She sensed a deep sadness within him and couldn’t turn away. Her resistance overruled by his plea, she allowed him to lead her into his bedroom.
    This room, like the living room, was uncluttered, almost spare, with primitive art and wall hangings.
    “Turn your back. I sleep in the nude.”
    Judith stared. “Paul, I can’t.”
    “Just turn your back until I get under the sheet. I need a friend, not a lover. Lie to me if you have to, Judith.”
    She turned her back. What in God’s name was she doing? Something incredibly foolish, and yet she couldn’t reject his request. If she did, he would think she thought him a monster too. She didn’t. Not for a single second. Not because of some awful accident.
    She heard the rustle of the sheets beingpulled back and the settling of a body within them.
    “Okay.”
    She turned around. To her relief, he was only a lump in the bed, not some manly outline that would send her all aflutter.
    “Lie down next to me until I fall asleep.”
    Suddenly she was all aflutter. “Paul …”
    He made an exasperated noise. “Just lie down on the top, dammit! Is that so hard to do?”
    “No.” She was being wishy-washy again. She walked to the other side of the bed and gingerly lay down on top of the sheet. She kept her feet off the edge of the mattress, so she wouldn’t get her sandals on the turned-down spread.
    Paul took her hand and set it on his chest, covering it with his warm, strong fingers. “You don’t hate me, do you?”
    She smiled to herself at the ridiculous question. “No.”
    A part of her was growing unsettled at the feel of his form through the thin sheet. His chest hairs peeped out from the material and tickled her palm in the most delicious way.
    “Thanks,” he said. “I think I needed this.” He seemed to let go of all the tension within him and relax. His breathing became more sonorous. She realized he was falling asleep. Lying in the bed with him was almost pleasant … or would be very pleasant if it wasn’t damnably sensual. She began to see why he wanted to be “tuckedin.” From time immemorial, the warmth of another human body was comforting. The presence of another could make one’s problems and fears fall away. This was all he required of her, and she gave it to him gladly.
    He was so still, she thought in surprise. Awake, Paul seemed to vibrate from a myriad of energies and emotions. Under her hand his chest rose and fell steadily. His fingers gripped hers tightly, almost like a lifeline. She wondered how she would get free without disturbing him. She supposed she’d have to wait it out.
    But it was good lying next to him like this. So good.
    “Mandy.”
    He sighed the name in his sleep. Tears welled in Judith’s eyes. He was right. She did have a sympathy for him.
    And maybe more.
    As he awakened, Paul winced automatically against the sun streaming in the window. The light pierced his eyes, the inside of his mouth was dry, and he had a headache the size of the Grand Canyon pounding