SeducedByTheAntiHero by L.J. Fine Page A

said person cleared her throat in
an obvious play for her attention.
    Startled out of her creative reverie, she glanced up to see
an attractive brunette standing over her with a tentative smile.
    “I’m Gina,” she said. “Sorry if I scared you.”
    Politeness engrained into the fabric of Emma’s being,
automatically she smiled and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Emma.”
    Smile shifting from tentative to open now that she was sure
of her welcome, Gina shook her hand. “Yeah, I know. News travels fast in a
small town. Do you mind if I sit with you for a few minutes? There’s something
I’d like to talk to you about.”
    Wondering what this complete stranger could possibly need to
say to her, she nodded and gestured for her to take a seat beside her on the
bench.
    “You’re in town visiting Chloe?”
    Emma could feel her eyebrows quirking up toward her
hairline, she couldn’t help it. She got that this was a small town but having
some random woman approach her who knew her business was unsettling. Perhaps
she had just spent too much time in the city, where everybody ignored everybody
else, but at least the illusion of privacy would have been appreciated.
    “Yes, that’s right. Chloe’s a friend from college.” Why she
felt the need to give this woman more details was beyond her, but there
it was.
    Running a hand through her hair, Gina sighed. “Look, I know
you don’t know me from anyone and typically I’m not this intrusive. But you’re
not from here and I wanted to give you a fair warning. Chloe’s too close to be
able to see the situation clearly.”
    As Emma started to piece together where the woman was
headed, she felt tension begin to tighten her muscles. This really wasn’t anyone’s business and having some stranger take it upon herself to
“warn” Emma off had her hackles rising. But just to be clear, she wanted Gina
to spell it out. “I’m sorry, what are you talking about?”
    The look that question apparently warranted was full of incredulity
and Gina gave a slow response as though she were speaking to someone of lower
intelligence. “I’m talking about Ben.” There was a thoughtful pause and then,
“How much do you know about him?”
    Admittedly, not much, but this conversation was just so
invasive that Emma longed to be able to tell her that she knew his entire life
story and was just fine and dandy with it.
    But before she could get out any sort of answer, Gina was
already speaking.
    “You’re probably like most women and got snared by how hot
he is.” She gave a rueful smirk. “Hell, all the brothers are. Most of the women
in this town would kill to be with one of them. But Ben is different. He
doesn’t just look like the devil himself, Emma. He’s genuinely dangerous. You’d
be doing yourself a huge favor if you steered clear of him.”
    If that wasn’t a vague and cryptic comment, Emma didn’t know
what was. Granted, her involvement with Ben had more than likely ended the
previous evening, but she didn’t appreciate this overly invasive advice. Besides,
she didn’t spook easily and wasn’t about to write Ben off on hearsay.
    “He’s dangerous exactly how?” If doubt and suspicion dripped
from her tone? Yeah, there was nothing she could do about that.
    Gina shook her head. “The particulars aren’t important. But
just know that he has some very bad associations with some formidable people.” Her
eyes took on a faraway cast as she wrapped her arms around her middle. “And he
doesn’t treat women so good.”
    Now that last statement came as a surprise. Obviously, the
man had commitment issues. The way he kept to himself and then disappeared from
any sort of social situation suggested he had intimacy issues that far
outreached just the romantic aspect of his personal life. And he sure as hell
was no Prince Charming. But to say that he treated women badly? No, she didn’t
buy it.
    Ben had been straight with her from the get-go. She had
known exactly