Irresistible Stranger Read Free Page B

they?
    â€œYou hear the sirens?” Jason asked.
    â€œYeah. First time all summer.”
    Jason squirted more window cleaner on the glass counter, even though he’d cleaned it twice already. “I heard some say they were worried about her coming back. That the fires’d start again.”
    â€œSay what? Who’s this ‘her’?” Griff looked up, only half-listening. He wanted to get out of here, put his feet up, open a dripping-cold long neck and start in on his real work. But the kid had been scrubbing the place until he’d practically worn out his hands; obviously he didn’t want to go home. Bruises hadn’t healed up from the last time his dad had a snootful.
    â€œYou know. The pretty lady who came in the other day. The one with the long brown hair. You went right over to her. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”
    Griff scowled. Sometimes the kid saw way more than he needed to.
    Lily had been in twice more for Griff’s Secret—but not for any of his. She’d chatted up Steve the first time; someone had talked to her the other. God knew, he’d raced from the back room to flirt her up, but she’d escaped before he could tackle her both times. Maybe that was accidental—or maybe she didn’t remotely feel the same spark he did.
    No sweat, he’d told himself. But somehow she kept pouncing into his mind, lingering there like a sweet taste he couldn’t get out of his head. That he could get hung up on a woman he barely knew was downright worrisome.
    It implied a capacity for commitment.
    That was fearful.
    Still, he couldn’t let Jason’s comment go. “Why wouldanyone think that Lily Campbell has anything to do with the sirens?”
    Jason rolled his eyes. “Come on. Her coming back after all these years just stirred up the story. Everyone knows what happened.”
    â€œWell I don’t, so why don’t you enlighten me?”
    â€œHer daddy was a fire setter. That’s what everybody said. And now she’s back, so people been saying, ‘watch out for fires.’ And now you heard the sirens.”
    â€œThat’s pretty darned ridiculous, Jason.”
    â€œHey, I wasn’t even born when it all happened. I’m just telling you what people are saying, that’s all. Her dad and her mom got burned up in the last fire. The three sisters, they got split up all over the country. People said the three girls, they cried and screamed when folks tried to separate them. That it all was a tragedy. That nobody guessed there was something so broken in Mr. Campbell. That was her daddy. Mr. Campbell. Anyway. The fires stopped after they left. Only now she’s back. And there’s a siren.”
    Griff frowned. “Jason, that’s ludicrous. Who’s spreading these rumors?”
    â€œI dunno. Hey, don’t be mad at me. I was just telling you what I heard, that’s all.”
    â€œWell, think about it. If she left town when she was a little girl, there’s no reason to think anyone even recognizes her. And if her father was an arsonist, that has nothing to do with her.”
    â€œI never said he was an ars’nist. I said he started fires.”
    â€œJason. An arsonist is someone who sets fires.”
    â€œSheesh. It’s summertime. You’re not supposed to have to learn stuff in the summertime. It’s not fair.”
    There were times Griff loved living in a small town. This wasn’t one of them. That young, pretty woman was soft clear through. It was in her eyes, her face, the look of her. That anyone could think she was a criminal—or in town for no good—was beyond absurd.
    But Pecan Valley did love its gossip. And good news was boring. The chance of something naughty and meaty was always the ideal, but it was only now that Griff remembered—Lily had mentioned something in that short first conversation. Something about how he might not want to get to