Mystery Date. Crystal Green

any different from getting to know all those women online? There he could be anyone, just like tonight.

      No attachments, no strings. This was the ultimate safe date...and a game, if he had to admit it. And the more he thought about tonight’s game, the more turned on he got.

      Beth left the room, and Adam found himself holding his breath. He let it out, shaking his head. Carla would’ve thought he was going off-balance, too. She would’ve put her hands on her hips, asking him what the hell had happened to make him this way.

      But Carla had always gotten straight to the point, even fourteen years ago after he’d returned to his family ranch, mourning his father, keeping his mother from shriveling into a depressed heap while helping her to run their cattle operation and raise his three younger siblings the best he could. Carla, seven years older and wiser, with a family so rich that they had already bequeathed her the gentleman’s ranch next door, had come calling the second day after he’d settled in.

      Yes, even back then Carla had offered a neighborly hand to the eighteen-year-old who was so out of his depth that he could barely catch four hours of sleep per night. And as the years went by, friendship had turned into love, then into a happy marriage.

      Then she was gone.

      Through the window, Beth appeared on the driveway, her skirt swishing around her legs as she strode down to the open gate and the car beyond it.

      Adam held his breath yet again, watching to see if Leigh was going to get out of that car and embark on this strange date.

      Or if she was going to leave, just as everyone in his life seemed to do.

      * * *

      “OH MY GOD, here she comes,” Leigh said, sliding down in her car seat as she spied Beth walking down the driveway with purpose.

      “Should we hide?”

      The glee in Margot’s tone told Leigh that her friend was teasing her again. Too bad Dani had already gotten off the phone, because she could’ve joined in the chiding.

      Beth reached the iron gate, then waved, and Margot obviously couldn’t resist one last gibe.

      “‘“Will you walk into my parlor?” said the Spider to the Fly.’”

      The joke was the last straw for Leigh, and with one defiant glance at Margot, she sucked it up, opened the door and got out of the damned car.

      The salt-tinged coastal wind threaded through her hair as she shut the door and put on a smile for Beth as they hugged in greeting.

      Margot had gotten out, too, and she embraced Beth, then held her at arm’s length.

      “I always did admire your clothes,” Margot said, surveying Beth’s sleek multihued silk dress and her strappy gold sandals.

      Beth smiled. “Even though you were a couple years behind me in college, I have to say that I looked up to your sense of style, too.” She turned to Leigh. “So what do you think?”

      About fashion? Global politics? The Kardashians? Or about the blindest date ever?

      Margot saved her from having to answer. “Sorry about the delay. Dani called about some wedding plans, and we were just going over them with her in the car.”

      “Ah, yes. I hear Dani and Riley are having their ceremony on Clint’s ranch.” Beth laughed. “I mean, your ranch, Margot, now that you’re living together.”

      Margot shrugged and actually blushed. Yeah, Margot, former queen of singletons, newly crowned empress of blushing.

      “You heard right,” she said. “We’re hosting the wedding, and you’ll be invited.”

      Then, as if she were a mom dropping off a child who didn’t want to attend a birthday party with evil clowns, Margot scooted around to her side of the car.

      “And that’s my cue to scram.” She winked at Leigh. “Have fun, you.”

      Beth took Leigh’s arm to lead her up to the open gates, and Margot used her hand as a fake telephone, putting it up to her ear and mouthing, Call me when you’re done!

      Leigh widened her eyes at her friend, then turned around to walk with Beth up the driveway. Margot’s car motor revved, then faded as she drove away.

      And that was when it became official. This was happening. Mystery date with Mystery Man.

      Beth squeezed Leigh’s arm. “So Margot drove you over here?”

      “She met me at the Sea Breeze Suites for a girls’ weekend, so yeah. I didn’t need the limo you offered.”

      “That doesn’t really answer my question.”

      Shoot. “You’re asking if she drove me here because I was cautious about this date?”

      “Exactly.” Beth laughed. “But that’s smart, really, to bring along a friend. You can trust me, though.”

      “I do trust you.” But the farther they got up the driveway, the more her stomach spun. And the more her body sang with an odd, almost warped thrill.

      Her, Leigh Vaughn. She’d never, ever done anything like this before, and she was liking it. A lot.

      Beth was clearly trying to put her at ease. “Your date got you everything you requested for dinner, from the ingredients to the cookware.”

      All the auction basket had promised was a meal featuring honey. Like Margot, Leigh had been careful in phrasing the notes in her basket, making sure that if she didn’t want the date to go too far, she wouldn’t have to live up to any wickedly spelled-out promises. But if she liked what she saw in Mystery Man and she wanted to go beyond food and give him a real taste of honey...

      Every inch of her pulsated.

      “How do you know him?” Leigh asked as they got to the top of the driveway, where gnarled bushes lined the lawn and the wind whistled a soft, meandering tune.

      Beth had probably been expecting this question, and she launched right into an answer.

      “I’m friends with him but also professional associates. Out of pure happenstance, he found my résumé online after college, and now he pays me nicely to take care of his business affairs.”

      “Didn’t you get a law degree?”

      “Yes, but there are a lot of legal angles to what I do for him. Contracts, boring stuff like that.”

      “And who exactly is ‘him’?”

      Beth laughed again. “Good try, but that’s all you’re going to get out of me.”

      As they arrived at the massive carved wood door, Leigh paused.

      “Why is he taking such pains to be a mystery?” she asked, hoping that Beth would at least answer this.

      Beth’s smile straightened out as she hesitated, then said, “Your basket was a game, Leigh, and he’s making a countermove, continuing the game. It’s all in fun.”

      A game? What kind of man played this way? And what sort of guy could afford a place like this?

      She ran her gaze over that door, noticing the iron lion’s-head knocker. “He’s rich. I can tell that much.”

      “He’s got a few bucks to spare. Did you run this address through the internet?”

      Leigh nodded. The house was owned by a rental property that had led her and her friends to dead ends. “We assumed the place isn’t his.”

      “It isn’t. He’s only vacationing.” Beth reached out to open the door, but she hesitated again.

      Meanwhile, all Leigh could hear was the sound of her heart boom-boom-booming through her.

      Beth spoke, her hand still in midair. “It’ll be a harmless, fun night,” she repeated. “If you go inside with that in mind, you’ll