Damn her for more than her looks, he brooded. If Marcia had only been pretty she wouldn’t affect him so. And he so needed to concentrate on Mrs. Cassandra Lennon. 

Back at his desk and with the damaging paperwork stacked and shuffled repeatedly beneath his hands, Ellison Stewart tried to get a perspective on their problem. Marcia, seated across from his desk, watched with rapt expression as he struggled. He wished she’d go away, wondering if she thought he could conjure up a solution right here and now. She was supposed to be brainstorming with him and hadn’t contributed anything but her distracting presence up till now. 

The only things really going through his head were the high-jinks of that damned cat and the tingle he had felt when Marcia took his arm. And whatever the hell had bit him. But way in the back of his head where he kept all manner of unpleasant thoughts, he was also thinking about losing his job. 

He absolutely had to talk to Cassandra Lennon. 

There was the telephone right in front of his face. 

Well, honest truth and straightforwardness worked with some people. Sometimes. Some people. 

When Ellison reached for the phone Marcia’s scrutiny increased. Was she staring at his hands? Ellison looked at them as Marcia continued to stare. His hands were large and familiar and served him well, but they were just hands. 

“You don’t have a hand fetish, do you?” he asked, startling the girl, happy to postpone the phone call. 

“What?” 

At least that had gotten her eyes refocused and that silly look off her face. He flexed one hand at her, looking grim. 

“A hand fetish,” he repeated. “Like a foot fetish?” It took another moment. “Stop staring at me, will you?” 

To Be Continued…. The Cowboy’s Baby by Gretchen Lee Rix available at amazon.com for Kindle readers and Kindle apps. Copyright 2010. Blog photos by Roxanne Rix 

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK—Shaken by J.A. Konrath.