Chapter 3

A yawn escaped me as I clambered from my car. With the faintest of breezes rustling the leaves, another perfect warm spring evening bathed the street in a soft golden glow.

My glance was drawn to a small red sportster in the neighboring driveway. It was shiny new, a gift from her parents. Susan was back again from college. The place wasn’t far, and the brown-eyed blonde often visited.

A second yawn serenaded my tugging a suitcase from the trunk. While it’d been fruitful, this trip had been lengthy. Not dealing with the teams, but a long-delayed inspection tour of several of my properties.

Hotel ownership, done via an array of shell-corporations, was easy enough to obscure from prying eyes. Unlike the current organization, forcing me to perform a “retirement” kabuki dance to keep government administration systems from noticing the length of my “career.” Plus, the business of upscale leisure remained lucrative, providing income both stable and substantial.

As much as I’d hated keeping those efforts among the many secrets hidden from Debbie ... Well, given her quirks, it’d been a good decision.

No idea why, but my gaze drifted to the neighbor’s home. An eyebrow arched, and I turned away. Sure didn’t know her that well yet either.

Once unpacked, I shoved a quick dinner in the oven and popped outside for a late soak in the Jacuzzi. Above the swishing jets, the sounds of laughter, up-tempo pop music, and high-pitched voices pulled my attention to Mandy. A tiny black bikini on gleaming curves, she was frolicking in their pool. Around her splashed her daughter in an even smaller red swimsuit, and an auburn-haired, dark-tanned girl in nothing but yellow strings. Yeah, a vision of heaven, in triplicate. After losing the towel and slipping into the water, I was reaching for headphones when ear-piercing screams rang out.

Adrenaline sped through my system; screams always flung me into high gear. With clawed fingers, I snatched the towel before leaping from the tub, while already scanning the area for threats. Mandy’s shapely derriere and whirling black tresses disappeared inside their house. The two girls dashed from the pool, pointing over their shoulders at the sloshing waves.

“Snake! Snake!”

With one hand clutching the swirling terrycloth around my waist, I raced past them and yanked a mesh strainer on a long pole from the wall bracket behind their lounge chairs. A by-product of what made me different: I could move with more-than-human speed, and both stopped in their tracks as I zipped towards the pool. Heart pounding, I lurched to a halt at the pool’s edge.

While struggling to hold in a laugh, I stared at the killer beast wriggling along the surface. A small black water snake, not only harmless but also far more scared of us. The chuckle escaped, and I came close to losing my balance while leaning to scoop it into the nylon mesh basket. Grin plastered on my face, I grasped the little guy behind the head and marched to the woods.

Halfway there, a warm breeze around my pelvis proclaimed the towel had fallen off when I’d become unbalanced. Out in the middle of the backyard, nothing to be done about it. So, with a shrug, I kept walking, giving them an eyeful while tramping to the edge of the treeline and tossing the snake into the brush. After turning, I headed back toward the pool.

Both young women had returned to lie on their loungers. At first, they were muttering and shaking under their towels. But with my tall, naked frame, covered in an endless mosaic of old wounds, and swinging length on full display, the tremors subsided, and both fell silent.

Sure, could’ve made a joke, tossed out something off-color, or simply commented, but I said nothing. Instead, I leaned over Susan’s chair, letting my rod dangle near her shoulder, to replace the mesh basket.