Lover Beware

with people. Ever. Not even in college. Everyone always annoyed me. I preferred books and my lab to talking with a human being,” he admitted, wanting her to understand the difference she’d made. He was actually beginning to care about Inez and that was plain damned scary. He was finding the townspeople interesting after seeing them through her eyes.
    “Let’s go back to my house,” he suggested. “Didn’t you say there could be bugs in that security system you installed?”
    “I’m certain I need to check it over,” Sarah agreed, “but I do have to make this one stop first. I promised Inez.”

Chapter 8
    THE SMALL GIFT shop was cheerful and bright. Celtic music played softly. New Age books and crystals of all colors occupied one side of the store while fairies and dragons and mythical creatures reigned supreme on the other. Damon had been prepared for clutter after the comments on the shop owner’s lack of recycling education, but the store was spotless.
    “I think Donna knows her recycling stuff,” Damon whispered against Sarah’s ear. “She probably brushed up after she saw Inez peering at her through the store window with her lips pursed and her hands on her hips.” His teeth nibbled for just a moment, sending a tremor through her. “Let’s get out of here while we have the chance.”
    Sarah shook her head. “I have an especially strong feeling we should talk with Donna today.” She was frowning slightly, a puzzled expression on her face.
    Damon felt something twist and settle around his heart. Knowledge blossomed. Belief. He was a man of logic and books, yet he knew Sarah was different. He knew she was magic. Mysterious Sarah was back home and with her, some undefined power that couldn’t be ignored. He felt it now for himself, after having been in her presence. It was very real, something he couldn’t explain but knew was there, deep inside of her.
    His knowledge made it much easier to accept the amazing intensity of the chemistry between them. More than that, it helped him to believe in the powerful emotions already surfacing for her. How did one fall in love at first sight? He’d always scoffed at the idea, yet Sarah was wrapped securely around his heart and he had known her for only a few days.
    “If you feel we should talk to Donna, then by all means, let’s find the woman,” he agreed readily. She had changed him for all time. He was different inside and he preferred the man he was becoming to the man he had been. If he spent too much time thinking about it, his feelings made no sense, but he didn’t want to think about it. He simply accepted it, embraced the opportunity destiny had given him.
    Sarah called out, moving through the store with the natural grace Damon had come to associate with her. “Donna’s daughter went to school with Joley. Donna is a sweetheart, Damon—have you met her?” She peeked around the bead-curtained doorway leading to the back of the store.
    “I’ve seen her,” Damon said, “in Inez’s store. She and Inez like to exchange sarcasm.”
    “They’ve been friends for years. When Inez was sick a few years ago, Donna moved into Inez’s house and cared for her, ran her own gift shop and the grocery store. They just like to grouse at one another, but it’s all in fun. The back screen is open. That’s strange. Donoa has a phobia about insects. She never leaves doors open.” There was concern in her voice.
    Damon followed Sarah through the beaded curtain, noting the neatly stacked paper tied with cord and the barrel of plastic labeled with inch-high letters. “I’d have to say Donna knows more about recycling than most people.”
    “Of course she does.” Sarah’s tone was vague, as if she wasn’t paying much attention. “She just likes to give Inez something to say.”
    “You mean she does it on purpose?” Damon wanted to laugh but Sarah’s behavior was making him uneasy. They stepped out of the shop onto a back porch.
    The wind rushed them, coming at them from the sea. Coming from the direction of the cliff house. Sarah raised her face to the wind, closed her eyes for a moment. Damon watched her face, watched her body. There was a complete stillness about her. She was there with him physically, but he had the impression her spirit was riding on the wind. That mentally she was with her sisters in the cliff house.
    The wind chilled him, raised goose bumps on his arms, sent a shiver of alarm down his back. Something was wrong. Sarah