Thirteen Hours Read Online Free PDF Page A

“I’m a little high stress sometimes.”
    To her credit, Laurel didn’t take that comment and run with it.
    “This is exactly why you need a Friday night off,” she said.
    Dana let the comment pass without argument. “Though preferably not inside a seven-foot by seven-foot space.”
    “True.” Laurel raked her fingers through Dana’s hair, scratching lightly across her scalp. The other hand continued to knead her lower back, no longer massaging as much as tracing distracted patterns.
    “How’s your head now?”
    Swimming. Dana resisted the urge to purr. She felt like a pile of jelly. “Maybe a little better.”
    “I can feel you starting to relax. See, it’s not so bad just letting go of your tension. Everyone needs that.”
    Laurel had no idea just how badly she needed it. “Um, do you think you could keep going for a minute?”
    “Oh, so you really like this?” Laurel’s voice was warm. She kneaded Dana’s lower back with renewed intensity.
    Forgetting her pain completely, Dana struggled not to orgasm right then and there. “It’s definitely…helping.”
    “Anything to help.”
    Laurel’s hands were made of magic. Dana was so grateful for the quick relief of her pain and the pleasure of the massage that she didn’t try to censor her words. “It feels so good to be touched.”
    She realized what she’d said, and how pathetic it sounded, when Laurel’s fingers faltered for a moment. Dana shifted, so she could sit up, but Laurel pressed a hand against the middle of her spine, holding her in place.
    “Don’t leave,” she said. “I’m enjoying this as much as you are. Takes my mind off being stuck in such a small space. Plus, I kind of like feeling as if I’m more than just a pain in your ass.”
    “Oh, you’ve always been more than just a pain in my ass,” Dana mumbled. “A thorn in my side, a cramp in my style, a—”
    “A song in your heart,” Laurel interrupted. “Don’t try and deny it. I’m a light in your life.”
    “Okay, so you’re right,” Dana said. “You’re a diamond in my rough.”
    Laurel made a small, disapproving sound.
    “No?” Dana looked up into Laurel’s face, which loomed over hers.
    “No. We were on a roll, but—”
    “I ruined it, huh?”
    They traded goofy grins.
    “You know”—Dana broke their eye contact—”I’m feeling a lot better.”
    “I fixed you?” Laurel’s sunny smile made her look young and impossibly pretty.
    “I guess you did.” Dana felt sheepish about their continued contact, hyperaware of the weight and warmth of Laurel’s hand resting on her stomach. Now that her headache had passed, her bad case of nerves returned. Stiffening, she said, “I guess I should sit up now.”
    “If you insist.”
    Dana mourned the loss of those fingers from her hair, but gave Laurel a nonchalant grin that belied her inner turmoil. She settled against the wall, her shoulder brushing Laurel’s. She rather enjoyed the warm infusion of heat where their bodies touched. Greedily, she didn’t want to give up this innocent contact.
    “Do you want me to get back on my own side now?” Laurel asked without enthusiasm.
    “Nah.” Dana managed an absent shrug, hoping like hell that Laurel couldn’t hear her heart beating. “You can stay here, if you want.”
    “It is less lonely next to you. And not nearly so cold.”
    A manic giggle tickled the back of Dana’s throat as Laurel leaned into her. This was flirting, wasn’t it? She enjoyed the thought for a beat, then remembered something that wiped the giddy amusement away in an instant. Shit. I have no fucking idea how to flirt. In grand Dana Watts style, she managed a heavy-handed response that was nothing at all like what she really wanted to say. “Are you coming on to me?”
    Laurel blinked rapidly. “Of course not. You’re not a lesbian, remember?”
    Oh, yeah. Summoning the courage, Dana asked something she suddenly needed to know. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
    Laurel gave her a shy