He bolted upright, peering through the darkness at the intruder. Maybe it was one of those dreams where you thought you were awake, until something too terrible even for reality in the modern-day world happened? He braced himself for the worst. Then the light flipped on and he squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden brilliance. He really should get a shade for that bulb one of those days. It might help his love life too. He had a feeling many women might have something against a 90-watt light bulb hanging directly over a bed. He pried his eyes open again, one after the other, and located the bad dream, pacing back and forth, not even looking at him. Alice. Of course, Alice. His usual nightmare. Who else? What time was it anyway? He grabbed his watch off the nightstand and squinted. Four in the morning. He fell groaning back against the pillow and dragged the sheet up to cover his face. What was she doing here? In his bedroom? At this hour? It was dark outside, for heaven’s sake.
