| She heaved a deep breath. Damn, she needed to get back to work. Kat returned
to her spreadsheet. She felt the pressure behind her eyes. Tiredness flirted with
her body, warning that she’d gone too hard, too fast, for too many days.
She’d worked overtime during the holidays for several years now and avoided
holiday parties like the plague.
One person she could count on for the holidays was her friend Christabel. But
she’d taken off over a week ago for a bus tour through the Central American
country of Puerto Azul. Kat had resigned herself to a quiet holiday season, and
when Christabel came back before New Year’s Eve, they planned to get together.
Worry made her pause with her fingers above the keys. Christabel had promised
to call her yesterday but hadn’t. When she’d expressed her concern
to her boss, Lanny, he’d told her not to worry. No doubt Christabel was
having so much fun she forgot to call. She’d probably phone later tonight
to say Merry Christmas.
Brushing aside worry about Christabel, her mind popped back to the delectable
Boone. Why did she have such an obsession with the man? It couldn’t be because
the man was too damned sexy for words. No, he had other qualities that she liked.
Integrity. Intelligence. A sense of humor even if he couldn’t tell a good
joke. Kat sighed and saved the half-finished work. She’d never complete
this project if she didn’t stop thinking about Boone.
A huge yawn cracked her jaw.
Numbers ran through her head in a scramble as she entered more data into the
spreadsheet. Another yawn caused an annoying squeak to leave her throat. Tears
caused by the yawn blurred her vision. She leaned back against the executive-style
chair, appreciative of the high back. After one more jaw-stretching yawn, she
closed her eyes.
A second later, a fantasy passed through her mind. A very vivid, descriptive,
inappropriate for the workplace, delight. The world started to fade. Even sounds
muted. Keystrokes on computers, phones ringing, footsteps in the hall, the scent
of freshly brewed coffee, the heater spewing warm air from the vent above her
desk. All faded away in the face of her daydream.
Boone sauntered into her office in slow motion, his handsome mouth tilted in
sardonic appreciation. His dark blond hair fell straight around his face to about
chin level and reminded her of a disreputable pirate. His blue eyes twinkled with
a secret, his day old growth of beard providing a thoroughly roguish appearance.
He wore a black leather jacket, blue denim long-sleeved shirt and black jeans
that curved over his narrow waist, hips and muscular legs. His hiking boots gave
him that “I’m a country boy” fashion statement that cemented
the fantasy. Why, oh why, did she find him so gorgeous? Her heart tripped over
as he planted his big hands on her desk and leaned forward.
“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
She jolted awake.
Standing right in front of her, hands planted on the desk, was Boone.
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