Falling for a Stranger

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Authors: Barbara Freethy
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Romance, Contemporary
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head. "No."
    "What about tomorrow?"
    She hesitated, indecision in her gaze. "I'm teaching most of the day. Weekends are busy. But if you want to meet me here at five o'clock, I should be done by then."
    "All right. I'll meet you at five. And just so you know—even though you're not happy to see me, I'm very happy to see you. I'm glad you're not dead."
    "I am dead, Drew. Ria Hastings, the girl you met, died in an explosion off the Isla de los Sueños. I'm Tory Harper now. New name, new start, clean slate. After tomorrow, we say goodbye, and we move on. Okay?"
    "Why do you need a fresh start?"
    "I can't tell you why. But it's important. So do we have a deal?"
    He could see impatience in her gaze, a need to lock him down, have him make a promise not to threaten her new life, but he wasn't quite ready to do that. "I'll let you know tomorrow."
    It wasn't the answer she wanted. She bit back something, then turned and strode away, her body as stiff as a poker. She was furious, but more importantly, she was also scared. And it was the fear in her eyes that wouldn't let him say goodbye or promise not to ever bother her again. It was ingrained in him to help people who were in trouble. And Ria was in trouble.
    "Drew?"
    The irritated voice of his brother, Burke, drew his head around. Aiden and Burke were walking toward him. He'd forgotten all about them, all about the boat. He'd seen Ria and everything else had vanished.
    "Where the hell did you go?" Burke demanded, anger in his blue eyes. "We've been waiting ten minutes for you."
    "I saw someone I knew," he replied.
    "Yeah, you almost broke your neck getting off the boat," Aiden put in. "Who was that woman?"
    "Someone I thought was dead."
    Enlightenment dawned in Aiden's eyes. "Wait a second. Is that the same woman you thought you saw before?"
    He nodded. "Yeah, it turns out she survived. She's very much alive."
    "Well, that's lucky."
    "Yeah, lucky," Burke echoed, an odd look in his eyes. "What's her story?"
    "Not sure yet. We're going to meet tomorrow, and she'll fill me in."
    "Okay, so let's get back to the reason we came down here," Aiden interrupted. "Are you guys in or out?"
    "I'm in," he said impulsively, trying to tell himself that the fact that Ria worked at the yacht club had nothing to do with his decision.
    "Great," Aiden said with happy surprise. "Burke?"
    "Why not? It's been too long since I let you talk me into something stupid, Aiden. I'm overdue."
    Aiden grinned. "We're going to have a good time—we'll be the three amigos."
    "If you call us that, I'm not going to do it," Burke said with a warning frown.
    "Yeah, deal breaker for me, too," Drew agreed.
    "Fine," Aiden said. "We should celebrate. Sara is tied up with Emma, so I'm free. Let's go to the bar at the yacht club. The first round is on me."

Chapter Five

    Emma walked into the apartment she shared with her fiancé and yelled, "Max?" When there was no reply, she turned to Sara. "He's not here." She held up the bag they'd gotten from the drugstore. "Time for the moment of truth."
    Sara looked less than thrilled. "I feel sick to my stomach."
    "Could be nerves or morning sickness. Only one way to find out."
    "I don't know if I'm ready," she said as she reluctantly took the bag.
    "Come on, get it over with, so we know if our next move is a round of drinks or a gallon of ice cream."
    "Okay, I'll do it. It's going to be fine, right?"
    "Whatever happens," Emma reassured her. "It's not like you're sixteen and knocked up. You're an adult, an attorney, and you're engaged to the love of your life. Everything is good."
    "Exactly. Everything is great, but I'm afraid a baby will mess things up. Aiden and I aren't married yet. And we weren't planning on having kids for a while. We wanted to figure out our career plans first. This is going to change everything, and I honestly don't know how Aiden will take it."
    The fear in Sara's eyes reminded Emma of the little girl she'd grown up with, the kid who was afraid to do anything

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