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town’s only department store—yes, she’d done her research—and could then get back to the real world. Otherwise she feared she’d shrivel up and die in the isolated village. Even though she was director
of marketing at the head office, her father had assured her that moving product and increasing sales in a town where sales were practically nonexistent would be a strategic move on her part. Time and energy spent at the retail level would ultimately prove to investors and the board of directors that she had a vested interest in running the empire from the ground floor up upon Benjamin’s retirement. Then again, maybe her parents just wanted to get her out of the city before she brought any more scandal to her family’s name—now that she was out of town, the Chicago Social had turned its attention to the next misbehaving debutante. Or a way for her to find a nice respectable God-fearing guy she could bring home to Daddy. But in all seriousness, if restructuring to improve sales of skin-care products, antiaging creams, and makeup to the folks in Serene was the only way to appease her family and the board, then she’d happily do it. Okay, maybe “ happily” was an overstatement.
    When a car pulled up behind her, and she caught the driver’s scowl in her rearview mirror, it set her into motion. She drew a fueling breath and hit the accelerator with much more force than necessary. A second later she pulled up to the security booth before passing through the armored gate.
    She lowered her window down and stuck her head out to greet the guard. The warm summer sun beat down on her chilled, air-conditioned flesh and helped melt the tension inside her.
    “The purpose of your visit, ma’am?”
    She gave the guy a quizzical look. Purpose of her visit? Was he serious? Lord, she was entering the town limits, not crossing the border to Canada. Still, she decided to soften the path and use charm to lighten his mood.

    She flashed him a genuine smile. “Jaclyn Vasenty,” she said. “From Vasenty Cosmetics.”
    His eyes narrowed in displeasure. He gave her a hard look before turning his snarl on her cat. His dark glare let her know that her attempt at altering his hard-ass disposition had failed. That, and he wasn’t a cat lover, apparently.
    “How long will you be staying?” he asked.
    Damn . . .
    Within two minutes, she’d come across two men who’d both given her nasty scowls. And here she thought everyone who lived in small towns was friendly and accepting. So much for that theory. She hoped the women were friendlier and more open to purchasing the product once she educated the sales staff how to promote it, since going to backyard barbecues to gain trust with chatty, altruistic PTA members wasn’t really her thing.
    For some reason she didn’t always play well with other females. Sure it was strange, but as far back as she could remember, she had preferred the company of men—or her cat—because most women seemed threatened by her. From kindergarten on through high school she’d always been a loner—aloof some had called her. And because she refused to bend to the will of those “mean girls,” the ones who ruled school hallways and wielded their lipsticks like weapons, she’d found herself in a catfight a time or two.
    Speaking of cats. Ruby jumped onto her lap and hissed at the guard, obviously not a fan, either. Offering her kitty an apologetic look, Jaclyn gently stroked her fur to calm her down and answered the guard, “As long as it takes.”
    “Excuse me?”

    The guard’s abrupt tone sent her eyes flashing back to his, and it was the first time she noticed the color. Such an odd shade of silver. As he continued to glare at her with those artic eyes, frustration caused her to throw her arms up and blurt out, “I don’t know. A month. A year. Forever.”
    He turned to write in his little notepad, and she could have sworn he whispered something under his breath that sounded like, “We’ll see