Page 9 of Unlawful Seduction

“Let’s see. He’s been in town a couple of months maybe. Comes in for supplies every once in a while, but from what I’ve heard, he keeps to himself.” Marjorie glanced in his direction again. I could tell she was interested in him. She couldn’t lie to me.

“That’s what Hank told me. I heard he bought the Ryan place? Up in the mountains somewhere?” I’d gone skiing in the mountains as a teenager, but at that point, there had only been a few remote cabins, all very rustic given the lack of infrastructure.

“Whew. Then he has money,” Jenny threw in.

“How much are we talking?” I sipped my drink, already a tiny bit lightheaded from how strong they were. Or maybe my bloodsugar was just low since I’d eaten few regular meals over the last several weeks. “Not sure I’ve ever been there.”

Jenny snorted. “Try millions. I remember seeing pictures of the place in one of the local magazines. Gorgeous.”

“You don’t remember John Ryan’s place?” Marjorie seemed shocked.

I scrunched up my nose as I tried to remember. “Not really.”

“You lived in that damn city too long. Stunted your brain.” She rolled her eyes.

“Hey, Richmond is a beautiful city in Virginia. Seriously. What’s up with this house? Dad once told me there was a tragedy there, but he didn’t go into detail.”

The two girls looked at each other.

“What?” I asked, half laughing.

Marjorie lowered her voice. “John’s wife killed herself. He supposedly found her hanging from one of the exposed beams.”

“Shit.” I stole another glance over my shoulder. Bad karma.

“It was on the market for almost two years. No one touched it,” Jenny added.

“I can see why. Was it really that nice?” I glanced from one to the other. Given the look they were sharing, they knew more than I did.

Jenny laughed. “This girl has a lot to catch up on. Absolutely incredible. I heard they were asking over three million dollars. No one would touch it. The stigma and all.”

Small towns were famous for that.

I almost choked, forced to grab my cocktail napkin. “Wow. He bought it?”

“Yep. I heard with all cash. Get that.” Marjorie grinned like she used to when the two of us got into so much trouble with boys.

“That’s it then. He’s a drug dealer,” Jenny teased.

“He’d have to be a drug lord to have that kind of cash lying around.”

I glanced at Marjorie then leaned back in my chair once again, daring to take another quick glance.

I’ll be damned if he wasn’t staring at me without moving. There was something unnerving about the way he was looking at me.

That made no sense, but I had no doubt he was looking directly at me. Why?

“Wow. He’s staring at you,” Jenny whispered as if the man was standing right in front of us.

“Yes, he is. I don’t think he liked me very much.”

“What’s not to like?”

“I chastised him for keeping his dog behind closed windows in his truck.”

“Ouch,” both women said at the same time.

“One day maybe you’ll learn. Lucky girl,” Marjorie swooned. “He has that rough and tumble dangerous vibe. And it’s apparent he’s into your caustic mouth.”

---