Read Strangers in Paradise for Free Online Page A

house for her.
    Swinging her bag over her shoulder, Alexi started to walk. It really was beautiful, she assured herself. The sandy road at sunset, everything around it silent, the smell of the ocean heavy on the air. A breeze lifted her hair and touched her cheeks. She could imagine having a horse out here; it would be a beautiful place to ride. All the wonderful pines and palms and the endless sand, and beyond the trees, the endless ocean.
    The sunset coloring around her slipped; the sky became gray. Alexi was glad that the house was on a peninsula; she knew she was walking in the right direction. There were no lights out here; she remembered the horrid blackness of the night before.
    Suddenly she became aware of a sound behind her, following her. She stopped; the sound stopped. It was her imagination, she told herself. Darkness and solitude could do things like that. Who was she kidding? She was frightened. And she had a right to be. After last night...
    Last night, Rex had pounced upon her right away. She had crawled through the window, and he had quickly grabbed her. This sound behind her was...stealthy. She was being stalked.
    No. Her fears were getting out of hand. Rex had had an explanation. He’d thought that she was breaking into the house. But John couldn’t have followed her—and John was a memory of misery, not terror. And this...this was a feeling that something evil was breathing down her spine. That some real injury was intended for her.
    She inhaled—and then she started to run. Maybe her parents, in their distant wisdom, had been right. Maybe she shouldn’t have come here, where there was no help, where there was nothing but darkness and the whisper of the breeze and if she screamed forever, no one would hear her.
    She was breathless; she was certain that she heard soft footfalls on the sand behind her. She turned around to look and then screamed with total abandon as she ran smack into something hard.
    She swung around again, looking up in amazement. She was about to fall when arms steadied her.
    â€œRex!”
    â€œWhat in God’s name are you doing, running like that?”
    â€œSomeone was following me.”
    She saw the doubt in his eyes and turned around again. Naturally, no one was there. Rex’s hands were still on her arms. She looked up at him again, cleared her throat and stepped back. “I’m telling you the truth.”
    He walked around her and picked up her purse, which she hadn’t realized she had dropped. He handed it to her. “We’re the only inhabitants out here,” he said lightly. She could still see doubt in his eyes.
    â€œI didn’t imagine you last night,” she said angrily. His eyes seemed to darken as he studied her more intently, and for some reason she flushed uneasily. “I don’t imagine things.”
    â€œI’m sure you don’t.”
    He didn’t believe her; she could hear it in his tone.
    â€œI’m telling you—”
    â€œWhat are you doing walking out here, anyway?”
    â€œI was driving. The stupid rental car blew.”
    â€œBlew what?”
    â€œSomething.”
    He nodded. “Come on. We’ll go back for it.”
    They didn’t speak during the walk; he strode quickly and Alexi had enough to do to keep up. She was panting when they reached the car.
    The steam had stopped. Rex took a look under the hood, then walked around to the driver’s seat, arching a brow at Alexi as he took the keys from the ignition. He opened the trunk, found a container of water and filled something in the front. He slid into the driver’s seat, turned the motor over—and it caught. He opened the passenger door.
    â€œYou blew a hose, that’s all. I can pick one up for you in the morning. Come on, get in. I’ll get you home. It’ll go that far.”
    Alexi crawled in beside him and leaned against the seat.
    â€œThank you.” She didn’t look at him; she