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“Both the physical and wartime action between the comrades ramp up the excitement in this UNIFORMLY HOT! tale.”
—RT Book Reviews on Coming Up for Air
“A quick pace and easy chemistry make for an engaging read, starring a couple readers will root for.”
—RT Book Reviews on No Going Back
“Sexy characters that you just can’t help but fall in love with!”
—Night Owl Reviews on Devil in Dress Blues
“The romance is intense and sure to please.”
—RT Book Reviews on Hot-Blooded
“Wonderful, sexy characters and an exciting, innovative story make this a winner! 4½ Stars, Top Pick”
—RT Book Reviews on Flyboy
Dear Reader,
I’ve always been fascinated by stories about coal miners. Maybe it’s because my great-grandfather lost his dad and his four brothers in a coal-mining disaster. Or maybe it’s because I’m constantly amazed by the coal miner’s indomitable spirit, courage and resilience. And—I’ll admit it—there’s something incredibly sexy about a guy who’s not afraid to get dirty.
Like my heroine, I’m a little claustrophobic and afraid of the dark, so I’m truly in awe of the men and women who willingly descend hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface every day, away from the sunlight, in order to support their families. When I decided to write a story about a coal miner, I knew he had to have that same strength and heroic spirit.
Cole Mackinnon is a true hero, willing to put his job, his reputation and his heart on the line for what he believes in. And he believes in Lacey Delaney, the brilliant design engineer who is determined to push him to his breaking point. She’s spent most of her life trying to conquer her own fears, but it’s not until she meets Cole that she realizes some of the best things happen in the dark …
I hope you enjoy Cole and Lacey’s story!
Happy reading,
Karen Foley
About the Author
KAREN FOLEY is an incurable romantic. When she’s not working for the Department of Defense, she’s writing sexy romances with strong heroes and happy endings. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters, an overgrown puppy and two very spoiled cats. Karen enjoys hearing from her readers. You can find out more about her by visiting www.karenefoley. com.
A Kiss in the Dark
Karen Foley
This book is dedicated to my amazing mother.
1
MORE THAN ANYTHING, Lacey Delaney hated the dark—of being alone in the dark. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but at twenty-seven years old, she still slept with a bedside light on. It didn’t always keep the nightmares at bay, but at least when she woke up, panicked and gasping for breath, she wasn’t engulfed in utter blackness. Even now, sitting in the relative safety of her car, she had only to close her eyes to envision her father buried alive in a coal mining disaster so horrific that his body had never been recovered.
Maybe her friend, Julia, was right and she should just find herself a man to keep her so pleasurably occupied at night that she’d be too sated and tired to dream. Unfortunately, both her job as a design engineer for StarPoint Technologies and her overprotective mother kept her too busy to meet many eligible men. Katherine Delaney gave a whole new meaning to the term helicopter parent. She didn’t just hover; she flew fully armed, ready to obliterate any obstacles in Lacey’s path, or to extract her from any danger.
Now here she was … alone, broken down in the middle of nowhere, with darkness pressing in on all sides. If her mother could see her now, she’d have a complete fit. The thought made Lacey smile. Her mother hadn’t wanted Lacey to travel to Kentucky; had urged her to give the assignment to somebody else. Of course, the more her mother insisted that Lacey stay home, the more determined she was to go. Sometimes it felt as if the entire course of her life had been dictated by her mother’s belief that something would happen to Lacey if she wasn’t there to protect her.
Lacey understood the genesis of her mother’s anxiety. She’d been just eight years old when her father was killed, and her mother lived in fear that something terrible would happen to Lacey, too. That worry hadn’t diminished as Lacey grew older; if anything, it had ballooned into an irrational need to cocoon her against all dangers, real or perceived. And for a long time, Lacey had allowed it. But what had once seemed like parental concern for her welfare now felt like micromanagement of her life. More and more, Lacey found herself resenting her mother’s intrusive habits.
She loved her mom, but she wanted to be free, to experience life, and all its pitfalls, on her own terms. She wanted to be taken seriously, and not viewed as someone who needed to be taken care of. Unfortunately, her small stature seemed to bring out a protective instinct in those she worked with, and Lacey was getting a little tired of insisting that she could do things on her own. So when StarPoint Technologies had offered the opportunity to field-test STAR, the new Subterranean Advanced Receiver unit that would become the latest technology in NASA’s arsenal of global positioning systems, Lacey had jumped at it.
Her boss had been skeptical, since Lacey’s experience was limited to the design lab. She had never before ventured into the field. But Lacey knew if she wanted to be respected as an engineer and a scientist, she needed to be familiar with all aspects of the job, including fieldwork. She just hadn’t been prepared for how remote this particular field assignment would be.
The parking lot of the diner, where a short time ago she’d halfheartedly picked at a plate of meatloaf, was completely dark except for one light pole near the entrance. She’d been unable to pick up a signal on her cell phone, and was grateful that the owner of the diner had at least called for a tow truck before he’d snapped off the lights and locked the door, assuring her she’d be fine until Sully—the tow truck driver, she presumed—arrived.
Sighing, she sat behind the wheel of her rental car and left the door open for whatever small breeze might happen by. God, it was hot. Of course, New England could get sticky in the summer as well, but it was only early June and already Kentucky sweltered with heat.
Resting her head against the seat back, Lacey listened to the night bugs in the surrounding trees and watched the tiny blinking lights of the seemingly hundreds of fireflies. Generally, the heat didn’t bother her, but tonight was different. Tonight she would have to return to the pathetic little motel she had checked into earlier that evening, knowing she wouldn’t sleep a wink. She wasn’t a snob by nature, but the only other patrons she had seen were several itinerant coal miners who had been well on their way to getting completely drunk. Knowing a slim length of chain was all that prevented one of them from entering her room would ensure she slept with her clothes on. And to top it off, the room would be about a million degrees since the air-conditioning didn’t work.
Her small carry-on bag sat on the passenger seat beside her, and now she dug through the contents, pulling out an emergency pair of panties and bra—courtesy of her mom, just in case the airline lost her luggage—and an eReader as she hunted for the bottled water she had stashed there earlier. Blowing a strand of hair from her face, she took a long swallow of the water and decided it would only be for one night. Tomorrow, she would meet with Sheriff Hathaway, her point of contact while she was in Black Stone Gap, and ask him to recommend