LITMIR.BIZ

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went quickly, as they always did. Doing work she loved ensured no days ever dragged. She booked two new weddings, finalized the details on another and had a couple of other interested parties.

      All in all, a good day.

      At six o’clock, when Kathleen got ready to go home, Maria decided to leave, too. Her receptionist waited while she locked up, a hundred more questions in her eyes. Maria gave her a quelling look, letting her know she had no intention of answering them.

      “We’re done talking about Ryan Howard,” Maria said when Kathleen opened her mouth. “Seriously. I have no intention of seeing him again.”

      Appearing reluctant, Kathleen nodded. “I can’t say I understand, but I’ll try. I have to say, though, most women would give their right boob for a chance to go out with him.”

      Unlocking her car, Maria smiled. “But then, I’m not most women, am I?” She got inside and closed the door without waiting for an answer. Lifting her hand in a quick wave, she started the engine, loving the throaty roar, and headed for home.

      That white van...

      Giving another quick glance in her rearview mirror, she made an impulsive turn down a side street without signaling.

      The van did the same.

      Concerned, she tried to remember everything she’d heard about what to do when being followed. She knew she couldn’t go home. She had to go somewhere public. The police station on 54th? Or just a crowded gas station or maybe a grocery store. A&M Grocery was only a few streets away. Decision made, she swung around and headed toward 39th.

      Of course, the van kept up.

      A million thoughts ran through her mind. She, along with the few other remaining Drakkor females, had one enemy. Doug Polacek, a male Drakkor rapist and serial killer who’d bragged he was to be the savior of their race. He’d been arrested and locked away. Had he somehow escaped prison? If so, how had he found her? Should she call her father? Though why worry him, when there was nothing he could do from so far away.

      Heart pounding, she calculated what she’d do when she reached the store. Park, jump out, and run inside? Or stay in her car, with the doors locked and the engine running, just in case she needed to take off?

      Based on what she’d heard about Polacek, he was all about capturing and holding a prisoner. So he wouldn’t try to kill her, though she wouldn’t put it past him to shoot a tranquilizer dart or something to immobilize her so he could throw her in the van.

      On second thought, maybe the police station would be the better option, despite having it drilled into her not to involve humans in Shifter business.

      There. Muttering a quick prayer, she swung into the grocery store parking lot and pulled up in front of the store, in a no-parking zone. This would be high visibility and easy escape.

      And here came the van. One foot on the brake, she kept the car in drive, ready for anything.

      Instead of pulling up behind her or alongside her, the van pulled in to one of the empty spots reserved for the disabled. Strange. Still, she didn’t relax, watching to see who’d emerge.

      The driver’s-side door opened. A second later, so did the passenger side, and then the rear sliding door swung open, disgorging a man with a video camera, another with a microphone. They rushed over to her car, the man with the mic clearly a reporter of some sort.

      Relieved and irritated, Maria took her foot off the brake and stomped the accelerator. Screeching out of the parking lot, she traveled the back roads, taking a convoluted route toward home.

      Only once she was sure they hadn’t followed her did she turn down her street.

      Safe inside her garage with the door closed, she sat in her car, teeth clenched, shaking. She’d only been with Ryan Howard once, and because of that, reporters were hounding her?

      Slowly, she climbed out of her car and headed into the house. Should she cut her hair, change the color, make some attempt at disguising her appearance until this blew over?

      Even having to consider such nonsense made her even madder. Why should she have to deal with this? Ryan Howard needed to make it stop. She suspected he had the power to fix it.

      Digging his business card from her pocket, she decided to give him a call. She wanted this harassment to end, right now. The sooner she could go back to her normal life, the sooner she could get on with her quest to fulfill her destiny.

Chapter 3

      Maria Miranda had looked even lovelier than the last time Ryan had seen her. The instant she’d looked up from her desk and her caramel-colored gaze connected with his, he’d felt it like a punch to his stomach.

      The way she’d acted had taken him by surprise. Damned if she hadn’t made him feel like some sort of creepy stalker. Embarrassed, ashamed and, yes, fuming, he paced the length of his beach house, glad that today, at least, the paparazzi had stayed away.

      If it weren’t for them, Maria would never have learned who he actually was. It had been refreshing to find a woman who liked him for himself, rather than what he’d become.

      The kind of sizzling chemistry between him and Maria could have been the start of something amazing. Corny as it sounded, even to him, he mourned its loss. Especially since they hadn’t gotten a chance to actually explore it.

      He didn’t understand women—what man did?—but he usually got along with them well. He’d never lied to himself, well aware looks and money got him a lot further than he’d get if he wasn’t a multibillionaire. And though he didn’t usually mind, since he wasn’t looking for anything meaningful, the fact that the very things other women seemed to want had been what had driven Maria Miranda away felt like the bitterest form of irony.

      He could practically hear his father’s voice, even though he’d been dead three long years. “Be good for you, boy. You needed taking down a peg.” And then the old man would have laughed, that crusty, congested sound from too many cigarettes and not enough exercise. Lung cancer had taken him, and not a day went by that Ryan didn’t miss him. His dad had been one of the few people he could count on to be honest.

      These days he had no one but himself.

      And if he were honest now, he completely deserved what Maria Miranda had dished out. She hadn’t asked to be around his baggage. While Ryan might have gotten used to the constant attention and disruption of privacy that came with his life, she clearly wasn’t, nor did she want to be.

      Easily understood. Normally, under any other circumstances, he would have given her a silent salute and moved on.

      Except he couldn’t get her out of his mind. No matter how he rationalized it, he still wanted her. Hopefully, he’d get over that in time. There were plenty of other beautiful women.

      His cell phone rang. He grinned when her name popped up on his caller ID. He jotted the number down, intending to save it as a contact once they’d finished talking.

      “Hello?” he answered, as if he had no idea who might be phoning him.

      “Ryan, this is Maria Miranda.” She sounded out of breath. “I need you to call off the reporters.”

      Stunned, he frowned. “I’m not sure I follow.”

      “They followed me after I got off work today,” she continued, ripping out the words. “When I pulled into the grocery store, they tried to ambush me with a camera and everything. I have to ask you to please make it stop.”

      “I wish I could. But I have no control over them.” Thinking fast, he seized opportunity where he saw it. “But since they already think we’re together, would you reconsider and have dinner with me?”

      “No,” she snapped. “Maybe once they realize it’s over, they’ll lose interest and leave me alone.” She ended the call before he could respond.

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