Barefoot with a Stranger (Barefoot Bay Undercover #2)(97)

Rafe. Deep inside his gut, everything hardened. And froze. And made him sick. Was this real? A joke? Ancient history or…a reason to live?

No matter what, my darling angel Gabriel, wait for me. I will come to you as soon as I can. When that day comes, you may not question me. You may not doubt me. And you may not recognize me.

Isadora

The sound of a cleared throat yanked him back to reality and spiked his blood pressure. He turned to see the blonde making her way across the beach, a look of determination on sharp, angular features, her defined jaw lifted as if to say she dared him to send her away.

Ballsy bitch.

But it was Christmas Eve, so rather than be a prick, he just looked down at the letter and hoped she had the brains and class to see he wasn’t in the market for a quickie.

“Gabriel.”

Son of a bitch, she knew his name. He slammed the letter on the sand as two bare feet with bright red toes planted themselves next to him. “Look, lady, I—”

“Like the angel.”

That wasn’t an English accent. That was…natural, flat, and Midwestern.

His blood turned to ice and drained from his head into a cold pool of disbelief in his gut. He was hearing things again. She didn’t even remotely resemble Isadora. She was taller, leaner, colder. Blond-haired and brown-eyed, no chestnut curls and grass-green eyes.

Gabe looked up, completely off-balance and almost unable to breathe again, but when he did, another whiff of her fragrance tortured him. “Do I know you?” he asked.

She just gave him a Mona Lisa smile that said everything…and nothing.

He started to push up, but she held out her hand to stop him, opened it, and dropped a hotel card key in his lap.

Without a word, she walked away.

He sat there in stunned, speechless silence until his gaze dropped to the letter on his lap.

When that day comes, you may not question me. You may not doubt me. And you may not recognize me.

What did she mean by that? He couldn’t acknowledge her…or he literally couldn’t recognize her?

How the hell was he supposed to know her then? He stood, peering into the darkness to see the blonde’s shadow disappear in the direction of the villa called Rockrose.

Everything spun out of control, making his head light with hope that she lived…and fear that his imagination was working overtime.

Who was she? A shameless stranger who wanted his body? Or the woman he loved?

Maybe she could be both.