wasn't one of them. Her heart gave a treacherous leap in her chest. Mark? Was Mark coming out to check on her? Could he possibly care that much about her safety? No, she'd only seen him drive a truck too, so it wasn't him either.
Dear God. As the vehicle drew closer, she recognized it. The boxy shape gave it away. It was a dark blue Mercedes sedan, and a familiar broad-shouldered blonde was at the wheel. Oh, crap. It was Karl. She backed away from the window and covered her mouth in shock. Scrambling, she reached for the light switch, but turning it off wouldn't do much good considering every light in the house was already on. It was an old real estate trick, but nothing made a house look more unwelcome than dark windows, so she'd foolishly had the electricity turned on and every fi xture in the place was ablaze.
Even if she could somehow turn off all the lights, her car was still sitting outside, directly in front of the grand entryway. She couldn't pretend not to be here, could she? Would he recognize her vehicle? Probably. Stalker-Karl probably had memorized the plate number. It was too late. She couldn't cower in the dark, as much as she'd like to, so she turned the library light back on, but backed away from the window and into the hall so her locatio n wouldn't be quite so obvious.
What the hell was he doing here? Had she been dumb enough to tell him where she was going? She thought back. Yes, she'd said Old Carriage Lane when she'd been trying to get rid of him earlier. She'd wanted to express how far she needed to drive that evening, but instead she'd given away her destinati on. What had she been thinking?
She'd been thinking he was a nice, normal guy. So much for that theory. Normal guys didn't follow women out to isolated locations unless they thought something dirty was going to happen, did they? Was that it? Did he think she'd invited him? Had she sent out that signal? She sincerely hoped not because the last thing she wanted was some kind of romant ic tryst with this weirdo.
She snatched up her phone again, and looked at the keypad. Who should she call exactly? Jack would come, but he'd lecture her for sure. Also, he was probably doing something sweaty with Lacey right now and would not be happy to be interrupted. Besides, it would take him at least forty minutes to get out here. Karl could do a lot of unpleasant things to her in forty minutes.
She could call the police but what could she tell them exactly? As a realtor it was her job to meet with clients. Karl could just say they had an appointment and it would be his word against hers. No, the police were out. At least until Karl actually did something really threatening.
Maybe he thought this was romantic, showing up unannounced like this. She supposed it was possible. Perhaps she was just being paranoid. Damn that Mark for planting the seed of doubt in her head regarding Karl and his creepiness factor. It suddenly seemed much more likely that he was finally making his move. Instead of being surprised and delighted, she was getting ready to call the police on him. Talk about overreacting. Karl was harmless, just misguided in his wooing techniques. She really needed to stop watching scary movies.
Feeling a bit better, but still unwilling to take a chance with her personal safety, Serena grabbed her briefcase and sprinted for the front door as quickly as her pumps would allow. She needed to get to her car before Karl arrived. Not even bothering to turn off the lights or lock the front door, she darted out into the night and reached her vehicle just as Karl pulled in right behind her bumper, efficiently blocking her exit.
Shit, she thought to herself as she unlocked her car door with the key fob. Hoping to confuse him, she waved merrily before yanking her door open and sliding behind the wheel. She locked the doors immediately and looked into the rearview mirror, but the lights of Karl's Mercedes were incredibly bright, so she couldn 't decipher what he
Dear God. As the vehicle drew closer, she recognized it. The boxy shape gave it away. It was a dark blue Mercedes sedan, and a familiar broad-shouldered blonde was at the wheel. Oh, crap. It was Karl. She backed away from the window and covered her mouth in shock. Scrambling, she reached for the light switch, but turning it off wouldn't do much good considering every light in the house was already on. It was an old real estate trick, but nothing made a house look more unwelcome than dark windows, so she'd foolishly had the electricity turned on and every fi xture in the place was ablaze.
Even if she could somehow turn off all the lights, her car was still sitting outside, directly in front of the grand entryway. She couldn't pretend not to be here, could she? Would he recognize her vehicle? Probably. Stalker-Karl probably had memorized the plate number. It was too late. She couldn't cower in the dark, as much as she'd like to, so she turned the library light back on, but backed away from the window and into the hall so her locatio n wouldn't be quite so obvious.
What the hell was he doing here? Had she been dumb enough to tell him where she was going? She thought back. Yes, she'd said Old Carriage Lane when she'd been trying to get rid of him earlier. She'd wanted to express how far she needed to drive that evening, but instead she'd given away her destinati on. What had she been thinking?
She'd been thinking he was a nice, normal guy. So much for that theory. Normal guys didn't follow women out to isolated locations unless they thought something dirty was going to happen, did they? Was that it? Did he think she'd invited him? Had she sent out that signal? She sincerely hoped not because the last thing she wanted was some kind of romant ic tryst with this weirdo.
She snatched up her phone again, and looked at the keypad. Who should she call exactly? Jack would come, but he'd lecture her for sure. Also, he was probably doing something sweaty with Lacey right now and would not be happy to be interrupted. Besides, it would take him at least forty minutes to get out here. Karl could do a lot of unpleasant things to her in forty minutes.
She could call the police but what could she tell them exactly? As a realtor it was her job to meet with clients. Karl could just say they had an appointment and it would be his word against hers. No, the police were out. At least until Karl actually did something really threatening.
Maybe he thought this was romantic, showing up unannounced like this. She supposed it was possible. Perhaps she was just being paranoid. Damn that Mark for planting the seed of doubt in her head regarding Karl and his creepiness factor. It suddenly seemed much more likely that he was finally making his move. Instead of being surprised and delighted, she was getting ready to call the police on him. Talk about overreacting. Karl was harmless, just misguided in his wooing techniques. She really needed to stop watching scary movies.
Feeling a bit better, but still unwilling to take a chance with her personal safety, Serena grabbed her briefcase and sprinted for the front door as quickly as her pumps would allow. She needed to get to her car before Karl arrived. Not even bothering to turn off the lights or lock the front door, she darted out into the night and reached her vehicle just as Karl pulled in right behind her bumper, efficiently blocking her exit.
Shit, she thought to herself as she unlocked her car door with the key fob. Hoping to confuse him, she waved merrily before yanking her door open and sliding behind the wheel. She locked the doors immediately and looked into the rearview mirror, but the lights of Karl's Mercedes were incredibly bright, so she couldn 't decipher what he
Similar Books
