Small Town Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

pressure of his lips. Her head swam with a sensation, a thrill, as the kissing continued. She reached out to reciprocate his touch. She could see him, all of him. He was erect and beckoning to her with a smile.
    Lauren sat up in bed in a cold sweat, her heart rattling her ribcage. She ran her hands through her damp hair. Her dream had shocked her. “This is ridiculous!” she said out loud. She turned on the light and glanced at her iPhone on the bedside table. It was three in the morning. Totally agitated, she leaped out of the bed and paced a couple of times around the room. “It’s just a dream,” she said, still talking audibly. “Just a dream. Forget about it!” She leaned out the open window and took a deep breath. Slowly, her heart rate returned to normal. Just forget about it, she had told herself, but she couldn’t forget about it. The man in the dream had been Caleb Cochran.

Chapter Three
    L AUREN W AS A WAKE T HE rest of the night. When the dawn finally broke, shrouded in the morning mists of summer, she climbed out of bed. The fog hugged the old house. Lauren could feel the mist on her face through the open window. She slipped out of her pajamas and started to pull on jeans and Charles’s old white shirt she had worn the day before. She hoped Cochran Plumbing and Heating showed up early. She couldn’t face a cold shower. And then she changed her mind. She’d be damned if she would face Caleb Cochran with flat hair and dirty clothes. That was probably why he had tried to get the better of her the day before. Today she would show him just who she was — a taste of sophistication would set him straight!
    The water seemed especially cold, but Lauren steeled herself, letting that cold water clear her head and slough away the memory of last night’s dream. She soaped and rinsed quickly, then washed her hair. By the time she stepped out of the shower, her skin was prickling with goose bumps. Standing in front of the mirror, she dried herself carefully with a towel she had brought. The mirror showed a healthy young woman, prettier than average, with a long graceful neck and shapely legs. Although she was not tall, her figure was proportionate and feminine, round in the right places.
    When Lauren dressed for a night on the town with Charles, it often took her all afternoon to get ready. She would check and re-check her hair, make-up, and clothing to make sure she measured up to the standard she felt was necessary as Charles’s fiancée. Now, as she passed the mirror, she hardly noticed her reflection. Instead, she found herself slipping in and out of a daydream, replaying her conversation of the day before with Caleb. She was remembering those arresting eyes with their subtle green lights.
    In the small bedroom upstairs, she readied herself to face the day, and primarily, Caleb Cochran. She dried her hair, fluffing it with the blow-dryer until it was full and luxuriant. She chose her clothing carefully. She put on her bra and panties, lacy white, decorated with lavender ribbon. Then she pulled on her Dolce & Gabbana skinny leg jeans and pawed through her travel bag for a shirt. It had to be sexy, but properly cool, too. She found it, bringing it triumphantly out and holding it up before her. It was her Nanette Lepore corset-designed sleeveless top. It fit her like a glove, flaring out just slightly over her hips. There was a ruffle around the neckline that dipped just enough to show a bit of cleavage and still appear innocent. The perfect summer weekend top.
    “Ha!” she sniggered as she slipped it on. She looked sweet and more than a little sexy, yet still somehow prim and unapproachable. It was just the look she wanted. Next, she applied her make-up carefully, balancing her mirror on the windowsill where the morning light flooded into the room. She put on small, gold hoop earrings. Lastly, she swept her hair up in a sexily messy twist and secured it with a tortoise shell barrette. She slipped on her gold