Irresistible Stranger Read Online Free Page B

had a clue about all that history, I just knew, right off that bat, that you were a wicked, wicked woman.”
    â€œWatch it. A compliment like that could bring tears to my eyes. Most men who first meet me seem to immediately figure out I’m a pretty plain old ordinary schoolteacher.”
    â€œPlain old ordinary? That never crossed my mind. I took one look and thought there’s a breath of fresh air in this town. A gorgeous, sexy woman, who can make a T-shirt look like designer clothes, has eyes a man could drown in, with character and mystery surrounding her like magic.”
    She almost choked on the last spoonful of ice cream. “All right, all right. You know I’ve been here a couple days, so as you might have guessed, I already know your story. You charm every female that’s ever crossed yourpath—whether they’re two or ninety, married or single. You’ve gotten a marriage proposal from every single woman in a three-county radius—”
    â€œNot every single one,” he corrected.
    â€œJust most. And I can see why. You’re adorable and all.”
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œYou started out in Savannah. Hard to imagine why you’d settle in this itsy-bitsy town. But lots of people have been happy to fill me in on why they think you came here—even if I never asked. And I really don’t need to pry into your life or anyone else’s.”
    â€œI understand. Once you’re inside the town limits, it hits like a wave. The hot air from people talking about each other. There’s no escaping it.”
    â€œWho knew? Anyway…let’s see what else I was told. You can, of course, correct or deny any of this. You come from a good family—that means, a Southern family, a family that was established here long enough to fight in the War of Northern Aggression. You went to a good school, North Carolina, I think I was told. Played B-ball. Everybody remembers that you graduated, but not what field you graduated in. No one’s sure if you ever had a real job. Somehow, you didn’t feel like making anything special of yourself.”
    â€œThat’s me. Just lazy as can be.”
    â€œYup. That’s how I heard it. Thankfully, you invented and patented your own ice cream. Maybe moved here because the cost of living was extra-reasonable. You can sit around all day and just make a little ice cream, hire kids to help you, and spend the rest of your timeromancing all the pretty Southern Belles. Why should everyone need to be ambitious? Why should you do hard work if you don’t have to? Only…none of the girls have caught you. In bed, maybe. In affairs, maybe. But nobody’s caught you anywhere near the altar, or that’s the story I heard.”
    â€œAnything else?”
    â€œAnything you want to deny so far?”
    â€œOh, no,” he assured her. “Gossips have the story absolutely straight.”
    â€œThey usually do,” she said without missing a beat, and finally turned her head to face him. “So I might ask you what your real story is. Sometime. If it’s something you’re interested in sharing.”
    â€œI was going to make the same offer. To listen if you needed an ear.”
    She turned quiet, the devilment in her eyes fading. A moment ticked by, then another. The bustling noises inside the house had faded into the single noise from a television. Lamplights had turned on throughout the neighborhood.
    The sun had taken its lazy Southern time going down, but it finally ebbed out of sight, nothing left but a deep violet haze beyond the trees and rooftops.
    He didn’t realize how much time had passed, how late it had become…but it seemed as if she suddenly did. “You know what?” she said.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI’m glad you stopped. You didn’t need to. It was beyond kind—particularly for a man who seems to have a mighty reputation in this town for not caring much