Oh, how are you feeling?”

“I’m Þ ne.” Leslie wondered why lies so patently transparent were actually

believed.

“Wonderful. Bye, darling.”

“Yes. All right. Bye.”

Leslie walked out onto the dock and sat on the edge in the sun.

The water that lapped two feet beneath her was so clear she could see the

sandy bottom. Schools of minnows darted just under the surface.

She heard Dev’s voice. I’ve always liked Þ sh.

“Oh, Dev. Why didn’t I know?”

v

Dev looked up from where she knelt on the bank at the sound of footsteps

behind her. She waved, feeling a bit of her melancholy lift when Natalie

sauntered down the trail. She was in uniform, her cuffs buttoned neatly at the

wrists, her name tag above her left breast pocket, various patches denoting

department and rank sewn onto her sleeves.

Her dark hair was twisted into a loose bun at the back of her neck and held with

a plain gold clip. Her smile was radiant.

“Hey,” Natalie said. “I thought that was your truck up there in the turnoff.

Weren’t you going out on the lake today?”

“Change in plans. I’m doing a little close-in work instead.”

• 82 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

“Uh-huh.” Natalie squatted down beside her. “You could’ve called me.”

“Something tells me you have better things to do than babysit me.

But thanks.”

“Other things.” Natalie skimmed her Þ ngertips along Dev’s jaw.

“DeÞ nitely not better. How about I collect on that rain check tonight.

Dinner?”

Dev hesitated. Natalie’s message was clear. And honest. She owed her the

same. “I think I’d be lousy company.”

“You’d be surprised what a decent dinner and a good wine can do for your

mood.” Natalie stood, reaching for Dev’s sample case as Dev collected the rest

of her gear. “There’s a nice little restaurant on the lake about ten miles north of

here. Tables outside on a patio. Great view of the sunset.”

Dev was tempted. She didn’t look forward to an evening alone in her cabin with

her thoughts because she couldn’t be certain she could keep her mind off Leslie

Þ fty yards away. She deÞ nitely did not want to have dinner at the lodge.

“Dinner sounds good. There’s one thing you need to know, though.”

“Oh?”

“Besides the fact that I like you, it hasn’t escaped my notice that you’re very

attractive.”

“Good. I’m glad you noticed.” Natalie smiled, and after a quick look over her

shoulder, kissed Dev softly. “As I’ve mentioned, more or less, I happen to think

you’re very attractive too. As in keeping-me-awake-at-night attractive.”

“I’m not sure going there’s a good idea,” Dev said.

“Dinner Þ rst,” Natalie said easily. “After that we’ll see.”

“That okay with you?”

“Yes.” Natalie nodded and ran her Þ ngers up and down Dev’s arm before

stepping away. “It really is. I’ll pick you up in an hour and a half.”

“Okay,” Dev said, taking her at her word. She waved goodbye as Natalie

drove off, then loaded her gear and headed back to Lakeview.

She circled around on the lake path so she could get to her cabin without

passing in front of Leslie’s. She didn’t want to see her again for a while.

Until she had time to get everything back where it belonged, safely locked away

behind the walls she’d constructed.

• 83 •

RADCLY fFE

v

Six hours later, when she and Natalie walked hand in hand down the main path

toward her cabin, Dev was pretty sure she’d succeeded in Þ nding her balance

again. The restaurant had been everything Natalie had promised. The food was

excellent, the view breathtaking, and the weather had cooperated, remaining

warm until well after sundown so that they were able to linger over dinner under

the stars. The evening was still comfortable although cooling, and the moon

nearly full, so she didn’t need the ß ashlight she’d picked up from her truck

when she and Natalie had returned.

As with every other time they’d spent together, it had been easy.

Natalie was easy to talk to. Easy to laugh with. Very easy to look at.

Very easy to kiss, Dev thought as Natalie stopped her with a tug on her hand,

then leaned into her and slid both arms around her neck.

Natalie’s mouth was soft and warm, her tongue a delicate tease along the edge

of Dev’s lips. Her breath was sweet, her body Þ rm in the way of a well-toned

athlete, yielding in the way of a woman. Natalie hummed an appreciative sound

in the back of her throat and tightened her Þ ngers in Dev’s hair. The kiss

ratcheted up a notch and Dev felt a trickle of warning. She eased her head

back.

“We’ll attract bears if we keep this up out here. Come up to the cabin and let

me give you that nightcap I promised.”

Natalie laughed. “We’ll attract something, I suppose. Yes, let’s get more

comfortable.”

Once inside, Dev went to the tiny kitchen and reached into the cabinet over the

sink for the brandy she’d stored there. Natalie’s arms came around her from

behind and she felt the Þ rm press of Natalie’s breasts against her back. For just

a second, she was back on the motorcycle with Leslie behind her. The

memories were coming so hard and so fast in the last few days; she couldn’t

seem to stop them from streaming through her mind. Things she hadn’t thought

of in years felt as if they’d happened yesterday. She shivered.

“Dev?” Natalie stepped back and waited for Dev to turn. She regarded Dev

quizzically. “You just went somewhere, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“I felt it.”

“Sorry.”

• 84 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

“Like I said. Dinner. And after that we’ll see.” Natalie held out her hand for the

brandy. “Let’s go outside and toast the moon.”

