Read Instinctive for Free Online

the daunting task ahead of her. Huge corporate accounts she could handle. But coming in from the head office to restructure, reorganize, and improve marketing strategies in a small town where research had proven that folks preferred to age naturally just might pose more of a challenge. Then again, research had also proven that the elderly bought the greatest amount of skin-care products, and if Serene was anything like its neighboring community, she certainly expected to see her fair share of elderly people.
    She briefly glanced at her sleek black cat, Ruby, and gave a heavy sigh. Although the town of Serene was Jaclyn’s destination choice, and her father had readily agreed that it was the perfect
location to prove her loyalties to the company, she was beginning to have second thoughts.
    “What have we gotten ourselves into, Ruby?” Ignoring Jaclyn, Ruby pawed at the passenger-side window in search of an escape. Jaclyn chuckled. “Forget it, girlfriend. We’re in this together.”
    When Jaclyn’s tire hit a pothole, she turned her attention to the road ahead. Peering through her windshield, she slowed her sporty BMW down to a near stop and absently tapped her fingers on the leather steering wheel. She surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings analytically as she crept forward with caution. She took in the uninviting, cracked, and pitted road and the main gate that seemed to have materialized before her eyes. Her gaze panned the wide expanse of quaint little houses that slumbered in the picturesque village just beyond the entrance.
    She’d picked Serene of all places because she thought there’d be little to no sexual temptation in the Podunk town, but it was more than that. She couldn’t deny, nor could she explain why, that there was something about the town that called out to her. That she was drawn to it in some inexplicable way.
    On many occasions while out driving on the highway with her granny during one of her childhood visits, she’d glimpsed the long, winding road leading into the secluded community. Her grandma had always refused to stop, insisting the inhabitants of Serene gave her heebie-jeebies. Which made it all that much more fascinating to Jaclyn, she supposed.
    The static on her radio began to grate on Jaclyn’s last nerve, and she went to work on finding another station. Was it too much to hope for a decent station? Or even a damn road sign, for that
matter? She had no idea that that long, winding road went off in so many different directions, and if she hadn’t been equipped with BMW Assist, she never would have found her way.
    Unlike Silver Springs, with its branching communities, Serene was smack-dab in the middle of nowhere. She glanced to her left, then to her right, only to be greeted by miles of wilderness and mountains off in the distance—as if she needed another reminder that she was a far cry from her beloved clubs in Chicago.
    Her stomach churned as her eyes followed the path of the fence until it disappeared into a dense cluster of spruce trees. It occurred to her that the entire town was imprisoned behind that sturdy security fence. No wonder the place gave her grandmother the creeps. Jaclyn too was beginning to feel a bit distressed, almost a little claustrophobic. As shivers of unease slithered down her spine, she diligently tried to shake off the unsettling feeling.
    She shifted in her seat and took a moment to consider the quirks of small-town living. Was the barrier to keep outsiders away? To keep the inhabitants in? Or both?
    She fiddled with her radio for a moment longer, then gave up, flicked it off, and cast her eyes heavenward. She might have chosen to spend an indeterminate amount of time in Serene, but that didn’t mean she wanted to live here any longer than she needed to accomplish her goals, especially since setting sights on that impenetrable gate. She prayed that she could improve marketing strategies fairly quickly and turn around lagging cosmetics sales in the