Echoes in the Wind Read Free Page A

and a very muscular torso. She had to get a grip on this situation.
    “Shirts wash.” He flashed a smile, which made him go from good-looking to oooo-la-la. “Teach me to wear a light color, eh?”
    Teach her to not focus her attention on naked people and look where she’s going. Darla ought to walk, correction, run away from this man. Except her feet had somehow super-glued themselves to the floor.
    “My name’s Eric Boyd.”
    Eric. He said his name was Eric. Now she should respond. Maybe try to speak intelligibly. “I’m Darla. Darla Hennessy.”
    “Darla,” Eric repeated. “Pretty.”
    He didn’t offer a hand for her to shake, prompting a mixture of relief and disappointment. Then again after their initial encounter he must find her clumsy and graceless and not worth the effort. His all-knowing gaze peering from under his somehow perfect yet shaggy hair sparked an aura of perceptive danger.
    “It was nice meeting you,” she rushed, “but I need to find my friend. Again, I feel terrible I ruined your shirt.” She stepped backward.
    “Can I ask you something before you go?” His overpowering presence stopped her.
    “I suppose.” Darla shrugged. She hoped to appear indifferent, although she knew she failed.
    He took a step closer, then leaned in. His mouth hovered close to hers, his voice low. “Why are you here?”
    “Excuse me?” Darla shifted away and stared him down.
    “I was wondering what made you show up tonight. I saw you earlier.” A curve lifted the corner of his mouth. He stepped back farther and gave her a lazy once-over. “This doesn’t seem the type of crowd someone like you would want to mix with.”
    She glanced around. The two of them appeared to be in a circle of amplified madness.
    “Someone like me?” Darla shot him a tight smile and ignored his obvious ogling. “I don’t know why you say that, everyone is niccce…”
    Eric grabbed her upper arm to drag her from where she stood. A loud thump landed behind them. She stumbled against him, clutching her wineglass. The liquid sloshed although didn’t spill this time. Once she was steady, he freed her. Darla spun around and released a whispered squeak. A large, unconscious man lay sprawled in the space she’d occupied moments before. A breakout of an argument followed. Fists began to fly among shouts and curses.
    Eric slid his palm down her arm and grasped her hand to hold in a protective grip. He slightly tugged. “We’d better move.”
    He maneuvered her away from the chaos. Her entire body constricted from the implied intimacy. She maintained enough of her faculties to be aware of his hard fingers and the light gentleness of his palm loosely covering hers.
    Oblivious to the mayhem around them, she followed his lead willingly with no idea or concern where he led her. His abrupt release jolted her back to reality. She blinked several times. He’d guided her outdoors onto a massive attached deck.
    With a rueful smile, Darla took a giant step away from him. She had to. Before she lost control and hurled her body into him. This guy practically had her libido exploding. But was her reaction to him even genuine? With the end of her relationship not emotionally set in, how could she want someone else, someone she didn’t know, this quick?
    More yells hailed from within chased by bumps and crashes.
    “Do you think we should call the police?”
    Eric peered inside. “If somebody hasn’t by now, they will soon.” The shatters of something breaking indicated the commotion escalated. His attention returned to Darla. “Maybe we oughta get you out of here.”
    “I was thinking the same thing.” A mixture of relief and letdown charged through her. She sat her full goblet down on a nearby table. “A pleasure meeting you, Eric.”
    She spun away and hurried toward the house. She almost made it the door before she stopped. The unruliness indoors sounded worse than before. Some of the guests were leaving. A dining room chair flew out