Page 1 of Adrian

One

Blair

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“Ma’am?”

Gasping at the sound of a male voice, I spin around and nearly fall on my ass.

A giant bear of a man is standing in the doorway. He winces and lifts up both hands, palms out. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Did you not hear me pull up?” He glances over his shoulder.

I look past him through my open front door and see a truck parked out front. Not a beat-up old truck but a brand-new shiny black F150. It’s so new, I bet it has the ability to power the house in the event of a storm. Maybe I should have purchased a truck last week instead of an SUV.

“Ma’am?” he repeats.

I jerk my gaze back to him. “Blair.” I wipe my palms on my jeans and walk toward him, holding out a hand. I’m freaking out a bit. After all, there’s a strange man nearly inside my new home, and he’s gigantic.

On the flip side, he seems harmless. Is that a thing? Maybe I’m being too trusting. He’s got money. The truck, for one thing, but also his clothes are expensive.

I would know. I’ve also got money. He could easily size me up and figure that out, too. I was hoping to blend into mountain life, and no one would ever be any the wiser, but this guy arrived only minutes after me. I’m wearing designer jeans, leather boots that cost three hundred dollars, a blouse that set me back nearly that same amount, and too much gold jewelry.

Why did I show up looking like this? Why did I even bring this stuff with me? I don’t need material possessions now that I’m up in the mountains. Gold and diamonds are useless. I need a backhoe and some seeds. Though I’m not sure yet what a backhoe is. In my head, it sounds like something I would use.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” he tells me as he releases my hand. His grip was firm and warm. I kind of hate that he’s let me go.

Shaking the absurd thought from my head, I smile at him.

He’s harmless.

I hope.

If I’m going to live out here in the mountains completely on my own, I’m going to have to learn to face the locals and not panic every time I encounter someone. The realtor told me the crime in this area is almost nonexistent. The few incidents in the past decades were nearly all domestic squabbles.

I did my research. Extensively. There was a massive fire about a decade ago that wiped out the property adjacent to mine. It was never determined how it started. That doesn’t scare me too much. Probably electrical.

The man who owned this property died about a year ago in some sort of ammunition accident of his own doing. That’s kind of freaky, but it didn’t happen here in the house, and besides, I’m not the superstitious type.

Most of the remaining crimes I found were indeed domestic. They make me shudder because sometimes they involve activities that are beyond backward, like selling a daughter to a neighbor and shit. No fucker is going to be selling me to anyone.

“Blair?”

I’m once again jarred back to the present. My mind is wandering more than usual today. “Oh, I’m the new owner. I bought this house and the property.”

He gives me a half grin. “Yeah… I know who you are. Blair Snyder. I live on the adjacent property. Two of my brothers are married to the women who sold you this land.”

“Oh.” Good to know. He’s my neighbor. Now, I have no business finding my neighbor attractive because the last thing I need is to pay any attention to a man.

I don’t need a man. Ever. I’m going to make my own way in life, live off this land, enjoy the fresh air… That’s the plan. It doesn’t include hot men from next door.

“But you shouldn’t be in this house, Blair.”

I frown at him and look around. “Why wouldn’t I be? I own it. It’s my home.”

His brows both rise. “You didn’t plan to move into the actual house, did you?”

I shrug. “Well, not forever. But until I can build something a bit more modern.”

“Modern? Blair, this building is probably going to collapse in the next storm. It’s not structurally sound. The support beams aren’t trustworthy, and there’s a cellar under it. The house itself might fall into the hole at any minute.” He backs up and motions for me to follow him.