Familiar Strangers Read Free Page B

through his mind.
    Who the hell was she?
     
    ****
    Regin Neff tried to ignore the tickle running across her shoulders and neck. She wanted badly to turn around and find the source that had been bothering her for the past half hour, but manners wouldn’t allow her attention to waver from the man speaking to her.
    “So, naturally, I thought of you when I heard about fund raising for the new gallery, Regin,”
    Jerry Willingham III said.
She’d lived in Killeen for six months and wrote some type of chick books. That was the extent he, or anyone, knew of her. Ambiguity about her and her life was the way she wanted things to be.
    “Jerry, I’m leaving in two days remember?” she smiled, taking a sip of her drink.
    “I know,” he replied. “I’m suggesting making a return trip from wherever you’re exiling yourself.”
    She laughed and waved a hand, trying to dismiss the topic. “It’s no good. I’ll be up to my ears in work.” She turned and spoke with the man to her right, preventing Jerry from trying to further this conversation.
    Regin wished the night would end. She was tired and had to finish closing up her house here and make sure the arrangements were taken care of in her new house. She trusted her editor and friend to have everything set up, but some things even Tatum couldn’t do for her.
    She hated the feeling of someone watching her. The tickling feeling on the back of her neck sure suggested someone was. As casually as possible, she leaned back in her chair and scanned the room for the responsible party. Immediately, her gaze locked with an intense pair of startling silver eyes. The room faded to nothing around her.
    Sharp pain pierced her heart. Betrayal, lies, heartbreak, stabbed into her mind. What was he doing here? How had he found her? No one could see them together.
    She had to leave. Being this close brought emotions she couldn’t deal with.
    The stranger’s eyes momentarily locked with hers, sending shock waves up her spine.
    Too late. He knew she was here. She had to get up and walk out without him following her.
    He wouldn’t be able to talk her into coming back. It was too late. Being with him would destroy her all over again.
    She pushed her chair back with such force that it toppled to the ground behind her. She had her hand on her bag when she noticed everyone at the table staring as if she’d lost her mind.
    Simon Walsh, her date for the evening, stood and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Regin, what’s wrong? You’ve gone as pale as a ghost, honey.”
    Regin shook her head, trying to clear out the confusing thoughts and images flooding her brain. Why was she acting this way? She glanced at the man again, but he had turned back to his companions.
    She didn’t know him that was for sure. She would remember someone with eyes like his. But the overwhelming feelings of unease and danger didn’t lessen.
    What was the matter with her? Was she finally losing her sanity after all these years? “I’m sorry, Simon, I thought I saw someone I knew,” she sat back down in the chair Jerry had straightened for her and shot her date a smile. “I must need a vacation more than I thought. Would you mind if we left now, please?”
    Though she was making her way out of the bar and would never see the stranger again, her mind kept repeating the same question.
    Who the hell was he?
     
    ****
    An hour later, she was finally able to close the door behind a disappointed Simon. Regin needed to talk with Tatum and see where her favorite editor had set up her next living arrangement. Her life was almost like a game, never knowing where she would be six month from now.
Mastering her living arrangements was one of the reasons she was so grateful for Tatum James Renoir. As her editor and friend, Tatum took care of all the details Regin hated. Tatum always found her a new location with everything she needed to write and relax.
    Relaxation. Funny how foreign the word seemed even now. It had taken