“Yeah,” Dev said. “Let’s do that.”

“I probably should’ve asked this before now,” Natalie said as they sat side by

side on the top step of Dev’s porch, “but are you involved with someone?”

“No.”

“On the serious rebound?”

Dev laughed. “Not that either. I don’t get…seriously involved.”

Natalie shifted sideways to look at Dev’s face. “Never?”

“Nope. Just not my thing, I guess. I probably should’ve told you that before

now.”

“I don’t see why,” Natalie said, laughing. “We just had dinner.

That’s not exactly grounds for posting the banns.”

“Still, you should know.”

“What I know,” Natalie said, setting her glass aside, “is that I like you and I like

kissing you. That’s quite a lot for a week.”

“I suppose it is,” Dev murmured as Natalie moved closer. Part of Dev’s mind

yielded to the pull of the moon, and the warm fragrant breeze, and Natalie’s

sweet, hot kisses. But deep inside, she remained remote and untouched. And it

was that part of her that Þ nally pulled away. “You’re hard to resist.”

“Do you want to?” Natalie’s voice was breathy and low.

“Yeah. I think I better.”

“I can think of a million arguments against that,” Natalie said, caressing the back

of Dev’s neck. “Some of them, you might even buy. But”—she kissed Dev’s

cheek—“it’s a long summer. Wanna walk me back to my car, or should I have

another brandy and sleep on the couch?”

“Is that a trick question?”

Natalie laughed.

v

Leslie knew she should go inside. It was chilling fast, and even the blanket she’d

pulled around herself when she curled up in the porch chair wasn’t keeping her

warm. After parting with Dev in the parking lot that morning, she’d used the

wireless connection at the lodge to download work from the ofÞ ce, and she’d

kept busy for the rest of

• 85 •

RADCLY fFE

the day and evening. She’d worked straight through dinner and Þ nally relaxed

with a bottle of wine out on her porch. Dev’s cabin had been dark until after

eleven, when the lights came on. A few minutes later she caught the murmur of

conversation, although she couldn’t hear any words. However, she could make

out the unmistakable sound of feminine laughter.

She told herself that she was glad Dev had company and that she was feeling

better. She meant it, too, at least part of it. When she heard the quiet thump of a

door closing and the voices disappeared, she Þ nally dragged herself inside in

search of sleep. Lying alone in the dark, images that she’d thought long ago

expunged returned to haunt her.

Half dragging Mike back to the boathouse while he raged and accused and she

denied and pleaded. The ß eeting glimpse of Dev staggering to her bike and

careening from the parking lot. The look of broken despair on Dev’s face.

Leslie closed her eyes tightly as the frantic ß uttering in her chest stole what

remained of her breath. Grief and guilt felt so much the same, she could no

longer tell them apart.

• 86 •

WHEN DREAMS TREMBLE

CHAPTER TEN

Natalie was a light sleeper and the quiet movements across the room woke her.

She turned on her side beneath the cotton blanket and watched Dev making

coffee. She could have told her she was awake, but she was enjoying the

opportunity to observe her. Dev wore a T-shirt that had seen better days—hell,

better years—and a pair of faded plaid boxers. She was barefoot, and muscles

rippled in her arms and thighs as she stretched and reached into cabinets. Her

hair was wet from the shower and a shade darker than usual, slicked back

behind her ears and curling in small tendrils over the back of her neck. Those

delicate strands gave Dev an unexpectedly vulnerable look, and Natalie felt a

dangerous stirring in her heart. The stirring in her loins that the sight of Dev

always elicited didn’t bother her. Lust was a familiar and not unwelcome

sensation. It assured her that her heart was beating and that all systems were

functioning. If she’d looked at Devon Weber and felt nothing, she’d have been

worried.

However, what she did not want was to look at Dev and feel that little twisty

sensation in the pit of her stomach and the tightening in the center of her chest

that spoke not of lust, but longing. Especially not with the signals that Dev had

been sending, which were not so much mixed as cloudy. Natalie sensed Dev’s

attraction and her desire, but something held her back. Something that she was

willing to bet Dev wanted very much but couldn’t, or wouldn’t, admit.

I don’t get seriously involved, Dev had said.

Maybe not now, but once she had. Natalie was certain of that.

Somewhere, sometime, there had been a woman who had mattered.

And whoever she had been, she’d left indelible marks.

• 87 •

RADCLY fFE

There were other marks too. Ones she hadn’t expected. A series of scars

crisscrossed Dev’s right thigh below her boxers, twisting as far down as her

knee. The pale white rivulets were faded reminders of some distant injury, and

Natalie ached to think of what might have caused them. She caught back a

murmur of sympathy.

Dev turned and smiled. “Hey. Good morning. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake

you.”

Smiling back, Natalie consigned whatever history lay beneath those scars to the

past. Dev was here now and looking very sexy.

Natalie extended her arms over her head, arched her back, and stretched

beneath the blanket with a contented purr. She was naked, and she could tell

from the ß icker of Dev’s eyes down the length of her body and quickly back up

to her face that the thin covering didn’t do a whole lot to camouß age her shape.

“No problem. You’re a nice sight to wake up to.”

“Can I tempt you with coffee?”

“You can tempt me with just about anything.”

Dev laughed. “I trust the couch and the brandy left no ill effects?”