Ugly Ducklings Finish First by Stacy Gail Read Free Book Online Page A

her, loosening taut muscles and fogging her mind. That one caress had left her yearning to take his finger into her mouth and suck on it with wanton abandon. And that near loss of control had been terrifying.
    No, terrifying was too strong a word, Payton decided, struggling to put the evening into perspective. Sure, she’d reacted to Wiley like every other female on the planet, but so what? Her reactions were probably just unresolved issues from her formative years. After all, he had been the only person who’d spoken to her in high school. It was logical to conclude she’d feel a certain closeness because of that.
    Logical? Really?
    Great. Now she sounded like a native of Vulcan.
    But as a theory it didn’t sound too shabby. If she put her mind to it, she could even talk herself into believing it.
    What she couldn’t believe was how she’d unloaded all her childhood traumas on him when he had been the one person who had made life in Bitterthorn bearable. He must think she was a total head case, Payton thought with a groan. She had to be, to compulsively reveal just how much the past still hurt.
    Or at least...it had hurt.
    It was strange, but after venting all the old grievances she’d lugged around like the world’s biggest carry-on, she felt...calmer. At peace. Maybe she was finally ready to stop whining about the past, leave it behind where it belonged, and concentrate on the present.
    A present that didn’t include Wiley Sharpe.
    With a strange ache burrowing into her sternum, she dragged herself off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

Chapter Four
    All in all, Wiley was seriously done with gatherings where name tags were a necessity. Though admittedly, this all-business crowd was nothing like the easygoing partygoers from the night before. With the hotel’s ballroom door swinging silently shut behind him, he leaned against a pillar at the back of the room and hoped no one would notice his lack of a name tag, though he doubted security would be that vigilant. He’d be willing to bet there weren’t too many people who were eager to crash a medical seminar. Hell, he never thought he’d be a likely candidate for such a thing.
    Yet here he was.
    A fleet of laptops and tablets were open and standing at attention everywhere he looked. Seminar files and pamphlets were spread out like playing cards on linen-covered banquet tables. Digital recorders were lined up in front of their owners like toy soldiers, all turned in the direction of the podium.
    Recording Payton’s words.
    A quick glance at his watch told him how much time he had left before he had to be in class several blocks away. For a moment he wondered if his stalker was busy going Picasso on his house again, scrawling Rabid Coyotes Must Die like the last time. Or maybe something new would be tried out, like the latest name that had come with the harassing emails— manwhore .
    Or maybe...there would be nothing at all.
    It wouldn’t surprise him if the harassment eventually wore itself out and vanished without the culprit ever being revealed. That was a pretty crappy scenario as far as he was concerned, even if the aggravation did come to an end. He didn’t relish the possibility of looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life, but now that the reunion was history it wasn’t a stretch to think his stalker was history as well. Since the Coyote nickname had been at its height during his high school years and the harassment had started when the reunion invitations went out, he’d figured his best bet in sniffing out a suspect would have been last night. The reunion had turned out to be a royal bust, at least on that score. But on a much more personal level, he wasn’t sorry he went.
    If only for the moment, Payton was back in his life.
    She was the complete package, no doubt about it. Every man and even the women seemed to hang on each word spoken from that wide, lush mouth. And while he pondered the alluring shape of her lips, he wondered if it