He appointed his home with only his tastes in mind. He wasn’t one for clutter, so the tables and walls were minimally decorated. Contemporary furnishings in dark colors. His TV and sound system were state of the art and lacked nothing. He paid a housekeeper to come in twice a month to keep the dust down.
He looked out the large bay window at the city below. It was late, and the lights glistened against the small droplets of rain that fell from the sky.
This might be where he lived, but it no longer felt like home. And that reality was a little unsettling.
He set about doing laundry and gathering several items he wanted to take with him the next time he went to the canyon house.
When his phone rang, he saw Grace’s name pop up on his screen.
He turned his music down and answered. “Good evening.”
“Hi.”
“How is ladies’ night?”
“Already over,” she said. “But it was fun. Were your ears burning?”
He grinned. “I guess that means you were talking about me.”
“That’s okay, isn’t it?”
He walked away from the window and sat on his leather sofa. “I would be more concerned if you weren’t.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Grace was silent for a second. “Dameon, I need to ask you something. A favor.”
“Consider it done.”
She laughed. “I’m serious.”
His brain buzzed with questions. “I’m listening.”
“I’ve been dating since I was fifteen. Well, my parents thought I was sixteen, but in all reality, I was fifteen.”
He laughed.
“Anyway, I’ve found the more interested I was in someone, the less interested they were in me. I’ve been stood up, ghosted, and even left in a restaurant halfway through a meal. I’ve had more than my share of catfishers when I subscribed to the online dating racket. And the last guy I was on a date with . . .” Her words trailed off.
“The last guy what?” He knew what she was about to say because Colin had filled him in. But since she hadn’t shared the information willingly, he tried to pull it out of her.
“Never mind.”
“No, Grace . . . the last guy what?”
“I don’t want you to think I’m being overdramatic or looking for sympathy. Or want you to feel sorry for me enough to pretend that we’re on the same page here.”
“The only thing I feel sorry for is the guys who didn’t see you for how amazing you are. But I’m glad they didn’t so I have a chance.”
“Do you always say the right things?” she asked with a nervous laugh.
“Talk to me, Grace.”
“The last guy . . . was Erin’s late husband. He pretended to be someone he wasn’t online and asked me to meet him at a bar. When I got there, the guy, or the picture of the guy I thought I’d been talking to, never showed up. But Erin’s ex did. I didn’t know anything about him. I’d never seen a picture, had no way of knowing who he was. I thought it was organic. That I’d met someone not through friends or a stupid dating app.”
Dameon felt his hand gripping his phone too tight as he waited for her to tell him the whole story.
“He said his wife was dead. That he hadn’t dated. I believed every lie he told me. I almost went back to the hotel with him, Dameon. I remember him putting his hands on my neck and squeezing just a little too hard when he kissed me.” Her voice cracked.
He closed his eyes. “God, Grace.”
“I don’t know what he planned to do that night. We were by the mall and one of my dad’s friends from the sheriff’s department saw us. Desmond was noticeably shook.”
“His name was Desmond?” Oh, damn . . . that’s not good.
“Yeah. But that wasn’t the name he was using. Anyway . . . he backed off. Told me he was still married and his wife was trying to leave him. I was pissed. It wasn’t until later that I realized who he was. He was completely crazy. Tried to kill Erin instead of letting her leave him. I was lucky. You hear about things on the news, disappearing people, and I realized I was one bad choice away from being that woman.”
“I can’t imagine what you were feeling.”
“You don’t have to, I’ll tell you. I felt stupid. Like how the hell did I fall for his lines and believe him when there were red flags? I stopped trusting my instincts. Stopped trusting myself.”