License to Shift by Kathy Lyons

showed cleavage that made his head spin, and made him wonder if she ever made it past the front doors and into the dance. If he’d been her date, he’d never have let her out of his car.
    She laughed. “That was my cousin. Trust me when I say you were the only one in high school.”
    “What? That can’t be true.”
    She shook her head. “You jocks always think life is an endless party of cheerleaders and casual hookups.”
    “And you geeks never lift your nose out of your books long enough to see that there’s a whole world around you waiting to be enjoyed.” What made that accusation even funnier was that he turned out to be the biggest geek of them all. He was the one who hid himself in software coding rather than face what he was becoming. By all accounts, she’d gone on to create a good life for herself in Chicago.
    Meanwhile, she was silent for a long while, but in the end she said one word. “Touché.”
    He grinned. “You seem to have ended up okay.”
    “You’re the one with the expensive espresso machine.”
    “It is my favorite appliance, but you can have it after I die.”
    “Yeah, thanks,” she drawled, having no idea that he meant it seriously. Then she straightened off the wall. “So we’re good, right? Teenage drama all cleared up? I’m not holding any grudges, you’re not obligated to sit on my front porch and freeze to death. So go home, Mark. Live long and prosper.”
    He smiled at her, glad to get at least this tiny mark off his soul. “We’re good.” Then he drained the rest of the coffee and handed it to her. She took it from him, and their hands touched. Fingers entwined and held. Heat transferred from her to him and back again. Lust slammed into him hard, but he didn’t move. He wouldn’t break this moment of accord. Not even when she blushed a fiery red and pulled back, coffee mug in hand.
    “I’m glad I woke you up this afternoon,” she said.
    “I am, too.”
    Then he nodded to her and took off toward his truck. She stood there on the porch watching him as he started up the vehicle and drove it down the long driveway. He didn’t know how long she waited. He watched her until the rain hid her from sight.
    Then he drove a few hundred yards farther until he found a good spot to park his truck. Five minutes later, he was doing another full-perimeter check. Fifteen minutes after that, he was back on her porch, tucked into the shadows as he waited for something wrong .
    Just in case.

Chapter 6
    J ulie’s first thought was, “That’s a strange car alarm.” It sounded just like birds tweeting loudly outside her window. Then she cracked her eyes, realized she was up in the loft of her father’s cabin, and that it really was birds out there making that racket. Well. Guess she’d been living too long in the city if she couldn’t recognize the sound of real birds.
    She rubbed her eyes and stretched, feeling achy in every part of her body. Last night, she’d dropped like a rock into bed only to spend the night fighting erotic dreams. She didn’t even want to acknowledge the identity of the man who had done such delicious things to her, but it was hard to deny the wet hunger she felt now.
    Nothing that some coffee and a cold shower wouldn’t fix, she thought as she pushed out of bed. She found a pair of pink cat slippers and a matching bathrobe, all left behind from high school and about two sizes too small. She’d always tended toward large, and years of office work had done nothing to make her slim. Downstairs, coffee was an exercise in fumbling, but she managed, and soon the scent of caffeine was filling the room. But it wasn’t ready yet, so she stepped to the window and looked out.
    The world was still wet, but drying quickly. In truth, everything looked washed clean, and so she opened the front door and stepped out to enjoy the beautiful morning. She never got air this clean in Chicago. Even her apartment windows were sealed shut to keep out the smog.
    She moved