She turned away as his head came through the neck of his shirt. “I thought you promised to tell me about that nightmare,” he said, patting his pockets and making his keys jangle. Once assured they were where he wanted them, he reached for his shoes. “Remember it?”

“Yeah.” She felt as if the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees when she recalled the bloody pool riddled with severed heads of the missing girls. “Oh, yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “Not now…maybe later.”

He was putting on a shoe but stopped and looked at her, concern etched on his face. “That bad?”

“Pretty bad.”

His frown deepened as he wiggled one foot into a shoe, then laced it up. “Want me to come to the diner with you?”

She shook her head vehemently. “I’m fine. Really.” She just didn’t want to go there, not now. “I’ll tell you about the nightmare later, okay?”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“If you say so.” He finished with the other shoe, then said to the dog, “Ready to go?”

Bruno emitted an excited woof and turned circles at the door.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’” He winked at Kristi. “So I’ll see ya later.”

She was nodding, expecting him to cruise out the door any second. But he surprised her. He crossed the few feet separating them and grabbed her so quickly she gasped. “Hey—”

“Didn’t think you’d get rid of me that fast, did you?”

“What?”

He kissed her. Hard. His mouth melding over hers, his arms holding her fast against him, his tongue slipping between her teeth. Memories of the night before washed through her brain. It would be so easy to tumble back into bed…. She wound her arms around his neck as he broke off the kiss and touched his forehead to hers. “Don’t forget me.”

“You’re already just a memory,” she teased.

He laughed. “Remember to be careful.” Before she could answer, he released her, and with the dog at his heels walked out of the apartment.

She heard his steps, light and quick, as he descended the staircase. She closed the door, locked it, then, shaking off all thoughts of making love to him, of getting involved with him, of falling in love with him again, she pulled off her oversized T-shirt. She had too much to do to think about the complications of a relationship with Jay McKnight….

Oh, Lord, a relationship? What the devil was she thinking? And the fact that her mind even skimmed the thought of falling in love with him…well, that was just plain nuts. Dropping her T-shirt onto the floor, she stepped out of her pajama bottoms when she felt it again…that silly little notion that she was being watched.

She shivered. There was no one in the apartment and the window shades were drawn. No one could see her. No one.