Page 36

Who’s coming in the front door? Brewser and I exclusively use the back, and the front door is always locked even though everyone in town knows the back door lock hasn’t worked in thirty years.

But that is definitely the sound of a key in that lock.

Feeling stupid even as I do it, I duck around the corner just as the front door swings in.

And I hear humming. Humming in a distinctly feminine voice.

It’s her.

It’s my stalker. It has to be. Who else would it be? The only other women who come to the house are Patty and Muriel. And they don’t use the front door. And they don’t hum.

This is it. My chance.

I hear footsteps approaching and look around quickly, trying to decide where to hide.

I find myself throwing myself at the pantry door. I pull it open and slip inside just as the humming gets louder, and the floorboard just past the threshold of the kitchen creaks.

My heart kicks hard against my rib cage as I peek through the crack in the door.

And then my heart turns all the way over in my chest, causing a dizzying rush of blood to my brain.

Before I think better of it, I push back through the door.

“Sutton?”

She lets out a loud scream that makes my stomach knot even though I know why she’s scared and it’s completely her own fault. There is just something about this woman’s distress that calls to me on a primal level.

I shake it off, though, as I stomp out into the kitchen. “It’s you? Really?”

I’m thrilled.

I don’t sound thrilled. I realize that. That’s adrenaline. It's shock too, because even though a part of me wanted this, I had clearly convinced my subconscious that there was no way this was possible.

And there is a healthy dose of lust.

I won’t lie to myself about that.

She’s dressed in a scoop-neck dress in a denim blue color that hits her at mid-thigh, and brown ankle boots. She’s got a yellow sweater over the dress, even though it is a very pleasant seventy-something outside.

And that little angel necklace winks at me from where it rests against the notch at the base of her throat.

Her hair falls to her shoulders in soft waves, and her blue eyes are huge right now as she stares at me.

She looks sweet, gorgeous, and guilty as hell.

The lust is obviously from my physical attraction, but also from the idea that this sweetheart has been sneaking around and hiding this from everyone.

I didn’t know she had it in her.

And part of me freaking likes it, even if I’m one of the people she’s been keeping it from.

“Lawson!” she finally gasps. “You scared the hell out of me!”

“You’re sneaking around my house,” I point out.

“I am not sneaking. And you’re the one who was hiding in the pantry.”

“Someone was coming into the house unexpectedly. I…got scared.”