she had never seen a more gorgeous hunk of masculinity in her whole life. Just looking at him made her feel good all over, but there was a vulnerability about him, a kind of innocence, that she found vastly appealing.
She turned off the stove, covered the plate to keep the food warm, and walked down the narrow hallway to the guest room.
The bed was empty and she glanced at the bathroom door, then frowned at the strange blue light glowing in the narrow crack between the bottom of the door and the bedroom rug.
"What the... ?" She stared at the light, closed her eyes, then opened them again.
The peculiar glow was gone.
A moment later, the bathroom door swung open and Micah stepped into the bedroom, a blue-and-pink striped towel wrapped around his waist.
She couldn't help staring at his broad shoulders, the wide expanse of his chest, his long, well-muscled arms and legs. The blood-stained bandage was partly visible above the towel.
Micah stopped in mid-stride when he saw her standing there. Color stained his cheeks as he glanced down at the towel, at Lainey, and at the towel again.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't know you were here..."
"It's all right." She turned her back to him. "Get into bed, Micah. I won't peek."
She heard the rustle of sheets as he crawled under the covers, her imagination running wild. She'd already had a brief glimpse of that magnificent body. It took very little imagination to fill in the rest.
Placing the tray on the bedside table, she examined the wound in his side. Despite her crude medical skill, he seemed to be healing remarkably quickly.
"I'll put a fresh bandage on that after you eat," she said, handing him the tray. "Can I bring you anything else?"
"No, this is fine."
"Well, okay, I'll be back in a little while."
"Stay."
"All right."
She sat down in the rocker, trying not to stare at him while he ate. Even sitting in the bed, he seemed to fill the small guest room with his presence. She glanced at his jaw, wondering why he never needed a shave.
She felt her cheeks blossom with color when he looked at her, his silver-blue eyes filled with warmth and affection.
"Thank you, Lainey," he said, his voice low and a little uneven. "You saved my life."
"I'm glad I was able to help."
"You did more than help. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come when you did."
She nodded, then frowned. "How is it that I can hear your voice in my mind?"
"Simple telepathy."
"Simple! I've never heard voices in my head before... well, I have, the voices of the characters in my books, but not like this. How do you do it?"
Micah shrugged, as if it were of little consequence. "There's a link between us. When I wish to communicate with you, I tie into that link."
"What link? I don't understand."
"I'm not sure I do, either. It's never happened to me before."
"Me, either," she muttered. "What's in that black box?"
She watched his face, saw the varying emotions that flickered in the depths of his eyes. He had never lied to her before, but she knew he was considering it now.
The doorbell rang before he answered. With a sigh of exasperation, she went to see who it was.
"Yes?" Lainey peered through the peephole. Two men, one tall and thin, one short and thin, both dressed in navy-blue suits and ties, stood on the porch; a police officer stood behind them, his brawny arms folded across his chest.
"Miss Lainey St.John?"
"Yes."
"We'd like to talk to you for a few minutes."
She glanced at the cop again. "What about?"
"We'd rather not discuss it out here, if you don't mind."
Lainey stared at the three men, wondering what to do, when she heard Micah's voice in the back of her mind.Let them in .
The police officer took a step forward. "I can get a search warrant, if necessary."
A search warrant! Lainey unlocked the door, unhooked the latch on the screen, and stood back, a shiver of alarm skating down her spine as the three men entered the front room. It didn't occur to her to invite them to sit down.
"What's this all about?"
"I'm Frank Bergen, from SETI," the tall man said. "This is my partner, Edward Falk. We'd like to ask you a few questions."
SETI! She tried to recall what the letters stood for. SETI. She repeated the initials in her mind. Didn't they stand for Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence?
Lainey frowned. Weren't they the people who had been