If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

a problem?”
    Shit
.
    Law sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “No. I just … no. Edgy. Pissed. Distracted.”
    “Grouchy?” she offered, helpfully.
    He grunted. “I’m going to go shower, get some work done. You do whatever you feel like messing with.”
    “Hmmm.” Hope had already shifted her attention to the stack of work in front of her. He barely knew what it was. He knew what she
did
—in theory. He’d done it for years, but ever since she’d taken over all the choresthat went along with writing, his life had gotten a lot easier. She’d streamlined the process and he didn’t even have to think about a lot of it anymore.
    He was already dreading the day he lost her, and he was so worried it would happen—would Remy want her to quit? Not that it made any sense or anything, but still. And it was easier to think about that than the other shit crowding his mind.
    Like Nia—the rain check.
    Fuck.
    He’d made up his mind yesterday he wasn’t thinking about her. Wasn’t going to go down that road right now. No. Not right now, because until he had some sort of handle on what he was feeling, how he was going to deal with it, the last thing he needed to do was think about her—especially when he was this on edge.
    Because he was all too likely to storm back to the hotel and finish what they hadn’t been able to finish. Damn it all. There came a point in time when cold showers, perseverance, and even a little old-fashioned self-service just didn’t do the trick.
    Law was well past that point.
    The nightmare came.
    In the pretty little cabin, in a bed far softer than anything a budget hotel, even a nice, privately owned budget hotel could provide, the nightmare found her.
    Trapped in the woods.
    Nia ran … but she was no longer Nia. She thought perhaps she was Joely.
    But she wasn’t sure. She only knew she was afraid. And desperate. So desperate. Desperate to live. Desperate to escape the nightmare that chased her. Desperate to escape that evil.
    He laughed. He mocked her.
    Pain tore through her.
    Shuddering, biting, clawing—it flooded and surrounded, encompassing her entire being.
    But worse than the pain was the fear. And the knowledge.
    She wouldn’t live through this.
    She knew. He would kill her.
    “Fuck …”
    Nia jerked upright, all but sobbing for breath.
    Tears burned her eyes and she fought free of the blankets. A cold sweat left her chilled, left her aching, left her burning. She could almost feel the sting of the branches on her flesh, smacking into her as she ran headlong through the woods.
    Shit, shit, shit, shit
.
    Scrubbing her hands over her eyes, Nia swallowed the knot in her throat, tried to brush it off. A dream. Just a dream. Nothing more.
    Determined to shrug it off, and knowing that she’d never sleep, Nia made her way to the dresser where she’d stored her meager supply of clothes. There sure as hell wasn’t much to choose from, but she had what she needed—including workout clothes.
    What she needed right now was a hard, driving run—something that would exhaust her and wipe that dream from her mind.
    With that in mind, she changed. It took her less than five minutes to hit the door. She was halfway down the cobbled sidewalk that wrapped around the property when she ran into Roz—her temporary landlady.
    Roz gave her a smile. “Wow. You’re an early riser.”
    “Can’t sleep,” Nia replied, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. “Was going to try a run, see if it cleared my head.”
    “Running to clear the head? Oh, honey … just try coffee. Lots of it.” She stood up, brushing the dirt fromher knees and stretching her back. “Early mornings aren’t meant for exercise.”
    “Well, I’d rather run than garden.” Nia glanced at the tools spread around the other woman.
    Roz laughed, stripping her gloves off. She tossed them down on the little green bench—it was a strange looking contraption, Nia thought, but what did she know?
    “Gardening isn’t so bad, once you get it going.” Absently, she toyed with her necklace and shrugged. “It’s just the getting it going that’s a pain.”
    “And the weeding. Fertilizing … whatever you have to do.” Nia made a face. “No, thanks.” She gestured toward the main road and said, “You figure the road’s okay for my run?”
    “Should be, especially this early. We’ve got other crazy people who like to run and most of the people around here are courteous enough drivers.” She