The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict

Author:Laura Benedict
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2019-02-04T16:00:00+00:00

Their evening together is surprisingly easy. Gabriel cooks marinated chops and asparagus on the kitchen grill, and Kimber makes up a brown rice, mushroom, and shallot pilaf. After dinner they sit side by side on the couch and watch a newish Matt Damon thriller, their shoulders and legs occasionally touching in a familiar way. There’s no hand holding or snuggling or tender looks. Only companionship, and a sense of having stepped out of the chaos of her life for a while. Around 11:30, the effects of the glass and a half of 2013 Shiraz she drank with dinner gone, she tells him she needs to go back to Diana and Kyle’s house so she can be ready for Saturday’s outing with Hadley. With his fingertips at the small of her back, Gabriel accompanies her downstairs and to her car.

“Listen, there’s nothing more we can do this weekend.” He holds open the door of the Mini. “Wilson, or whoever he is, may not even realize his things are gone yet. I’m sure they were hidden for a reason.”

“I know.” Knowing something concrete about the man in her house gives her a feeling of power. She’s tired of being worried. The unrelenting guilt is still there, tucked away in her brain with the blackmail photos, and the memory of her crime, but she no longer feels like Lance Wilson’s victim. “Thank you.” The kiss she gives him is warm but not intense, and he returns it in kind.

Driving away, she checks her rearview mirror to see him walking back into the building. Long ago, during their affair, he would have stood watching after her until her car disappeared. She feels inordinately proud that she decided not to spend the night.

I can do this. I can be with him this way.

The shirt pushes its way back into the front of her mind. It had been blindingly pink, almost like a cartoon. It definitely reminded her of something.

Brianna’s car. It’s just like something Brianna would own.

But Gabriel and Brianna have never met, and she’s hardly his type. The idea of buttoned-up Gabriel with someone who dresses like an anime character or a Goth, depending on her mood, makes her laugh out loud.

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