Lifeline Echoes by Kay Springsteen Read Free Book Online Page A

by a wry chuckle. "Good try,
sweetheart. You get points for caring. But I know the score. I'm
pretty sure the thing sticking in my back is an office chair. Since
we're in the parking garage, that makes it at least a couple of
floors of rubble on top of us."
    A tear slipped down Sandy's cheek and she
lost the battle for objective professionalism. "Maybe it's not as
bad as you think. Maybe a furniture truck fell on you instead of
the building."
    His laugh in her ear belied the gravity of
the situation. "So you're a glass-half-full kind of gal, huh?"
    "More like a
grateful-the-glass-holds-anything-at-all kind of gal," she
countered.
    He laughed again. "I like you. Got a
name?"
    "Oh, it's um, Alexandra."
    "Whoo-hoo! Ms. Yum-Alexandra. That's a
mouthful," he said, exaggerating his Wyoming accent. More softly,
he asked, "How 'bout I just call you Angel? That's what your voice
makes me think of."
     
    ****
     
    She woke up shivering in the chill of the
wee hours. The night breezes washing off the mountain lifted her
pink chintz curtains, raising goose bumps on her exposed flesh.
She'd fallen asleep on top of the covers. Sandy stretched, enjoying
the scents of pine and wildflowers wafting through her window. Give
her the chill any day so long as it came with the fragrance of the
mountains.
    The dream hadn't been unexpected. She had
them often this time of year. She'd grown used to her memories
intruding sometimes. Thanks to the dream, though, she was now
wondering if starting something with Ryan was a good idea after
all. Maybe they could share a meal and it would be the start of a
nice friendship.
    Her erogenous centers twitched in protest as
she recalled her sexy little dance for him the night before. Yeah.
That genie probably wouldn’t be stuffed back in the bottle so
easily.
    The first touch of dawn was just starting to
creep over the windowsill and she watched the morning light arrive
before she got out of bed.
    While the rushing water steamed up the
bathroom, Sandy drank her coffee and painstakingly selected the
makeup she would need in order to face the day. And her impromptu
date with Ryan McGee. She stood naked in front of her closet for a
full ten minutes trying to decide what to wear. She had no idea why
she felt like a nervous girl going to her first dance, but she sure
hoped the unaccustomed feeling went away, and quickly.
     
    ****
     
    Cursing the excitement worthy of a teenaged
geek about to go on a date with the head cheerleader, Ryan found
himself in the parking lot of Valentine's a full thirty minutes
early. There were a couple of other cars in the parking lot but
either the lunch crowd hadn't arrived or she didn't do a large
midday business.
    Ryan's steps slowed as he approached the
heavy wooden doors. Just beyond that entrance he would find the
woman who'd been on his mind nonstop over the past several hours.
It was no use reminding himself that he had no business being here.
He knew it, yet here he was. Sandy's voice was like a siren's call.
He couldn’t ignore it. The moment Sandy had crossed his path,
everything and everyone else seemed to fade in importance. Even the
search for the woman who'd once been the most important person in
his life. He didn’t understand it but he was powerless in the face
of it.
    He pulled open the heavy wooden door.
    She was sitting at one of the tables off to
the side, concentrating on a red laptop computer. Ryan's heart rate
picked up a bit as he let his eyes trail along the curves beneath a
form-hugging pale pink tank shirt tucked into another pair of
low-riding blue jeans. One leg was folded beneath her on the chair,
the sandal she'd kicked off lying on the floor next to her.
Purple-tipped toes moved in rhythm to the juke box music.
    Captivated, he tipped back his Stetson and
lingered against the doorway, watching her. And because he was
watching her, he knew the instant she became aware of his presence.
Her hand hovered over the keyboard, then she pulled it back. She
sat