by Edie Ramer
She suspected this man had many anomalies.
Her second suspicion was that a man that good-looking wouldn’t be as sympathetic to her plight as an ugly one.
Why oh why couldn’t he have been deformed and ugly?
Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath and headed toward him with a wide smile and her hand out, as if she were sent here as the town’s official greeter. “Hi! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Maddie Barrymore.” She may as well tell him her real name. He could easily find out what it was.
His eyebrows rose, but he shook her hand. “Related to the acting Barrymores?”
“Not that I know, though my stepmother claims we connect somewhere.”
“As in the wicked stepmother?”
“Not really. I wish she and my dad lived nearby, but my dad is stationed in Alaska. You’re Mr. MacLeesh, aren’t you?”
“Logan MacLeesh. Are you going to ask me for identification?”
“Yes.” She was taking a chance here, but she’d taken a chance every day she’d lived in his house. She’d never thought of herself as a risk taker, but she’d lived as one for five years already, so perhaps she was fooling herself.
The look he gave her now was amused. No question about it. He slid his wallet out of his back pocket and took out something, stepping closer to hand it to her.
She grasped the plastic card and saw it was a California driver’s license. Even his driver’s license picture looked good. Nothing like hers, which could be used as a “don’t” image for photographers. From his birth date, she saw he was thirty-three, only six years older than her.
Not that the age difference mattered.
Or that there was no ring on his left hand.
She handed the license back to him. “Would you like me to take you on a tour of the place?”
“My place?”
She kept the polite smile on her face. “Yes.”
“My lawyer told me the caretakers were an older couple. Did they ask you to show it to me?”
Her smile dipped. He wasn’t falling for her show of confidence. He knew. Damn it, he knew.
“No, they have nothing to do with my presence here.”
He nodded, not taking his eyes off her, pursing his lips—especially the full lower lip—as if considering what to do with her.
She knew what she needed to do. Bluff him into letting her go without punishing anyone else. Already she held her head higher, a gesture of poise instead of worry, her smile fixed in place. The one that said I-like-you-and-I-know-you-like-me-too.
“So, you realize I’ve been living here?” she asked.
“You mean squatting.” His striking blue eyes roamed down her body, very slowly, then up again. Like she was a piece of meat.
She hated it. Yet her body didn’t hate it, her skin prickling, hormones waking up after a long sleep.
EDIE’S BOOKS
Contemporary
CRAZY SEXY LOVE (Rescued Hearts, Book 3)
CHRISTMAS AT ANGEL LAKE (Rescued Hearts, Book 2)
HEARTS IN MOTION (Rescued Hearts, Book 1)
MUST WORSHIP CATS (Miracle Interrupted, the beginning)
STARDUST MIRACLE (Miracle Interrupted, Book 2)
MIRACLE LANE (Miracle Interrupted, Book 3)
MIRACLE PIE (Miracle Interrupted, Book 4)
MO’S HEART (Miracle Interrupted, Book 5)
MIRACLE INTERRUPTED SET (first 3 Miracle Interrupted stories)
YOU’VE GOT MURDER co-written with Karin Tabke
Paranormal
CATTITUDE
DEAD PEOPLE
DRAGON BLUES
Science Fiction Romance
GALAXY GIRLS
MIXING IT UP (a Galaxy Girls novella)
Short Stories
Dead People In Love (a Dead People short story)
The Fat Cat (a Cattitude short story)
The Kiss (a Galaxy Girls short story)
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Amy Remus, beta reader extraordinaire, and to Amy Knupp at Blue Otter Editing for being an amazing editor. I sometimes agonize over finding the right name for my characters, so huge thanks to Beth Watson for naming her cat Quigley. As soon as I heard it, I knew I would use it in a story someday. My cousin, Nancy Lowell, fosters Siamese cats and generously shared information with me. Most of all, thanks to my sweet cat and a longer string of dogs for stealing my heart and sometimes trampling on it. I love every one of you.
About Edie Ramer
Edie’s funnier on the page than in real life. A multiple award-winning writer, she lives in southeastern Wisconsin with her husband, dog, and a very important cat.
In addition to her Rescued Hearts and Miracle Interrupted series, she’s published in paranormal and sci fi romance, plus a humorous mystery. She’s happy to be able to do what she loves nearly every day.
Connect with Edie online
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