Vision of Darkness Read Online Free

never reached his broody eyes.
    Pru scoffed at herself even as she pictured him again. The faded jeans, the brown leather bomber jacket, the sunglasses shoved back on his head. As Miranda had put it, he was hot—if you went for the devil-may-care type and Pru didn’t. Or at least, not usually, but thinking about him now brought a warm flush to her skin.
    A day’s worth of stubble shaded his square jaw. His coffee colored hair hinted of red highlights—natural, she’d guess since he didn’t strike her as a metrosexual manscaper type who highlighted his hair—and the cut was short and neat. His body… Oh, yum. All long and lean with toned legs that looked chiseled out of stone under the denim of his jeans. He probably looked damn good in just his shorts. Or in nothing at all.
    “Stop,” she told herself. Not going to go there.
    Tourists were off-limits when it came to naked fantasies. The last thing she needed on her plate was another broken heart with a side of guilt, and Alex had all the right ingredients for a serving. Good thing she’d never see him again.
    But…then why did it feel so wrong?
    Pru didn’t dare analyze that question, even in her own thoughts. Appetite gone, she folded what was left of her sandwich into a napkin. She stood with every intention of returning to the diner, when a raised voice drew her attention to Helen and company on the road. Her heart bumped once with shock, then skittered around in her chest. Alex stood beside an idling Lexus looking fatigued and pained as Helen shook her finger at him.
    He held up his hands in surrender. “Lookit, ma’am, I just want to get by. I’ve been on the road all day and I’m tired.”
    “You city people,” Helen chided. “Always rush, rush, rush. The road’s not going anywhere.” She turned and studied the banner with her hands on her hips. “These decorations are important to this town, young man. Pumpkinfest is a to-do around here and they have to be perfect.”
    “It’ll be Halloween before you get them up,” he muttered and rubbed a hand over the lower half of his face.
    Pru saw the lecture brewing on Helen’s pursed lips and decided to take pity on him. She walked over. The subtle straightening in his posture when he spotted her made her grin. He was obviously exhausted, but still trying to be a macho man. She wished she could read his eyes through the lens of those dark sunglasses.
    “Mrs. Mallory?” Pru positioned herself between him and Helen and infused her voice with excitement. “I’m sorry for interrupting, but I just had to come over and tell you the decorations look amazing. I especially like the lighted pumpkins on the lampposts. Are those new this year?”
    Helen beamed. “As a matter of fact. Richard didn’t want to spend the extra money, but I talked him into it.”
    “You can assure Mayor Mallory it was well spent.”
    “Thank you.” She fluffed her hair then brushed imaginary lint off the lapel of her powder blue jacket.
    A moment of silence trickled by.
    “Well,” Helen said in an exaggerated, polite tone, “I have things to do. Can’t stand around chatting all day. You”—she jabbed a lethal fingernail at Alex’s nose—“need to learn some manners.”
    Alex let out an explosive breath as Helen trotted off. “Oh, man. I could kiss you for that.”
    Please do. Heat exploded on Pru’s cheeks and she saw the blush reflect in the lens of his shades. She looked away, focused on Josiah and Kevin, now struggling to hoist one of the lighted pumpkins up a nearby lamppost. “You just have to know how to handle her.”
    “Still…” He hooked a finger under her chin and brought her gaze back to his. He’d shoved his sunglasses onto the top of his head. “Thanks.”
    “I—” With those eyes on her, how could any woman expect to breathe? “You’re welcome.”
    There was something…familiar…about him and her heart ached with a longing she couldn’t comprehend. Sure, she’d been lonely since her