Naughty Stranger (Dangerous Love 1)

“Oh,” Mom said with a smile in her voice.

“It’s not like that.” Okay, yeah, it totally was like that. “I’ve already told you I have met some friends. Kinsley and Remy, remember?”

“Yes, but you’re not talking about them, are you?”

Her mother missed nothing. Ever. Sometimes it was really annoying. But most times, it made Peyton feel loved and understood. She pushed off the pillow to sit up, and plucked at a loose string on the duvet. “Well, I do have them, and I’m actually staying at Kinsley’s house until the case is wrapped up, but I’ve gotten a little closer to Kinsley’s brother, Boone. It’s really new and not serious at all, so don’t get all excited and freak out.”

“I would never freak out,” Mom defended. “What does Boone do for a living?”

“He’s a detective here.”

“I suppose that makes me feel better about you being out there all alone.”

“It should,” Peyton said adamantly. “He’s got a gun, and I’m pretty sure he knows how to use it.”

Mom laughed. “That is reassuring.” She hesitated, this time longer, and when she spoke again, her voice was full of emotion. “You do sound good…happy.”

“I feel like I’m getting there.” Mom needed to hear that. Of course she did. Peyton had simply gotten up and left one day totally out of the blue. She hadn’t told anyone she was leaving until the day she packed. Her parents would have tried to change her mind, probably Adam’s parents too. When they saw clearly she was leaving, and Peyton explained why she needed to start a new life, of course they understood. Even if her mother questioned her sanity. Hell, Peyton questioned her sanity too.

“So, this thing with Boone is new, casual, but good?” Mom asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, ain’t that the sweetest news I’ve heard in a while.”

Peyton smiled but then her smile quickly faded. It suddenly occurred to her that thinking about A

dam didn’t bring the usual strangling emotions. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Happy that maybe she was moving on? Guilty that she was?

Mom’s voice softened. “You’re really happy out there, aren’t you?”

Peyton didn’t even have to think about it. “Very happy.”

Mom had asked that question every time she called. This was the first time that felt like the whole truth.

“I’m so incredibly glad to hear that. All right, darling. I’ll let you sleep. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom. Bye.”

After her mother hung up, Peyton turned off the night table lamp and moved back to the window. She peeked out the side of the curtain, seeing Boone on his bike, his head turned toward her window. A beat passed. Then he lifted the phone to his ear; hers rang a second later. She went to the bed to grab it. “Hi,” she said, butterflies dancing in her belly.

“Come back to the window,” he said, voice low.

She stepped around the curtain, staring down at him beneath the streetlight. “You always sit outside girls’ windows?” she joked.

“When they look like you, yes.”

Her heart jumped a little at that. In the best way possible. “Bet you say that to all the ladies.”

“No, Peyton, I don’t.”

She heard his deep breath through the phone, feeling the sizzle run through her. She remembered that deep breath in her ear while his body thrust up against hers. How he made those masculine noises when he touched the very depths of her. “Boone.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for watching out for me.”

She swore she caught his smile even from this distance. “Good night, Peyton.”