Love Songs Read Online Free PDF Page A

initiative to steal another kiss.
    Alanna was powerless against the drive stirring within her. Her usual manner was neither coy nor hesitant. She had always been honest with herself. When she wanted something, she went after it. And, at that moment, she wanted to kiss Alex Knight, to push that budding passion even further. Eagerly she leaned closer, her slender body as pliant against his manly lines as layers of raw silk draped across a bronze statue. Her lips parted in search of his, reaching, playing only until she felt his ragged gasp, then, forgetting play, moving in nearer, deeper, harder.
    Neither Alex nor Alanna was aware of the door opening not far from them. A throat cleared. “Excuse me.…” A forced cough. “Ah … Mr. Knight … excuse me … Ms. Evans…”
    Alanna wasn’t quite sure when she finally recognized the presence of a third person. Alex, however, recovered sooner. Though his arms held her still, he raised his head.
    “Yes, Sylvia?” he asked thickly.
    Sylvia Frazier cleared her throat once more before speaking in a stage whisper which carried a hint of chiding. “Dr. Henderson is waiting to see Ms. Evans. I saw you two get off the elevator. I really think—”
    “Thank you for the reminder, Sylvia.” Alex didn’t turn. His gray eyes glittered into Alanna’s with a pointed message and, slowly, she grasped reality. She felt the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the pounding of blood through her veins, the eerie weakness in her legs. But there was, still, that last part of the bet.…
    Straightening, she took a deep breath. “I’m coming now, Ms. Frazier. Please tell Dr. Henderson that I’ll be right along.” As Alanna gently extricated herself from Alex’s arms the nurse diplomatically disappeared, her job done. But Alex’s strong hand stayed Alanna before she, too, could return to the floor.
    “You lose, you know,” he grinned mischievously. “If Sylvia hadn’t come along just then you wouldn’t have left.” He paused, his nearness continuing to affect her. As she looked up at him his gaze grew enigmatic. “Would you?”
    A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she lifted her golden head a bit higher. While she refused to admit defeat, she could not lie. “We’ll never know, will we?”
    But the sureness of Alex’s answer made a mockery of her smugness. “Oh, we’ll know. And you can bet on that! ”
    With a hard swallow, Alanna turned and left.

 
     
    2
    Ellen Henderson was the antithesis of the ivory-tower psychologist. She was young, perhaps a year or two older than Alanna. She was attractive, tall and dark-haired, and dressed in a casual wool shirt-dress and high-heeled pumps. She was warm, compassionate and extremely goal-oriented. Alanna felt an instant rapport with her.
    “I’m thrilled that you’ve agreed to be part of the study.” She welcomed Alanna with a sincere smile, as the latter took the chair offered by her desk.
    Alanna spoke honestly. “ I’m glad that you may be able to help me. It’s a frustrating problem.”
    “Of course it is! Hopefully, through your participation in the study, we’ll all sleep better. It’s just a beginning … as is so much of work done in sleep labs such as this.”
    “Can you tell me something, in general, about the study?” Alanna asked, recalling that Alex Knight knew that much more than she did.
    Ellen grinned her understanding. “Sure. Let me explain, first off, that there are many different types of sleep problems. The three major ones affecting adults are narcolepsy, sleep apnea and insomnia. The narcoleptic may sleep well at night but falls into helpless sleep-stupors at odd points during the day, often in the midst of crucial activities. A victim of sleep apnea actually stops breathing up to four hundred times in the course of the night; only his body reflexes jolt him back to life. Needless to say, his sleep is constantly disturbed. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is an early form of this. Then,”