Without Any Warning (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 2) by Peggy A. Edelheit Read Free Book Online

His sudden appearance left me feeling off balance.
    He smirked. “Let me start then. I’m David. I’m your new neighbor. Well, I guess you already knew that, didn’t you?” He stood there smiling at me, completely relaxed.
    I was in a state of uncertainty and still at a loss for a reply, even after hearing his name. I averted my eyes a second, trying to mask my discomfort at having been caught with my binoculars visibly trained on him.
    He stood there waiting patiently, apparently expecting some kind of response. “Is something the matter?” he asked, looking somewhat confused by my strange reaction to his introduction.
    “…No, I mean...yes. …I’m fine. …What did you say your name was again?” I asked, still upset about being caught off guard.
    He held out his hand. “David,” he said in a timbre I felt sounded oddly familiar.
    Who did he remind me of?
    I reached over and shook it and then looked down and swiped my palm against my jeans, like I had just touched a ghost. “You remind me of someone.” The deep voice was bugging me! He was handsome, but a little older than I had originally thought, with a touch of gray past his prominent cheek line.
    “Is that good or bad?” He asked, looking intrigued, casually leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
    “I’m not sure yet. I just met you,” I lightly tossed back in his direction. “Are you here for very long?”
    “After meeting you, I’m sorely tempted to extend my stay, but since I’m unpredictable, I really can’t say, as I tend to get restless being in one place for too long. That is unless something snags my interest.”
    “You sure we’ve never met before?” I asked uncertainly, as I checked him out, ignoring his last words.
    He glanced up and down at me. “I’m sure I would have remembered meeting someone like you, honey.”
    I inhaled sharply. Of course! Spoken just as boldly as a complicated player from my recent past! Highlands! Clay!
    “Would you like to come in?” I asked, remembering my manners, and like once before, more than intrigued by this brash behavior. Would I never learn?
    The clock in the foyer chimed. David glanced down at his watch. “Hey, I’m sorry, but I have to cut this short,” he said. “I’ve got an appointment and I’m late. Maybe next time.”
    “Suit yourself,” I replied offhandedly, glad the whole humiliating incident was mercifully drawing to a close.
      “It was nice to meet you, Sam.”
      “Same here, David,” I replied.
    I slowly, but firmly shut the front door and then locked it. I was just about to walk back upstairs, but stopped and turned back to stare blankly at the entrance.
    I had never once mentioned my name. Interesting.

 
     
     
    Chapter 17
    I Can’t Believe This. Can You?
     
     
    I slowly climbed the staircase back to my room. I sat down heavily on the chair at my desk, thinking. He acted like Clay, my former friend/love interest/and adversary, but said he was David. He was cocky like him, but older. His timbre was similar to Clay’s, but not quite. He was alike in many ways, but then not really. Although presumptuous, Clay wouldn’t call me honey. David had.
    Was I reading more into it than I should, or was I somehow missing someone or something that initially had potential, but wasn’t meant to be? I was inundated with unresolved issues that I still didn’t think I was ready to deal with yet. So I mentally moved on.
    Of all the people who could have rented the house next to mine, it had to be another attractive man? My fate factor was being psychologically challenged with what was happening lately with all these random circumstances that now included a mounting list of new and old acquaintances.
    I had a Harley girl who ran a cleaning business with a cleaning crew that came once a week, a possible dual personality individual as my leasing agent, a next door neighbor who I felt reminded me of another man who had danger written all over him, a real estate