Dirty

“Are you wearing panties under this tiny excuse for a dress?”

The voice in my ear was unmistakable. Part whiskey-soaked Southern gentleman, part demonic sex fiend. I turned and stared directly into his eyes.

“Has that line ever worked for you, Gabe?”

“That was no pickup line, darlin’. That was a genuine question.” His innocent smirk didn’t fool me for a second. “Are you going to answer?”

“No.” I resumed the position he’d found me in, hands on the pier railing, staring at the lake. “You know I’m engaged, right?”

He stood next to me, uncomfortably close. “Yeah, I know. But even if I didn’t, that gigantic chunk of ice on your finger is hard to miss.”

“You’ve never hit on me before. Why start now?”

“Beth told me she’d kill me if I did.”

“And now that I’m engaged and unavailable, you find me irresistible, is that it?”

“You don’t know me at all, Libby.”

Gabe was wrong. Beth and I were best friends since the seventh grade, and I knew her brother well. He was a predator, and always on the hunt for a fresh kill. Once he had his prey stuffed and mounted, he lost interest and moved on to new game.

“How long will you be in town?” I asked.

“My sister didn’t tell you? I’m back for good this time.”

He took a long pull from the flask he always carried and offered it to me. The taste of his lips on the rim made...