Her gaze lingered on the healing crystal. She thought of all the bad things that had been generated by the Desert Oasis Healing Center.
And the one good thing that came out of it.
Max Conroy.
CHAPTER 9
When Brayden got to Le Bar this evening,
Going out with her friends was supposed to be fun.
He was strange. Good-looking—really good-looking—but he was way too familiar. The way some guys are, you know the type. But this was different.
He scared her. And Brayden did not scare easily.
Her instincts were good, and alarm bells were going off.
He was a handsome guy, really, but his grin was crooked with just a hint of his teeth, little teeth. Just thinking about it sent shivers up her spine.
And he leaned too close.
Two days ago, they’d perched on stools by the long bar near the dance floor, a place that funneled the cute guys through. The place was just a zoo, tons of people. Brayden was with her two friends from college and work, Melinda and Daffy (they called Daphne Daffy because she kind of was.) Brayden had been divorced for five months, and it was nice to get back out again in public. Nice to flirt a little.
Frankly, it would be nice to sleep with someone again, without having to share the rest of her life with them. After Justin she could go without marriage for the rest of her life.
But this guy, Steve, bothered her. It was almost as if he’d targeted her. She knew that Melinda and Daffy were hotter than she was. And better at flirting, too, because they hadn’t been out of commission for seven years. So why didn’t he go after Daffy, who was slim and stunning and had boobs to die for?
(They were fake.)
When he’d first stared at her across the bar, she couldn’t believe it. He was absolutely gorgeous. Only when he came over to talk to her did she feel uneasy.
Really, like he was targeting her. Like a predator who wanted to eat her.
That creepy smile of his.
But it wasn’t just that.
He gave her the impression he’d studied up on her. He had a familiarity with her family—at least that was how it sounded. He didn’t come right out and talk about her little girl, or her ex, or her family, or what she did. But she got the idea from context that he knew stuff.
When he went off to the bathroom, she decided to grab her purse, pay her part of the tab, and get out.
The next day, he’d called her.
Mel had given him her number.
Brayden made some excuse, managed to get off the phone.
When Mel and Daffy wanted to get together tonight, she’d thought about saying no. But they were going someplace else, way on the other side of town, and while Tucson wasn’t a big city, it had plenty of bars.
When she got there, he was sitting with them.
She was about to turn around and walk out when Mel saw her and waved.
His back was to her—he hadn’t seen her. Brayden ignored Mel’s waving and slipped into the crowd—so many people at the bar tonight—and worked her way through and out the door. Out into the cool night, the moon riding high in the sky.
Walked briskly to her car.
“Hey, Brayden!”
She kept walking. Only fifty yards or so and she would be there.
She heard his footsteps quicken.
“Hey,” he said, grabbing her arm. “What’s the hurry?”
“I have to get home.”
He got up close to her. Infringing on her space, his face looming over hers. “What’s the matter? You seem spooked.”
He looked puzzled, but Brayden knew his puzzlement was a fake. Like everything else about him.
“I have to go.” She dug into her purse for the alarm remote. What if he accosted her here in the parking lot?
She heard him jog a couple of steps to keep up with her. His breath on her neck as he touched her arm again.
She said, “Look. I have a boyfriend—”
“No you don’t.” He grinned his crooked grin, his face close. “Don’t you want to know where I saw you?”
“What?”
“Where I saw you.”
She shook her head. “I’ve got to go.”
“Atlanta. Ring any bells?”
Her heart seized up for a second. “That wasn’t me. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay,” he said. “I wasn’t there. Maybe it wasn’t you, but you know what I’m talking about.” He leaned in close to her. “We have a lot to talk about.”
She managed to pull away. Fumbled at the remote button, unlocked the car.
As she slid onto the seat he rested his arm on the roof. “We really should talk.”
She turned the key to the ignition but it didn’t seem to catch so she turned it again—the grinding clash of gears shrieked across her nerves. But the engine was running. She put the car in gear and it lurched forward. Barkman stepped back.
Brayden floored it, and watched him in the rearview mirror.
He was laughing.
CHAPTER 10
Tess at home: Feed the cat. Decide what to eat for dinner. Watch the sun set from her porch swing, watch the lights wink on in the house across the way.
Before she figured out which frozen dinner to heat up in the microwave, the phone rang.
She knew it was him even before she saw the readout.
Max said, “I miss
“I miss you.”
“I miss you more.”
Tess said, “God, we’re annoying.”
“We should live in the same place,” Max said. “Then we wouldn’t be annoying.”
“You can move in with me. You want me to call the moving van company?”
“Sure. Can you put up the cast and crew?”
Tess looked around. The living room to her rented house was small, and the kitchen was smaller. “It’ll be tight. We’d have to stack them like cordwood.”
“They’re used to it. The orgies.”
“I forgot.”
“How can you forget? Hosting orgies—it’s one of my best assets.”
“I thought your strong chin was your best asset.”
“Nah, it’s gotta be the orgies. Unless it’s my entourage.”
“You have an entourage?”
“Okay. I don’t have an entourage. I’m down to one lonely, dorky guy—all I’ve got is my sidekick.”
Tess smiled. By now she’d seen most of his movies. Max’s characters
