Naughty Stranger (Dangerous Love 1)

Peyton slowed and made a right turn. “Well, maybe that’s something you need to tell her.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, how does this sound: ‘Hey, Remy, your fiancé is fucking creepy. I know you think you love him, but you really don’t. Marrying him is the biggest mistake of your life. You’re meant to be with Asher, the guy who broke your heart into a thousand pieces.’”

Peyton chuckled softly. “I see your point.” She settled her hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. “Was their breakup bad?” She’d only learned the little bit from Boone, and Remy never talked about it.

“The breakup destroyed Remy,” Kinsley explained. “Everything changed after that.”

“With Remy, you mean?”

“Yeah, and it’s like she’s taking second best now. It’s almost as if she forgets what real love is like and is with this guy thinking it’s love. But Damon isn’t love, he’s a total sleazeball.” Kinsley hesitated. Then her voice tightened. “And all of this didn’t matter because she was only dating Damon. But marrying him? I don’t know, it’s like he’s not genuine or something.”

Peyton noticed the SUV nudging closer again. She glared at the person behind the wheel through her rearview mirror, even if he or she couldn’t see her. Peyton took her foot off the gas, slowly coming closer to the semitruck ahead of her. “What are you going to do?”

“What can I do without hurting her feelings? I’ve already told Remy that something seems iffy about Damon, but she totally brushed me off. And now that they’re engaged, what else can I do but be happy for her? This is her life. I need to love and support her.”

Peyton winced. “It’s a tough situation for sure.”

“It just sucks,” Kinsley said firmly after a long sigh. “I wish you knew Remy when she was with Asher. Then you’d see what I mean. It’s like she’s settling for this guy because the guy her heart wants, she can’t have.”

Peyton was new to this group of people, but she’d never heard anyone mention another woman. “Is Asher with someone else now?”

“Nope,” Kinsley confirmed. “But Remy and Asher have this whole twisted love thing going. They love hard. They hurt each other hard. It’s just…”

“Complicated,” Peyton offered.

“Yeah, complicated is a good way to describe them.” Another pause, then Kinsley added softly, “You’re good with all this kind of stuff, so tell me what to do.”

Peyton had no idea what gave Kinsley that impression. She worried that maybe Kinsley thought she had more life experience or something. Little did she know that Peyton, for a long time, was an epic mess herself. But after thinking about it, she realized she did understand Remy’s situation a little. She knew how it felt to be so broken that it hurt to even breathe.

“The thing is,” Peyton finally said, “you can’t live her life for her. You gotta let her do ‘her’ in her own way and hope in the end she’ll be all right. Maybe there’s a side to Damon that you don’t see but she does.”

“Damn it, I should have called Rhett,” Kinsley grumbled.

Peyton laughed. “Why??

?

“Because he’s not as nice as you and would have told me to lock her in a room until she got Damon out of her head, which is totally what I want to do right now.”

“Well, if all else fails, maybe you can grab Remy’s tarot cards and get her to use those about the wedding. Maybe she’ll see something that tells her to call the wedding off.”

“Not the worst idea,” Kinsley said with a long sigh. “Okay, I know I’m being a tad protective here, but I’m telling you, there is something wrong with this guy.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Peyton agreed, her gaze returning to her rearview mirror again. “He gives off a weird vibe, for sure.” The SUV got closer, and she snapped now, “I’ve got this prick that’s been riding my ass since I left town.”

“Pull over and let him pass.”

“Yeah, probably a good idea.” Peyton took her foot off the gas and slowed, when a black blur sped past Peyton’s window, then the SUV squeezed into the spot between her and the transport truck. She slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting him. “Jesus!” she exclaimed.

“What was that?” Kinsley gasped.

“This asshole is driving like a madman—”

Suddenly, the SUV hit the back of the transport truck, sending the truck fishtailing across the road. Dirt flew up around Peyton’s car, making the air nearly impossible to see through, until she realized the SUV was no longer ahead of her, and she was heading straight for the cab of the truck.

Seconds felt like a lifetime, tires screeching all around her, the smell of burned rubber infusing the air. She vaguely heard Kinsley screaming her name, mixed with the screams coming from her own mouth. Peyton gripped the wheel, bracing for impact, and slammed on her brakes. The world spun around her; metal grinding against metal echoed in her ears as her car rammed into the side rail and spun back toward the truck.

And all she could think was…Boone.